HELP!!: My dads studio is going down hill... fast

[pbelarge]

I have seen the same issues with other industries.
Your father was king in a small kingdom.
Now there are others competing. And it sounds like he is not a good business man, because he never had to be.

Regardless if you think they are "stealing" his customers, or following him to shoot locations, or they are poorly talented is not going to solve his situation.

He either has to change with the times and fight fire with fire.

If the competition - regardless of how qualified - is offering a pricing schedule different than your father's, he will need to think of how he can counter it.

"pride"
Pride does not sell, it makes one feel good


I will say, I find it admirable and refreshing to see a son helping his father. I hope you both find a solution that keeps you happy.

 

[sheavo]

Thanks everyone for all the great advise. Ive made some goals for my dad and i think we have got things figured out now.. Ive just gotten a little scared lately thinking that Im going to be going to college this year and i want to be sure he can get back on his feet without any more of my assistance.. Im a photographer as well and he taught me absolutely everything i know, Im actually this years high school photojournalist of the year for the state of Arkansas, i got a call from our local paper last week and now Im their full time photographer for the summer, and I'll be shooting the University of Arkansas this fall. Without my dads help i would have never gotten this far with photography, and i want to do something to repay him for all he's done for me.. Thanks alot everyone

 

[j-dogg]

I always try to support the little guy. I sent a roll of film off to a small camera shop here to develop and the turnaround is a week because they have to ship it to Gainesville 200 milles away. They take their cut and I gladly give it to them instead of Wal-Mart, Walgreens etc.

The problem with my town is Wal-Mart and Walgreens have run a lot of the small knowledgeable guys out of business. The best camera Wal-Mart sells is the entry-level Canon DSLR, and if you asked the kid who works the floor there about how to set the shutter speed in manual mode he would look at you crosseyed (I've done it before just to **** with them.)

See if your father can get a contract with the public schools to shoot for their yearbooks. There's a small firm here called Dean Stewart Photography that shot me from my kindergarten years all the way until I walked the stage at my high school graduation ceremony.

 

[Flash Harry]

Tell him to try approaching the local paper to run a bonny baby competition in conjunction with his studio, he does all the shots with no submissions from either family or other togs, 1/2 hour "free" sitting, no free prints and all submissions picked by the parents and submitted by the old man, a special deal on print packages or even single prints/enlargements, competition to run over the three months of summer.

This should get some income and some decent advertisement depending how many readers there are and also generate enough cash to get him through to fall time, then he needs to do a similar family portrait deal on the run up to xmas, same sort of format, special deal for families, view online or at studio and await the orders.

As I've done all this in the past I can assure you it brings in the dough, is a lot of hard work and depending how quick /good he is at shooting and getting the product out will depend on the money coming in, paid advertisement in the same paper should do the trick.

If he can come up with other similar ideas, or you can, this should get him out of the mess for the time being, both can be annual events but he has to offer the "special deal" on print prices and free sittings, no problem if he has a studio.

If not, then he needs to rent space, I used a local hotel when doing similar. It meant lugging and setting up lights each day then working as many hours as I could but gave me a decent income, repeat orders from family members come in sporadically throughout the year so its not just an immediate sale. At other times his normal costs apply so he should have a lot more custom during "special deal" time. Hope this helps, I've seen too many good togs go the same way, so here's hoping. H

 

[vtf]

Just a thought, but is there a community college or tech school that offers photography/graphic artist courses. Maybe he could get the teacher or school to put together a market campaign as a class project. At the least he might get someone to trade setting up his website and digital needs in trade for the experience and maybe course credit. In that way you wont need to be there.
Also if hes willing to travel maybe a larger nearby city market, a small town feeling in the big city. I suggest these not as a photographer (since Im a noob) but someone whose done some marketing in my lifetime..
Im sure he's frustrated, good to see a son concerned as you are.

 

[usayit]

You might want to search for a high school senior photography industry organization.

Around here, LifeTouch Inc. has a strangle hold on almost all school based photography sessions. Its tough for independent photographers to get into that service.


If you haven't heard of LifeTouch inc, they are one of the largest portrait/studio photography conglomerate in the US. Many of the studios in the mall for example are owned/operated by them. I don't know what they pay but I've heard many local photographers backfilling income with gigs from LifeTouch.

 

[guitstik]

Has he tried the local Churches? They usually do a member book every year and if he could get the deal to do that for several Churches he might get some extra work by selling the family portraits from the shoot's and if he can put together the books that would be a plus.

 

[sheavo]

All these are really great ideas! Thanks alot guys

 

[Morpheuss]

I would suggest having him focus on him being around forever... I remember there is a guy in my small home town that took my mom's senior picture and took my picture in school all the way from kindergarten all the way up to my senior picture and I wouldn't get my picture taken with anybody else because he has always been the one to do it. When I go home now that I have taken an interest in photography as a hobby I think I'm going to find him and ask him some photography questions and see what his take is. Just about camera bodies and lenses even though these forums are a wonderful place to get help