For Photographers

Two-handed Catch

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A few days ago, I was watching a commercial photographer do his thing before the start of a company’s annual meeting. The photographer was shooting a group picture of the chairman, the CEO, the president and the entire board of directors.

The photographer had one camera, one lens, one tripod, one large strobe, one light stand, one sync cord and one power cord for the flash. Since the group photo was to take only a few minutes, why bring backup equipment? What could possibly go wrong?

Let’s see:

• His power cord failed. The cord was frayed and worked intermittently. It didn’t help that the cord was left loose to zig-zag across the hotel conference room floor where everyone was stepping on it. Hotel staff had to run and find another cord.

• His lens failed. Something apparently went wrong with the focusing. He borrowed a lens from me since I use the same brand of equipment.

• His sync cord malfunctioned. So with one hand, the photographer fired his camera (on a tripod) using a slow shutter speed and then, with his other hand, quickly reached over to manually fire the flash during the exposure.

His two-handed performance was certainly entertaining to watch.

 

One Price Fits No one

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One problem when a photographer charges a one-size-fits-all photo fee, (i.e., an hourly fee or a day rate), is that the photographer ends up providing a variety of services to their clients all for the same price. 

For example: an editorial customer may require the photographer to use one camera to cover a one-hour press conference. A corporate customer may need the photographer to bring four cases of equipment to produce several studio-quality executive portraits within an allotted one-hour period.

Those two assignments require different equipment, different skills and different talents. So why should both clients pay the same price (i.e., the same hourly fee or day rate)?

Charging by the hour can even penalize the customer.

For example: a certain photo might take one hour to shoot or it might take four hours. Either way, the benefits to the customer are the same. Charging by the hour would mean that the customer pays more for the “slower” photographer yet gains no additional benefits.

Pricing based on photography and usage may be confusing to some customers but it allows the photographer to customize the price to suit each customer’s exact needs.

 

Colourful Year

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Are you feeling stressed? Does your spirit need to be lifted? Do you need a healthy glow? Then have we got the cure for you: a big dose of Honeysuckle 18-2120.
The colourful folks at Pantone have declared that this is the colour for 2011. Please adjust your life accordingly.

 

Pitching For The Team

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It’s common practice for news photographers and editorial photographers to pitch photo ideas to newspapers and magazines. In fact, many publications expect this.

A smart commercial photographer or corporate photographer could do the same thing with clients with whom they already have a working relationship. But in this case, just pitching an idea isn’t good enough. The photographer must also sell the reason for the proposed photo coverage and the benefits of that coverage.
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Pictures by the numbers

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First basic rule of business: cash in must exceed cash out.

Revenue from assignment – cost of assignment = gross profit

Gross profit – overhead expenses = net profit (before taxes)

Revenue from assignment is what the client pays you, not including taxes.

Cost of assignment is expenses incurred to do the assignment.

Overhead expenses are expenses that have to be paid whether or not you have an assignment. For example: camera gear, computers, software, car, insurances, utilities, cell phone, rent, etc.

Net profit: if there’s any money here, remember that you still have to pay income tax plus all your normal living expenses.
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Different Value

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When you ask how to attract more customers to your photography business, the common answer is to stand out from the competition. But of course, this is easier said than done.

Most photographers use similar cameras, lenses, software, lighting equipment, and computers, and many are capable of producing images of comparable quality. So, how can you truly be different?

In the era of film photography, standing out was a bit easier. Back then, being different may have meant having the skill to track fast-moving subjects with follow-focus, knowing how to use flash/colour meters to accomplish great lighting techniques, having darkroom experience to make custom prints, using a large-format camera, or developing a unique photographic style.
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Dear Occupant

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Today, I received a “Dear Photographer” e-mail which proclaimed that I’m being considered for “free” inclusion in the next edition of a prestigious “Who’s Who” book. Supposedly, I’m one of the top, most distinguished photographers in North America. Being included in this book will mark my high level of achievement.

Yeah, right.

For fun, I visited this company’s web site:
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