I did not write this but thought it was definitely good info and worth a read for those interested.
Posted in a cafemom forum, its a nice read:
By Cheryl Jacobs, out of Denver
These are my thoughts, nothing more and nothing less.
I get asked all the time, during workshops, in e-mails, in private messages, what words of wisdom I would give to a new and aspiring photographer. Here's my answer.
- Style is a voice, not a prop or an action. If you can buy it, borrow it, download it, or steal it, it is not a style. Don't look outward for your style look inward.
- Know your stuff. Luck is a nice thing, but a terrifying thing to rely on. It's like money you only have it when you don't need it.
- Never apologize for your own sense of beauty. Nobody can tell you what you should love. Do what you do brazenly and unapologetically. You cannot build your sense of aesthetics on a concensus.
- Say no. Say it often. It may be difficult, but you owe it to yourself and your clients. Turn down jobs that don't fit you, say no to overbooking yourself. You are no good to anyone when you're stressed and anxious.
- Learn to say I'm a photographer out loud with a straight face. If you can't say it and believe it, you can't expect anyone else to, either.
- You cannot specialize in everything.
- You don't have to go into business just because people tell you you should! And you don't have to be full time and making an executive income to be successful. If you decide you want to be in business, set your limits before you begin.
- Know your style before you hang out your shingle. If you don't, your clients will dictate your style to you. That makes you nothing more than a picture taker. Changing your style later will force you to start all over again, and that's tough.
- Accept critique, but don't apply it blindly. Just because someone said it does not make it so. Critiques are opinions, nothing more. Consider the advice, consider the perspective of the advice giver, consider your style and what you want to convey in your work. Implement only what makes sense to implement. That doesn't not make you ungrateful, it makes you independent.
- Leave room for yourself to grow and evolve. It may seem like a good idea to call your business Precious Chubby Tootsies....but what happens when you decide you love to photograph seniors? Or boudoir?
- Remember that if your work looks like everyone else's, there's no reason for a client to book you instead of someone else. Unless you're cheaper. And nobody wants to be known as the cheaper photographer.
- Gimmicks and merchandise will come and go, but honest photography is never outdated.
- It's easier to focus on buying that next piece of equipment than it is to accept that you should be able to create great work with what you've got. Buying stuff is a convenient and expensive distraction. You need a decent camera, a decent lens, and a light meter. Until you can use those tools consistently and masterfully, don't spend another dime. Spend money on equipment ONLY when you've outgrown your current equipment and you're being limited by it. There are no magic bullets.
- Learn that people photography is about people, not about photography. Great portraits are a side effect of a strong human connection.
- Never forget why you started taking pictures in the first place. Excellent technique is a great tool, but a terrible end product. The best thing your technique can do is not call attention to itself. Never let your technique upstage your subject.
- Never compare your journey with someone else's. It's a marathon with no finish line. Someone else may start out faster than you, may seem to progress more quickly than you, but every runner has his own pace. Your journey is your journey, not a competition. You will never arrive. No one ever does.
- Embrace frustration. It pushes you to learn and grow, broadens your horizons, and lights a fire under you when your work has gone cold. Nothing is more dangerous to an artist than complacence.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Why Do Professional Photographers Cost So Much?
Why do professional photographers sometimes seem expensive?
In this digital age where everyone has digital cameras and easy access to upload their photos to a local drug store website and pick them up a few hours later............we hear this all the time - How in the world do some professional photographers charge $50 for an 8x10 when they are much cheaper at the drug store?
Here's why.
Simply put, you're not just paying for the actual photograph, you're paying for time and expertise. First, let's look at the actual time involved. If you don't read this entire page, at least read this first part.
For a one-two hour portrait session:
- travel to and from the session
- one-two hours of shooting
- 30 minutes of setup, preparation, talking to the client etc.
- 30 minutes to load the photos onto a computer (2 - 4 Gb of data)
- 30 minutes to back up the files on an external drive (99% of the time the client wants the option to order additional prints at a later time - a much later time - requiring external storage usage.)
- approx 4 hours of Photoshop time to apply artistic plans to the photos including cropping, contrast, color, sharpening, saving a copy for print and a copy for the internet and backing up the edited photographs ( if several hundred photos, then it would take much longer -for example, weddings)
- approx 4 hrs or more total of combined communication: talk to the client, answer questions, receive their order and payment, emails/messages, order their prints providing the best quality papers and options (some of the payment for the order is applied to the print order and does not go to the photographer), receive and verify prints, package the order/prints, schedule shipment and drop package off.
