Possibly a new way to make money on your existing photo shoots.

[Dave442]

This happened years ago. Basically what you describe is what was in some correspondence between the government and Ansel Adams. The government asked him to grab some shots for them while he was out-and-about on his other projects and he gave them a discount.

We also have this type of "discount" for heavy machinery. If some big rig is out in a location and near where you also might want to use it then the operator will give a discount for not having to move the rig to the location as the other customer already paid for that.

I think I saw a tweet from 500px that sounded similar, but I didn't look into it. I don't think it went as far as what you are looking to do, but I think it opens the link between the person looking for a particular type of image and a potential photographer. I guess the next step is to let the photographer be more proactive by being able to put up a work program for the next few months so potential clients could make requests to the photographer to grab a few extra shots for them at some location for a discounted price as they are going to be there anyway for another client on that date.

We have wedding photographers that come to town and they put the word out that they are going to be available and are offering special package pricing on newborn shots or such for a couple days before or after the wedding. So the wedding party paid for their travel and now the photographer can drum up some extra business (this works with a big city photographer coming to a resort town, probably not so much the other way around).

 

[Vtec44]

For this to work efficiently, you have to somehow have a searchable database with detailed description of each project, and then match with the clients who are looking for something similar. I'm just waiting for someone to spam such website LOL

 

[Luke345678]

I'm no expert in the field itself, but it sounds like what you're describing is very similar to stock photography.

What would make your business, site, etc. stand out? What would you do that would draw photographers to you instead of big names like istockphoto and adobe?

Not trying to offend or belittle your idea, just some things I would like to hear your response to!

 

[astroNikon]

A couple issues with this concept which you may not have thought of.

1 - what prevents a client and photog to collaborate outside of your system?
What prevents them, since they probably both can search for each other in the internet from using the service (ie, John Doe from ABC Company [ easily searchable contact on the internet ] and Jane Doe Photography [also easily searchable] ) to connect to someone and then bypass it altogether. ie, eBay does not allow you to email email addresses to anyone, or use many webpages. This helps but does not stop it. and with clients and Photog using their real names, etc they would be easily searchable

2 - what prevents a client / photog from using the service ONCE and then no more between them.
You could have to have a contract that would prevent them from contact outside of the service for xx term. Of course, being able to confirm would be impossible, especially if they do not reside in the same, let's say state as you do. And how would you enforce that ?

3 - how can you identify quality ? What if the quality is not up to par for the client? How do you handle refunds ? Photogs would have to have a full resume to reference, which would give the client full access to communicate and create contracts OUTSIDE of your system without your knowledge. And of course we've seen many photogs that steal photos from other places to give false praise to their own ability, thus leading to, to say the least, "disappointed clientele" or more acurately, "total disasters".

4 - how would you create a revenue stream? As mentioned, the communications could easily be circumvented. Thus you then look at a small fee monthly/annually for the clients and/or photogs. Of maybe you relie upon ads.

5 - If a photog is doing a photo shoot for someone do not disregard that they would want a contract of how the photo is going to be used. Which could be a, say, $600 or more fee for unlimited use. You'll find out the better and higher quality photog used, the more likelihood that they would want a contract for photo use, whether limited or unlimited.

Your concept is like many other redundant concepts out there. How to gain traction in the market place, how to create revenue, how to maintain and grow the clientele and REPEAT business with the clients/photogs.

You should really develop business concepts. Run through those business concepts of existing service. Draw out the positive & negative benefits. Think like a client. Think like a Photog. Because neither of them want to lose any profit to pay a service.


I say business concepts becz a business plan is only good on paper. It may work but usually is a continuous revision on strategies etc. Just like advertizing/marketing. Know your demographics and how to sell and RETAIN them.

Also, don't underestimate what "exactly" what a client is asking for and what the photog can deliver at a certain price point.

 

[robbins.photo]

I don't know what you mean by high-end stock photo service, but to me stock photos are photos that already exist, but that's not the case with what I'm doing.

Well in a traditional stock photo service a client wants a photo of something, he goes out to a website and purchases one. The photo's are already taken by the photographers and uploaded.

In your model as I understand it clients will be able to say I'm looking for a photo of X and you'll connect them with a particular photographer who will take a photo of X assuming that someone hasn't already posted a photo of X on your website, right?

But of course if someone has already posted a photo of X and the client likes it they'd be able to order that one I assume.. so bascially what your looking at is still more or less the same as a stock photo service with the ability to special order to a certain extent.

