Many clients may already know these things but here’s some information that photographers need you to know (in no particular order):
• When a photographer doesn’t answer the phone right away or doesn’t respond immediately to your e-mail, it usually means they’re busy on an assignment. The photographer is not ignoring you. Some assignments can run all day or longer. We devote 100% of our attention to the client and job at hand. While some large photo studios have a receptionist to take calls, most photographers don’t have this luxury. Please leave a message. Your call is important to us.
• Depending on the proposed photo assignment, it might take 30 minutes to several days to do a full and proper photo estimate. Photographers cannot give an off-the-cuff, ballpark price because it’s meaningless. We have to figure out every step of the assignment before completing the estimate. This benefits you. We put everything in writing. This benefits you.
• Our prices are not pulled out of thin air. We charge what we charge based on our overhead, our experience, the work required and the value of the pictures. Please don’t expect something for nothing. We run our business exactly the same as all other businesses: we’re trying to make money!
• No assignment is ever “just a few minutes” and besides, we don’t charge by the hour. Good rule of thumb is that for every hour of photography, there’s two hours of computer time.
• We don’t work for credit lines or exposure. Credit lines are the law in Canada and exposure doesn’t buy a lot of groceries. You don’t work for free, neither do we.
• Please don’t expect us to finance or subsidize your business. Just as your company must pay its employees on time, we also appreciate being paid on time.
• Our job is to produce great photographs for you. Anything beyond that is beyond our control. Don’t ask us to indemnify your company against any use of the pictures. Photographers are neither publishers nor lawyers. Please take responsibility for the actions of your employees and your company.
• We cannot legally copy another photographer’s work. Please don’t hand us a magazine picture and ask for the same photo.
• Please tell us who’s who at your event. We don’t know your executives or their spouses.
• During a photo session, if we ask your executive to sit on the conveyor belt, stand in the middle of the road, toss the product into the air, or do any other seemingly odd thing, it means we may have a great idea. Trust us. Getting something different can be a huge winner when it comes to media attention.
• If Brad Pitt and George Clooney have to wear makeup for their work, then there’s nothing embarrassing about your male executives wearing a touch of makeup for their portraits, if need be.
• Since there are many ways to do any photo, we need to know what the pictures will be used for. What message are you trying to send? What are your expectations?
• Simple expectation doesn’t necessarily mean a simple picture.
• A simple picture doesn’t necessarily mean inexpensive.
• Don’t be afraid to use black and white photography.
• Photoshop can work miracles. But if you’re expecting a miracle, then expect to be amazed by our fee.
• While it may look like we just push a camera button, it’s actually far more involved than that.
• It really is necessary to edit the pictures. Depending the job, this can take several minutes to a few days to complete. Please remember to budget for this.
• If you’re not sure, ask. There are no stupid questions. (Actually, there are but we promise not to laugh).
• Your feedback on the pictures is important to us.
• Photographers love what they do and take pride in their craft. Making good pictures is very important to us because we take it personally. It’s much more than just a job.
Tags: hiring a photographer, rant
Should that read “credit lines are AGAINST the law in Canada”?
Great post otherwise!
Against the law?? In Canada, the author of the work (eg. a photographer) has the right to have their name published with that work. The author also has the right to choose any name they might want, for example: the author can use their real name, their web site name, their business name, a pseudonym or even be anonymous.
The bad news is that a publisher can make the credit line very, very small or bury the credit line on a back page.
Added Oct. 4: The ASMP “Strictly Business” blog has a post which states, “Which reminds us- a photo credit is worth so much more than the fee. It is being seen by millions of people…” This post has lots of typos and grammar mistakes which, to me, pretty much kills any credibility. If a writer can’t be bothered to check their work, that shows a lack of respect for the readers. Nevertheless, the post is here:
http://www.asmp.org/strictlybusiness/2010/10/thoughts-on-editorial-photography/
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