You can see how one session easily turns into many hours of work from start to finish. So when you see a photographer charging a large session fee for a photo shoot, or a large fee for a package, you are not paying them $100 / hour.
Now for the expertise.
Shooting professional photography is a skill, acquired through experience. Even though some quality cameras cost under $2,000 - taking professional portraits involves much more than a nice camera.
Most professional photographers take years to go from buying their first decent camera to making money with their photography. In addition to learning how to use the camera itself, there is a mountain of other equipment involved, as well as numerous software programs used to edit and print photographs, run a website, aquiring new skills/inspirations continually to stay fresh in the business, updating sites with current work and sometimes blogging, etc.
And let's not forget that you actually have to have people skills, be able to communicate and help people get comfortable in front of the camera.
Think of it this way - the next time you pay $______ to get your hair done, a pair of scissors only costs $1.50. But you gladly pay a lot more to hire a professional.
What about the cheap studios at the mall?
Please don't compare us to the chain store studios. But if you must, consider all of the thought, time and work that we put into our photographs, compared to what they do. Good luck getting a relaxed one to two hour photo shoot at a chain store. Not to mention they won't come to your home or outdoors or special locations! And of course, look at our work compared to theirs. You usually get what you pay for.
The truth is, most of the mall and chain store studios lose money. In fact, in 2007 Wal-Mart closed 500 of their portrait studios --see link here: http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2007/02/05/portrait_to_close_500_wal_mart_studios/
because of the financial drain they were putting on the company. What the chain stores bet on is that you'll come in for some quick and cheap photos, and while you're there, you'll also spend $200 on other things.
In this digital age where everyone has digital cameras and easy access to upload their photos to a local drug store website and pick them up a few hours later............we hear this all the time - How in the world do some professional photographers charge $50 for an 8x10 when they are much cheaper at the drug store?
Here's why.
Simply put, you're not just paying for the actual photograph, you're paying for time and expertise. First, let's look at the actual time involved. If you don't read this entire page, at least read this first part.
For a one-two hour portrait session:
- travel to and from the session
- one-two hours of shooting
- 30 minutes of setup, preparation, talking to the client etc.
- 30 minutes to load the photos onto a computer (2 - 4 Gb of data)
- 30 minutes to back up the files on an external drive (99% of the time the client wants the option to order additional prints at a later time - a much later time - requiring external storage usage.)
- approx 4 hours of Photoshop time to apply artistic plans to the photos including cropping, contrast, color, sharpening, saving a copy for print and a copy for the internet and backing up the edited photographs ( if several hundred photos, then it would take much longer -for example, weddings)
- approx 4 hrs or more total of combined communication: talk to the client, answer questions, receive their order and payment, emails/messages, order their prints providing the best quality papers and options (some of the payment for the order is applied to the print order and does not go to the photographer), receive and verify prints, package the order/prints, schedule shipment and drop package off.
You can see how one session easily turns into many hours of work from start to finish. So when you see a photographer charging a large session fee for a photo shoot, or a large fee for a package, you are not paying them $100 / hour.
Now for the expertise.
Shooting professional photography is a skill, acquired through experience. Even though some quality cameras cost under $2,000 - taking professional portraits involves much more than a nice camera.
Most professional photographers take years to go from buying their first decent camera to making money with their photography. In addition to learning how to use the camera itself, there is a mountain of other equipment involved, as well as numerous software programs used to edit and print photographs, run a website, aquiring new skills/inspirations continually to stay fresh in the business, updating sites with current work and sometimes blogging, etc.
And let's not forget that you actually have to have people skills, be able to communicate and help people get comfortable in front of the camera.
Think of it this way - the next time you pay $______ to get your hair done, a pair of scissors only costs $1.50. But you gladly pay a lot more to hire a professional.
What about the cheap studios at the mall?
Please don't compare us to the chain store studios. But if you must, consider all of the thought, time and work that we put into our photographs, compared to what they do. Good luck getting a relaxed one to two hour photo shoot at a chain store. Not to mention they won't come to your home or outdoors or special locations! And of course, look at our work compared to theirs. You usually get what you pay for.
The truth is, most of the mall and chain store studios lose money. In fact, in 2007 Wal-Mart closed 500 of their portrait studios --see link here: http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2007/02/05/portrait_to_close_500_wal_mart_studios/
because of the financial drain they were putting on the company. What the chain stores bet on is that you'll come in for some quick and cheap photos, and while you're there, you'll also spend $200 on other things.
Derived from: http://www.caughtonfilmphoto.com/costofphotography.html
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