Whether or not the photographer can resell the photos, that's up to the licensing that was agreed between the client and the photographer. If they decided that it should be exclusive than the photographer can't turn around and sell the image to someone. But if it's royalty free, then the photographer can do that. Of course, the type of licensing would also reflect the cost of the photo.

Legally this would most likely be true, however I think most clients who are paying a photographer for a photoshoot already would be extremely upset to learn that said photographer used photo's he took at a shoot they paid for and sold them to someone else. I know I would. Just because the photographer has the legal right to do so doesn't mean I'd ever hire him again, for anything. I think a lot of the photographers other clients would feel the same way.

 

[astroNikon]

This actually kinda sounds like Model Mayhem except with a slight twist of client/photog and fees, charges, and contracts and other stipulations.

 

[ClickAddict]

I think what many people are focussing on is the photographer selling the same photo. What I think the op is looking for is something like the following:

Photographer is contracted by company ABC to take photo of ABC's miracle car wax product.
Photographer sets up shoot as per clients request with a male model dressed as greasy mechanic and another model in a bikini. (one to show that the product is industry tough and another to show easy to use. (Yes I'm being very stereotypical... it's just an example) The shot ABC is looking for has the models using the product on a car and motorcycle. (She's riding a Harley to appease the Pc crowd )

Photographer posts to his website something along the lines of: Shoot detail keywords: Male model Mechanic, Female bikini, sports car, Harley motorcycle, garage, suburban driveway....

company XYZ is looking for a shot of a mechanic under a car (lower body), top hidden beneath car.

They search for Mechanic and find this photographer.

contact him stating what they want.

Photographer, when planning the shoot hires mechanic model for 3 hours rather than 2. The garage was already paid for, the travel costs are the same.... so for perhaps a few extra dollars to the Mechanic model, and an extra hour shooting, he takes a few extra shots and gets what both companies want. not the same photo, and no different than hiring the same model for two projects which neither company would argue about.

I think it's a great idea. I think it would work incredibly well....ONCE you have the massive volume of photographers and companies using it. That ramping up though is a killer and in my opinion will cause this to fail. Company goes looking and until there is enough variety of photographers, they will be disappointed and not come back. Without companies using it, photographers are posting all this info and not getting hits... they will stop using it.

 

[robbins.photo]

I think what many people are focussing on is the photographer selling the same photo. What I think the op is looking for is something like the following:

Photographer is contracted by company ABC to take photo of ABC's miracle car wax product.
Photographer sets up shoot as per clients request with a male model dressed as greasy mechanic and another model in a bikini. (one to show that the product is industry tough and another to show easy to use. (Yes I'm being very stereotypical... it's just an example) The shot ABC is looking for has the models using the product on a car and motorcycle. (She's riding a Harley to appease the Pc crowd )

Photographer posts to his website something along the lines of: Shoot detail keywords: Male model Mechanic, Female bikini, sports car, Harley motorcycle, garage, suburban driveway....

company XYZ is looking for a shot of a mechanic under a car (lower body), top hidden beneath car.

They search for Mechanic and find this photographer.

contact him stating what they want.

Photographer, when planning the shoot hires mechanic model for 3 hours rather than 2. The garage was already paid for, the travel costs are the same.... so for perhaps a few extra dollars to the Mechanic model, and an extra hour shooting, he takes a few extra shots and gets what both companies want. not the same photo, and no different than hiring the same model for two projects which neither company would argue about.

I think it's a great idea. I think it would work incredibly well....ONCE you have the massive volume of photographers and companies using it. That ramping up though is a killer and in my opinion will cause this to fail. Company goes looking and until there is enough variety of photographers, they will be disappointed and not come back. Without companies using it, photographers are posting all this info and not getting hits... they will stop using it.

Ok, so lets assume I'm the art director of the project for which the original photo was taken, one that I paid for.

I find a photo from the same photoshoot I paid for - not the same photo I selected but one from the same shoot, being used by a competitor on their website and discover that the photographer I hired sold it to them through this service, and worse yet they paid far less for it than I did because the photographer used me to finance most of the costs of the shoot.

How likely am I to every hire that photographer again? Well for me personally the answer to that would be never. In fact I'd probably go out of my way to make it known that said photographer was doing something pretty underhanded and that he was not the sort of person you'd want to do business with under any circumstances.

Legally, yes, the photographer could do this.. ethically it's a completely different story, most people who are hiring this photographer probably wouldn't consider this ethical behavior at all.

Then of course there is the matter of the site itself - if you "put the photographer in contact" with the business that wants the photo, well you just shot yourself in the foot if your the guy running the website. Nothing prevents the photographer from eliminating you as the middle man and selling it through your site.

