What’s Your Preference?

Jim Bryant · #1 (**permalink**) 04-11-2009, 04:03 PM

We all make our own decisions about rates based on our Cost of Doing Business and different stages in our lives, but I'll tell you what I know from personal experience. We try to license images, not sell them etc.

One of the definitions I've heard of a "professional" photographer is that we just throw away a lot more film -- or these days, we delete a lot more pictures. There's several ways to take that of course, but the point being that we shoot way more than we think we need to because we're being paid to get The Shot, every time, without excuses. Face it, there's lots of good, cheap gear out there, and with digital it's all the easier to blast away until there's probably one or two good frames on the card. So the premium that we as pros can offer, is the implied guarantee. If our client isn't happy, we do it again, because we're being paid a decent sum to, more or less, guarantee the consistent results we demonstrate in our portfolios, on our websites, and from tearsheets and other previous work.

Some clients are going to value that security and that guarantee, and others aren't. If a magazine doing a cover feature on Microsoft has exactly five minutes of Mr. Gates' time to get The Cover Shot, you damn bet that they're going to pay a premium to feel comfortable with the photographer they're hiring. Likewise for a (hopefully) once in a lifetime event like a wedding -- many people feel more comfortable paying more up front to buy that feeling of knowing the job'll be done right.

But up-and-coming bands play dozens or hundreds of shows per year. If the drummer's best friend's cousin's boyfriend with a digital Rebel (or better yet, an iPhone with a built-in 5MP camera) doesn't get The Shot tonight, then they can always try again tomorrow, or the next night at Joe's BBQ, or next Saturday in Tacoma. There's no urgency, and therefore no reason to pay for the guarantee of The Shot. But when it comes time to shoot the cover art for the new cd and the AD at the record company is screaming for the image to meet a midnight deadline for the printers in China, I'll bet 100:1 that the band doesn't call the boyfriend -- they'll look for somebody who's demonstrated they can get The Shot every time. And they'll be more willing to pay a premium for it.

Selling yourself as a professional in this field means having the confidence to stand behind your work, and your ability to produce that work EVERY time. The up side is that you get to charge accordingly -- you also have a responsibility to do so, both to yourself and your own business, and to your profession. Will clients always want, or be able, to pay for that security? No, some not every time and some just not ever. But many will. The trick is to know how to separate the two, how to market yourself to justify the premium of hiring a real pro, and how to not accept jobs that undercut your ability to charge that "pro premium".

Everyone does have to decide for themselves about their CODB. There are certainly infinite scenarios by which to weigh the value of the $250 fee in this case, the details of which I think we've all been making various assumptions about. When someone comes to me with a limited budget I try to offer them a solution that scales the production to fit that budget. But if it doesn't look like a profitable situation for me I would also say thanks but no thanks. In another photographer's case they might have asked themselves, "Okay. What can I come up with for this band that we can knock off in less than an hour? If I come away with $$$$ in my pocket at the end of the hour, okay." Only that photographer knows all the details. Not every job is a huge big budget project or even a full day shoot.

I'm grateful that most of us in this thread still seem to be in a circumstance where by we can continue to have cordial discussions about our efforts to maintain certain professional standards and practices.

If you do low paying or buyout jobs with clients, don't ever expect anything but low paying or buyout requests from those clients. You are stuck for the life of that client. I have never heard of anyone "breaking in" by doing low pay or buyout jobs. Please post and tell me I'm wrong. I'd like to hear some success stories.

Even in the motion picture industry which is full of "work for nothing" crew. Once the director gets some money for the next project they never hire the low paid crew from before. They always hire better, higher paid crew for the next job.

If for some reason your CODB can allow low paying jobs today, then great for you I suppose, but don't expect anything better from those jobs tomorrow. It is very very unlikely.

So, to clarify, I was never suggesting that someone should go out, shoot all day and hand over images and rights for $100.00 - $200.00. (I'd need at least $300 for that. Kidding!) I was trying to suggest that for some people in today's economy $100.00 - $200.00 might be worth considering (depending on the circumstances of course). But as some of the others have added, there are valid reasons for being cautious about that situation.

I don't know what your CODB, is but with all my expenses, upgrades in computer/software, photographic equipment, studio equipment, utilities, vehicle expenses, insurances, it costs me more than $200 just to turn the key in the studio door every morning. And I don't know of any place in the US where your CODB will be much less than $200 a day unless you or your spouse has a fulltime job, or someone else is paying your rent/house payments. Yea.........don't forgot about the wear and tear on your photography equipment.

But, If you continue to take jobs for less than your cost of doing business (CODB) established professional photographers won't have to worry about you for very long because you will go broke before you're able do to much more damage to the profession.

SusanH1970 · #2 (**permalink**) 04-11-2009, 04:17 PM

Excellent info and food for thought, Jim. Thanks for posting.

autofocus · #3 (**permalink**) 04-11-2009, 04:29 PM

Here, here Jim...I concur 100%!

slimgoodie_5 · #4 (**permalink**) 04-12-2009, 07:08 PM

That was a good post and I learned alot from just reading that post.

thanks

navcom · #5 (**permalink**) 04-13-2009, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Bryant

Yea.........don't forgot about the wear and tear on your photography equipment.

But Jim, I was told that images taken with a digital camera are free? And I already own a computer, so using that is free too......right? So why should I be worrying about my CODB?

OK, enough sarcasm. Nice post Jim! Great advice!

private · #6 (**permalink**) 04-13-2009, 08:00 PM

If you do low paying or buyout jobs with clients, don't ever expect anything but low paying or buyout requests from those clients. You are stuck for the life of that client. I have never heard of anyone "breaking in" by doing low pay or buyout jobs. Please post and tell me I'm wrong. I'd like to hear some success stories.

Jim - I just went to a seminar by Sandy Puc and that is exactly what she did. BUT, all that being sd, I think taking photos of people's kids is a whole different animal in the zoo that is photography. Many photographers have music on their site, many do selective coloring and even more charge $10-15 for an 8x10 and gradually raise their price as they start to get a following. People will happliy pay $10 for an 8x10 but if they don't like the photo - they will not come back AND they will tell their friends and then people will not even pay $10 for the photo. FYI, sandy now charges $150 for an 8x10.