The business side of photography
At the end of another year, I wanted to thank you for reading this blog.
This site was never meant to be a high-traffic web site filled with advertisements, affiliate links and product reviews. There are far too many other web sites like that.
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Public relations photography is, or at least should be, much more advanced today.
Today I received an unwanted press release from a Toronto public relations company. It was a good example of what not to do especially if you’re claiming to be a professional communications company.
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Imperfections and distractions in family photos aren’t often a big deal and can be easily overlooked. But if a picture is going to be printed large and hung on a wall then you might consider photo retouching to fix any technical errors, remove blemishes and enhance the image to look its best.
The purpose of a selfie with a celebrity is the brief(?) illusion that you and the celebrity are connected. You can bask in the reflected glory of the celebrity and the selfie is a trophy you can show others.
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A photographer recently emailed to ask about business taxes. Before I replied, I took a look at her web site. This photographer charges $40 per photo for family portraits and $30 per photo for business headshots. I answered their tax question and then asked why she charged so low.
The photographer replied that she always shoots at least 200 photos per family session and 100 photos per headshot session and the customer always buys several images.
We lose money on every sale but we make up for it with volume!
– Anonymous
Low prices can be an excuse for photographers who don’t want to get involved. They don’t want to work at their work. They don’t trust themselves to deliver good results so they don’t trust themselves to have higher prices.
Low prices are for photographers who refuse to take responsibility for their work. If their pictures turn out poorly, they can hide behind their prices and say, “What did you expect? It was only $99.”
A photographer who charges appropriately has their reputation at stake with every customer. Higher prices compel the photographer to deliver better results to the customer.
When a photographer sets higher prices, they intentionally have nowhere to hide. And they’re proud of it because they’re not looking for excuses.
Higher prices don’t just help a photographer’s bank account because higher prices are also a win for the customer.
This is another view-from-my-office photo.
Would you pay $1,000 for a business headshot?
The Wall Street Journal published an article about the value of professionally done business headshots for people seeking a career boost. (This alternative link doesn’t have the photos included in the original article but that’s actually a good thing. The glaring irony of the original article about the value of headshots is that the headshot examples are rather plain or poorly done.)
People sometimes confuse photo retouching with the generic term “airbrushing.” A person will often ask that their picture be airbrushed when they really mean they want technical errors fixed (e.g. too light, too dark, bad colour, etc.), distractions removed, the background changed, a building straightened, etc.
