Seppi
TPF Noob!
- Joined
- Jan 2, 2010
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
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- Location
- Oregon - US
- Can others edit my Photos
- Photos NOT OK to edit
I'd like to talk about something really important I believe is true about CDs from photographers.
There are many, many new hobby level photographers out there right now (some incredible, some...not so much) due to the easily accessible nature of cheap digital cameras that are capable of creating passible images on auto settings. They don't have the experience of a professional artist who has dedicated their life to their craft. Nor the business functionality to maintain client relationships through the years. A CD is the amateurs way of shooting and getting rid of the images quickly so they don't have to deal with the client more than they have to. Shooting is the "fun part" & all that most are really interested in doing.
I have been a photographer for more than 20 years, and only consider my self a professional for the past 10. It took time, effort, education and dedication before I felt I had earned the right to be called a professional.
There are some great new talents out there who will make waves and contribute to our art in an impactive and positive way for years to come and I don't mean to discourage them, just educate.
Your clients and subjects will value your work as much as you do. Shooting for free, explaining you are practicing & honing your technique is far more honest & respectable than trying to completely undercut other photographers. The only thing undercutting truly accomplishes is to heavily damage the industry and community of imaging professionals you, yourself, are trying to be a part of. If you feel you don't have the experience to charge a higher session fee or wedding fee, thats fine as long as your client knows why your charging them less to take their pictures. If they like your images enough to purchase them and hang them in their homes then they should pay a reasonable fee for their prints. And if they love all of them so much they just have to have a CD, charge appropriately, its your work they love, don't make it the price they love. They will value you as much as you value yourself.
How much would you expect to pay if you went to a gallery and purchased a painting for your wall, even from a new artist?
Thats your photography, thats the respect it deserves from you, the artist.
The other effect the CD attitude creates is the expectation that every photographer gives away their work with the price of a sitting fee and clients begin to expect it. So as you grow in your photography business your client base is made up of people who expect you to be cheap and give away your images on disc every time. Even after you decide you're worth more and up your prices, even a little, your previous clients will ask for a discount. They have set your value where you set it in the first place and it won't change for them. So if you really want to make a living on your photography, every time you up your prices (if you started cheap) you will have to practically start over trying to get new clients who can afford you, making a career in photography a constant up hill struggle.
A solution? Market research, find out what photographers in your area are doing for their clients. You may not be capable of offering the same services as a well established studio, but you need to recognize how you impact the industry and act respectfully in support of the art you have chosen to be a part of. Not offering the same services as other photographers places you in a special position to compete in a creative way rather than just price, you can offer your unique and valuable viewpoint to the world, and git it the value it deserves. No one else can do what you do.
Be unique, not cheap.
There are many, many new hobby level photographers out there right now (some incredible, some...not so much) due to the easily accessible nature of cheap digital cameras that are capable of creating passible images on auto settings. They don't have the experience of a professional artist who has dedicated their life to their craft. Nor the business functionality to maintain client relationships through the years. A CD is the amateurs way of shooting and getting rid of the images quickly so they don't have to deal with the client more than they have to. Shooting is the "fun part" & all that most are really interested in doing.
I have been a photographer for more than 20 years, and only consider my self a professional for the past 10. It took time, effort, education and dedication before I felt I had earned the right to be called a professional.
There are some great new talents out there who will make waves and contribute to our art in an impactive and positive way for years to come and I don't mean to discourage them, just educate.
Your clients and subjects will value your work as much as you do. Shooting for free, explaining you are practicing & honing your technique is far more honest & respectable than trying to completely undercut other photographers. The only thing undercutting truly accomplishes is to heavily damage the industry and community of imaging professionals you, yourself, are trying to be a part of. If you feel you don't have the experience to charge a higher session fee or wedding fee, thats fine as long as your client knows why your charging them less to take their pictures. If they like your images enough to purchase them and hang them in their homes then they should pay a reasonable fee for their prints. And if they love all of them so much they just have to have a CD, charge appropriately, its your work they love, don't make it the price they love. They will value you as much as you value yourself.
How much would you expect to pay if you went to a gallery and purchased a painting for your wall, even from a new artist?
Thats your photography, thats the respect it deserves from you, the artist.
The other effect the CD attitude creates is the expectation that every photographer gives away their work with the price of a sitting fee and clients begin to expect it. So as you grow in your photography business your client base is made up of people who expect you to be cheap and give away your images on disc every time. Even after you decide you're worth more and up your prices, even a little, your previous clients will ask for a discount. They have set your value where you set it in the first place and it won't change for them. So if you really want to make a living on your photography, every time you up your prices (if you started cheap) you will have to practically start over trying to get new clients who can afford you, making a career in photography a constant up hill struggle.
A solution? Market research, find out what photographers in your area are doing for their clients. You may not be capable of offering the same services as a well established studio, but you need to recognize how you impact the industry and act respectfully in support of the art you have chosen to be a part of. Not offering the same services as other photographers places you in a special position to compete in a creative way rather than just price, you can offer your unique and valuable viewpoint to the world, and git it the value it deserves. No one else can do what you do.
Be unique, not cheap.
