Getting What You Paid For

A Canadian TV network, for several years, hired five photographers to cover an annual live event it hosted and broadcast. The photos were used for its web sites, media handouts, and annual report. Each photographer earned $2,000 for shooting the four-hour event.

During the event, the workflow is fast and demanding: full-resolution images are edited, captioned and uploaded within 15 minutes of being taken so third-party news outlets can use them. Lower-resolution photos are posted to the network’s various websites. Two photo editors are hired to continuously process images throughout the event.

Last year, someone at the network tried to cut costs. They hired only two photographers and filled the gap by using three of its employees. The network rented three pro cameras, three pro lenses and one pro flash for these employees to use. The cameras were set to full auto mode by the rental shop.

The TV network was trying to save $6,000, (or actually less than that, if you include the cost of the camera rentals), at an event that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, or more, to produce.

You Get What You Pay For

About thirty minutes into last year’s event, the network’s director of communications came running into the photo room. She said “their” pictures were horrible: out of focus, too dark, and poorly composed. She was embarrassed and worried that executives and sponsors were seeing them online.

The communications director demanded that two more professional photographers be brought in *immediately!!* and said she would pay whatever they asked.

Two pros were called, arrived as fast as they could, and quickly brought the coverage up to standard, including reshooting some of the work done by the staffers.

After the event, the communications director returned to the photo room beaming. The executives, she said, were thrilled with the final images.

This year, the TV network again hired five photographers, but this time at $2,400 each.