Giving up Rights

[Jim Bryant]

I apologize in advance for opening yet another can of these worms but I'm
seeing this article spread by my photographer contacts in my social media
circles and thought it deserved some attention here.

"Photographers Start to Give Up on Copyright Restrictions"
Photographers Start to Give Up on Copyright Restrictions

Although I disagree strongly with the sentiments expressed in the article, I
find myself torn as I'm seeing both an increase in loss of potential new
clients due to my philosophy of not including sweeping licenses for a low
fee, as well as pressure from existing return clients to loosen up my
licensing (or rather, include more use for less $). I suppose I'm not
looking for any answers - at least I don't have any new questions that
others haven't asked here many times before - but am simply sharing my
frustrations.

[Jim Poor]

I read that article and my thoughts were that it would be okay to include those broader licenses for personal uses provided the fees are high enough.

They don't have to be called licensing fees, just add them in.

[Jim Bryant]

That would work too.

[mipo]

Just a thought, this may work. Or could be another option

May be let the customer print himself the pictures he has on a CD/DVD.
At regular retail store with the so-so print quality you usually get from discount places.

But when the customer is in the studio, have on display high quality & large size pictures of your work.
May be also in high quality framing.
And let the customer know that it is a service offered by your studio over and above regular packages.

Also you get to mostly do high margin prints instead of volumes.
And when the customer receives is prints from the discount volume printing and he compares with the high quality pictures he has seen in the studio, you'll get a call.


Ps. I am not a pro (I do not sell any services) but have been into photography for almost 40 years now.

[MattG]

Actually one of the most impressive demonstrations I have seen on photo printing was at the Calumet store in London, They had a selection of good grade photo papers with the matched printers and a set of images printed on each. These clearly showed the impact of the paper/ink combination to the final printed image. The price differential disappeared when looking at these at the quality/look each variation gave was all I could focus on...

I suspect it might be of use in having a printed portfolio of Costco images versus your labs so that the average consumer can see the difference.

[GadgetRick]

Originally Posted by MattG

Actually one of the most impressive demonstrations I have seen on photo printing was at the Calumet store in London, They had a selection of good grade photo papers with the matched printers and a set of images printed on each. These clearly showed the impact of the paper/ink combination to the final printed image. The price differential disappeared when looking at these at the quality/look each variation gave was all I could focus on...

I suspect it might be of use in having a printed portfolio of Costco images versus your labs so that the average consumer can see the difference.

You have to be careful with this approach as well. Many people won't notice the quality difference and, if they do, may not be willing to pay the premium for the better quality. Costco may be, "good enough," for them. Also, some places (Walmart, etc.) actually don't do a horrible job at prints. I've had 8x10s done there when I needed them right away.

If you're going to do this just be sure there is a NOTICEABLE difference in quality. Otherwise people will just think you're crazy.