So you'd have to set something up where the photographer would have to upload the pictures to your site and the buyer would have to purchase them from there.. but of course in doing so you as the site owner are now selling the photos to the buyer, not the photographer.

Which means you'd better cover your butt 16 ways from Sunday legally. You'd better get signed modeling releases from the photographer, make sure all the permits are in order, etc, ad infinitum - because you've just become legally responsible. It's not insurmountable of course, but it is expensive to get all of the legal stuff sorted out to make sure your covered. It also makes it more complicated because you will have to require the photographer to do a lot more than just spend a few minutes uploading the photograph. If you don't then odds are good you'll be leaving yourself open for serious legal hassles down the road. You can't just go to court and say, well the photographer said they had a release.. because your the one selling the photograph.

If your not the one selling the photograph, well then you just killed your own revenue stream, unless of course you charge the clients or the photographer for the "introduction" - but nobody is going to want to pay you just for an introduction, they want a finished product before they hand over cash.

 

[NickArt]

This happened years ago. Basically what you describe is what was in some correspondence between the government and Ansel Adams. The government asked him to grab some shots for them while he was out-and-about on his other projects and he gave them a discount.

This is very interesting. I didn't know this about Ansel.

We have wedding photographers that come to town and they put the word out that they are going to be available and are offering special package pricing on newborn shots or such for a couple days before or after the wedding. So the wedding party paid for their travel and now the photographer can drum up some extra business (this works with a big city photographer coming to a resort town, probably not so much the other way around).

I think this is a great example of how someone can use their current resources or situation as an opportunity to make money. That's why I think there are many opportunities for photographers to make money.

Here are some instances where the photographer can use this. For example, if they are traveling with their gear, if they are shooting any type of stock, if they have their own setup like white/green backdrop, food shoot setup, macro setup, product shoot setup, if they are attending an event, in between projects they can collaborate with a talent who also has time, or if they have access to a location, etc.

A photographer recently told me that he usually is free on the weekends and sometimes takes photos of his twin boys who are very photogenic. So he said he would definitely do a shoot if a client needs a photo of twin boys playing, reading, etc.

Another photographer told me that sometimes clients say they don’t have enough budget, most of the times she doesn't take the job but sometimes she needs the money. She told me next time this happens, she’ll use this to make extra money and it would be a great bargaining chip with cheap clients.

My point is the capabilities and the opportunities are there, it’s just up to the photographer to see what resources they have available, that could be used to make extra money.

 

[NickArt]

For this to work efficiently, you have to somehow have a searchable database with detailed description of each project, and then match with the clients who are looking for something similar. I'm just waiting for someone to spam such website LOL

I hope you don't think I'm spamming. Nice to see someone else from SoCal

 

[NickArt]

This actually kinda sounds like Model Mayhem except with a slight twist of client/photog and fees, charges, and contracts and other stipulations.

Don't know how Model Mayhem works but there are so many other industries doing something similar.

 

[astroNikon]

This actually kinda sounds like Model Mayhem except with a slight twist of client/photog and fees, charges, and contracts and other stipulations.

Don't know how Model Mayhem works but there are so many other industries doing something similar.

Where Professional Models Meet Model Photographers - ModelMayhem

 

[robbins.photo]

My point is the capabilities and the opportunities are there, it’s just up to the photographer to see what resources they have available, that could be used to make extra money.

Ok, but see that really doesn't work that well when you stop and think about it. If I'm out shooting a wedding and want to setup a bowl of fruit at the hotel and shoot that.. great.. but why would a guy pay me huge dinero for an image he can get from pretty much any stock website? They wouldn't of course.

The whole "selling point" of your concept is that the photo's aren't just your standard stock photography fare, right? Sadly though this leads to an almost inherit conflict of interest situation that has been detailed before.

Sorry but you did ask for brutal honesty.

 

[astroNikon]

If in doubt,
Fund your concept and get the ball rolling
and see where it goes ?

Start small, start local. You'll find that you will be a middleman/broker with all the aforementioned problems above. Not that they are unsurmountable, just have to revise your operational concepts as time goes on. Who knows if your specific concept will fly until you actually try.

 

[NickArt]

I'm no expert in the field itself, but it sounds like what you're describing is very similar to stock photography.

What would make your business, site, etc. stand out? What would you do that would draw photographers to you instead of big names like istockphoto and adobe?

Not trying to offend or belittle your idea, just some things I would like to hear your response to!

I don't think you're belittling my idea.

Let me explain. Stock photography is for photos that already exist. My concept, on the other hand, is for existing photo shoots. It allows the client to discover the photo shoot that's close to what they need and work with the photographer to get the exact photos they need.