FOOD FOR THOUGHT... I had a person come up to me after seeing the lettering on my truck and say, "so your a photographer too." Anymore, I just cringe when I hear some tell me that. I asked this person what subject matter they shot. The response, maternity and newborns, mostly outdoors, which for me translated into, I am clueless about lighting. I also asked if is she was a member of the CPP or the PPA? This persons response, "I'm not a member of anything, but I guess I should look into joining a group"
What I thought about was a post another working professional photographer posted on his site about these kinds of and I use this term loosely, "professionals."
Where I live, the "professionals" are crawling out of the cracks in the sidewalks in droves.
The best I can do is try and educate one client at a time, about the importance of hiring a true professional to do the work. One who has years of experience, who either went to school, apprenticed with a real working professional photographer for at least 3 years or an equivalent of schools, workshops and experience.
This is from Ryan-Persona Studio's Facebook post.
From the MCP Actions Blog/e newsletter this morning:
Pricing Photography: How high should you be prices be?
Last week I ran across a photographer online who listed her prices in the sidebar of her blog/website. Her bio indicated that she was a “professional photographer” which of course is often used loosely in 2010. She said she had 5 years of experience shooting weddings, portraits and pets. In my opinion, her work did not appear to compete with many professional photographers I see daily. Her prices: $60 for all your photos from a portrait photography session on a disk. The print prices were extremely low. And that fee of $60 included the photo session too. I not only questioned how this might lower the bar for photography as a whole, but how she could make a living. Then again… maybe she is not earning an income from photography. She may be doing this as a “hobby” and just want gas money. She also may not be a legitimate business. And she may not be paying taxes. There are so many variables. I decided to post about this discovery on my Facebook Page thread. And the emotions, opinions and questions stirred. I know pricing is ultra controversial amongst professional photographers. Some photographers develop their prices based on what they want to make in a year, figuring in expenses, taxes, and other costs. Many photographers start out unsure what to charge. These photographers may pick numbers out of thin air. Many photographers research what other photographers in their area charge, and build pricing based on those numbers. I would love to get a dialog going here on the MCP Blog answering these questions in the comment section:
Do you consider yourself a professional photographer?
How to you determine your pricing?
Do you feel you are priced too low? high? or just right?
Do you price yourself based on others around you?
Based on your experience?
Or based on what you want to earn?
How does it make you feel when you see someone charging $60 for all photos on a disc, including the photo shoot?
Here is the entire article and it is a great read: http://www.mcpactions.com/blog/2009/10/12/how-should-i-price-my-photography-words-of-advice-from-jodie-otte/
I get many calls from people who want prints by the pound, or all the raw files because "they know how to use Photoshop." It's amazing the mindset the digital age has produced.
No comments:
Post a Comment