If you see an ass, ride it! by Dominic Lee

Take an average family portrait session and the average photographer’s price list and you will arrive with the following minimum average sale: One framed 20x16 inch portrait for €500 and two framed 10x8^s for Grandparents @ €250 each, total €1000.

But you could save yourself a lot of hassle by offering the file on a disc for half the price - €500. Unfortunately, no member of the public will pay €500 for a digital file so what would they expect to pay? 

Even at €100 for the file they would probably complain.

And how do they select which image they want to pay for? Presumably with a viewing of all the images, well that’s another hour onto the session time, not too clever for €100! So easier to just hand them all the images and let them pick it themselves, right?

Except now they have about 50 images for €100!

Even if the client manages to get a good quality print (which is impossible), others who have had the images forwarded to them by email may not be so competent and within a very short space of time the photographer’s reputation is devastated by portraits which look like they were printed on toilet paper and left out in the garden for a month.

And to top it off, his or her average sale has dropped from €1000 down to €100 or less.

Even offering low res 6x4 inch files as proofs is a bad idea, the customer can simply apply “Genuine Fractals” (software which up-sizes the resolution) and hay-presto there’s a 36x24 inch for everyone in the family.

So how do professional photographers resolve this problem presented by the development of new media and technologies? The demand for the digital file is ever increasing, it won’t go away.

But the answer must remain the same as it did when customers demanded the negatives, explain that is has little or nothing to do with copyright but that you must retain control over the quality of your work as you plan to remain in business for a lot longer than the dozens of photographers who go out of business every year because they have bowed to pressure from customers who’s only motto in life is: “if you see an ass, ride it”!

 

Dominic Lee

Comments

[Michael McKay]

My answer to this one is that I am a PHOTOGRAPHER!!
I take and supply PHOTOGRAPHS!!

Although I shoot on digital format, that, as far as the customer is concerned, has nothing to do with the end result.

I reckon that if I, or any photographer, does not stand up for our PROFESSION - WE SURE AS HELL AIN'T GONNA HAVE ONE !!

In my humble opinion, now is the time to set ourselves apart from those who will certainly fail in business by the means you have described and good riddance to them!!

MMcK

[Hugh O'Brien]

I disagree. While I certainly appreciate my need to make a living, I feel strongly that the best possible thing that can happen to the photographs I take is that they be seen. For that reason I freely distribute all of the images I take for personal reasons, I ask for accreditation of course but other than that, if someone wants to view it, to mirror it or to print it, I'm happy that I've been able to make something they wanted and I'm happy that my image was good enough to qualify.

Charge for your (skilled) time, your equipment, premises and overheads. Give the rest away because its better off out in the world than in a filing cabinet.

[Hugh O'Brien]

And if you're concerned about bad prints affecting your reputation, put a demo of difference between a pro print and a home deskjet print on your studio wall. Let the customer decide what they want, and in the interest of your work, why not offer the pro print at close to cost price? Happy customers are good customers, its not all about sucking them dry.

[Dominic]

An amazing concept Hugh, do you think musicians and writers and artists etc should do the same thing? Charge for their time, and then give away the copyright to anyone who appreciates their work so much that they would want to reproduce it!
In my early days as a photographer, people often asked me what my other job was because photography was simply not a well recognised Irish profession in the early 80’s. Now I must ask you that question Hugh: What is your other job?
Dominic

[Hugh O'Brien]

You're absolutely correct, photography is not my main source of income, and that's probably what gives me such a different opinion. However think of the financial benefits of the approach I suggested; through greater distribution your recognition will go up, leading to greater demand which allows you to charge more. Your work may improve as it is more publicly critique-able (you're never too good to not need feedback) which allows you to charge more for prints. People who are captivated enough by a photograph you have taken want to tell you how they feel and often will pay extra for signed copies - despite your experiences I believe most people know that the best print is produced by the photographer, not from the kodak kiosk - and because the work is more pervasive there will be a lot more of such people.

Commercial use is of course another matter together, if someone is going to profit financially from your work you're very much entitled to a share but for the average customer I'd rather have my photo on their wall without remuneration than have it archived on my PC.

Writers and musicians _are_ starting to embrace this, several authors release their work for free reading in the hopes that if someone likes it enough they'll buy the book as an alternative to reading onscreen. Radiohead (and many others) recently distributed their album for free, ensuring that the barrier for creating new fans was at a minimum -- all it cost was bandwidth but the increased interest in their work and ease of access to potential fans sparked much more lucrative secondary products, merchandise/concerts etc.

I realise its a big change and obviously not going to suit everyone's business practices, but run some 'back-of-the-envelope' calculations on what advantages of having a huge audience would be, you may find yourself surprised.
Thanks, Hugh

[Dominic]

Hugh, we get a customer like you on average once a year, who thinks they know how we SHOULD be running our business. And guess what? that usually includes giving them the portraits for next to nothing and telling us about all their friends who will book us as a result!
Dont give up the day job!
Dominic

[Margaret M]

This bit is worth repeating...."You're absolutely correct, photography is not my main source of income, and that's probably what gives me such a different opinion." Ya think?
Try using your method and then paying the mortgage as well as the salaires of six people.
The fact is that this is a real livlihood for many of us and in honesty, I think your opinion is of little or no value as you have clearly said you do not have to rely on photography to live. I mean do you really think that this comment "...but for the average customer I'd rather have my photo on their wall without remuneration than have it archived on my PC...." is anything other than commercial tosh?
Sure, we'd all have loads of customers if we worked for free...but we wouldn't have jobs or businesses.
I personally am not a 'hired gun' albeit with a camera. I have a talent. I bring my talent, 18 years of experience plus 7 years of training/apprenticeship and education in photography with me to every shoot and it informs every aspect of my job - including my printed portraits. I cannot be hired by someone who wants my talent as a portrait photographer but not my skills in creating the finished piece. The same goes for all of my colleagues working here in our place. All very skilled people with experience and talent that is worth valuing. And the same goes for many of my colleagues in the industry. But I see more and more of them caving in and copying the 'drones' with cameras who maybe did a 'course' to show them how to use a camera and little else except the knowledge of a pc or mac. Semi-pro only applies to photography and the public, in their wisdom, accept it. Would you let a semi-pro cut your hair? Mind your kids? Thought not...
Shocking and sad...

[David]

Taking some of the comments above and giving them an about twist - how many 'established' professionals out there are willing to assist/mentor genuine new entrants in the professional/business procedures of running a photography business/studio? I'm coming to the business after another (long) career but with a real desire to achieve results and satisfy clients - not a 'have camera therefore I must be a photographer' attitude. It is my only income source, I'm building my knowledge & experience with the camera etc. but right now finding out, understanding and implementing the right business aspects (copyright, usage, licencing, contracts, pricing, marketing etc.) would make a big difference. I am going to do it but would prefer to do it right. Any takers? (willing to travel beyond my geographical area.)