One of my photojournalism students is in the business school program. She is thinking about pursuing photography and is very enthusiastic about learning more about the craft.
She asked for my advice. I told her to stay in the business program. I was not suggesting she ditch her photography dreams. In the competitive environment of photography, she will need business skills to be successful.
Photography businesses are opening and closing every month. There are a lot of well-intentioned people who are passionate about photography and decide to pursue their dream.
Many amateurs have spent months or years dabbling and creating beautiful images. Eventually opportunities arise for their images to be published online or in print. They don’t care much about the money; they’re excited about the opportunity to be published.
Soon, friends will ask to have a family portrait taken or even a wedding shot. Often this is done as a favor or for just enough money to cover expenses. The opportunity for experience and portfolio material can’t be passed up. Some budding photographers discover micro-stock and start to earn a little extra cash. Eventually, it is time to strike out on their own.
The first step often is setting up an Internet site to display their favorite images to the world. Do they hire a Web designer, a marketing consultant, a high-end hosting service, employ the most expensive photography lab, and print their cards and brochure at the custom local print shop? Most beginning photographers do not.
The idea behind it is why pay for these services when there are cheap or free alternatives. Yet, when it comes to their photography services, these good-hearted people wonder why clients are not willing to pay extra for their work.
I asked my student to tell me the foundation of business. She answered, supply and demand. Although demand has increased for good imagery, the photography community has increased supply at a much faster pace.
Does this mean that my student and the future hobbyist-turned- pro will not be able to make a living? Of course they can.
Sadly, many will not because they don’t understand business.
Don’t blame the amateurs and hobbyists. They are presented with what seems like a great opportunity. Technology is to blame. You’d do the same thing. It just means more to you when it’s your livelihood flooded with competition and cheap alternatives.
I always laugh when I hear the words “people should” coming from young artists’ mouths. They say, people should appreciate … people should want … people should look … people should care.
When it comes to running a business, it’s all about what consumers actually value and desire. A photographer must create images that are in demand. The key is to go above and beyond what anyone can do with basic equipment. The distinction comes from unique lighting and post-production skills.
The photographer must also charge enough so she will be able to pay bills and live comfortably until the next assignment. Unfortunately, most photographers don’t see the value of their work and under charge.
A good, full-time wedding photographer should book 40 weddings a year. At 10 hours a wedding (on site) that is 400 hours a year. If a photographer wishes to make $50,000 a year, she should be making at least $125 per hour, plus expenses.
When figuring expenses, a business person must consider everything. How much does he wish to live on? How much is home, car and medical insurances? What do you need for food, gas and equipment?
On a basic level, business will always be about supply and demand. If you are creating what is in demand the next question is are you charging enough? All expenses must be less than the income received for products and services produced. Lastly, is there enough money left over to promote, invest and keep creating?
Listed below are some cost-of-doing-business calculators that will help you determine what you should charge to make a living.
http://www.freelanceswitch.com/rates/
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Tags: Add new tag, Arts and Entertainment, business, marketing, Money, Photographer, photography, photojournalism, Website
Good advice for the aspiring photography. I’d add that John Harrington’s “Best Business Practices For Photographer” and the ASMP “Professional Business Practices in Photography” both make essential reading. In fact, I wish I could have read them before I ever had a client.
I 100% agree Craig. Johns book and ASMP both have some excellent information.
http://su.pr/2xwYH0 – harrington
http://www.asmp.org
Dead on, as usual. Supply and demand is like gravity…whether we want to believe in it or not doesn’t change the fact that it exists. There are many other industries going through similar transitions; a fixed or shrinking demand and a massive supply of vendors willing to sell their services for next to nothing. While it’s every photographers right to charge as little as they want to compete for business, it should come to no surprise that people won’t choose to pay more than they have to for what they perceive to be a similar end result.
I really liked your point about the double standard that we are probably all guilty of. We don’t spend money on products and services that we can find cheaper elsewhere, yet we all wish clients would pay us more for our own work.
If you want to be financially successful in this or any business, you have to offer something that people want and that few others are offering.
Create art on your own terms, according to your unique vision. Set a minimum price you are willing to work for. If that gets you 1 job a year rather than 100, at least you’ll have the pride of knowing that YOU see the value in your work, despite a limited market or lower priced alternatives. Because if you don’t see the value, why would your customers?
Great post! Couldn’t agree more.
I teach local photographers here, and I am always amazed to find out what they are charging once they start picking up some freelance work. Most forget to factor GEAR into their costs for the year. That means computer, hard drives (and more hard drives), supplies, gas, etc and not just photography equipment and stationary supplies. Basically everything you need JUST to open the door for business.
If you are not taking these factors into account when deciding what to charge for your services, you are asking for trouble. What happens when you put your camera down on the beach and a wave laps up over it at a wedding? Your on the hook for a new camera, out of pocket and FAST. Most insurance won’t cover this (oh yes, commercial insurance is also one of your operating expenses).
It’s one thing to be competitive with your prices, and it’s another to price yourself out of a job in a year or two once your expenses catch up with you.
I loved reading this post! I am trying to say these exact things to folks who are asking our advice. It’s a business- you need to remember that…. Excellent read and excellent comments. Now if we could only get the right folks to read it, hear it and take it to heart.
Great article! Raised lots of good points. It gets a little muddy for me around the supply and demand aspect. EVERYBODY’s got a camera these days! True, your work needs to stand out. And then…. people have to feel that they need your work! And, be willing to pay for it! All in a lousy economy!
It ain’t easy out there, that’s my experience. I tell people that making a living as a photographer is just like being on a leaky life raft. If you don’t keep bailing, you’re going to sink. period.
Thanks again for a great, thought-provoking article, and the subsequent comments.
May each of us have a prosperous 2010!
Great post Rosh! I get at least two phone calls a week from young photographers trying to get started in the industry. I think I will refer them to your article instead of trying to explain it myself to them.
Well done.
Great comments by all today. Thank you for the great input. This post went over very well. Today was the biggest day on new media photographer ever.
Rosh
Frederic was having trouble posting tonight so he emailed his comment in. …….
From Frederic:
I would like to add something to this post. Do you remember your last post about the new model pricing for wedding? http://su.pr/5z7qaY
I applied it last week on the 3 concerts I had. The Rosh idea (I like it to call like this) came in the conversation with the manager of the events. He was thinking that my hourly was too high. So, I offered him to shoot for free and then they can buy every single images they like. You know want? I made more money than if I were just paid at the hourly rate. Amazing, isn’t it? But be aware it may not work all the time on every event. But it’s something that you can keep in mind…
Fred
Thanks Rosh. Hope this one it’s working? Maybe it was the su.pr link…
I couldn’t agree more. I’ve seen some great photographers end up back in the corporate world because they simply couldn’t get the business side down.
I coach photographers and always teach them to work backwards. If you want to make $100,000 this year, and want to shoot 40 weddings, that means your packages sold have to equal $2500. Once you have your basic numbers down, you can work from there. Is $2500 possible in your area? If not, you may need to add more weddings. Can you increase your package to $3500? Then you won’t have to photograph 40 – you’ll only need around 30. The key is knowing up front what you want, and working for that number.
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Any journalism students should be aware of the business environment they are moving into. Ask yourself and your friends what they are willing to pay for media content.
And then take a listen to ‘Newsonomics’ program or read the book for a bigger picture look at the future of the business.
The Question: Would you ever pay for a newspaper?
http://www.thenextgreatgeneration.com/2009/11/02/question-paid-newspaper/
‘Newsonomics’ Predicts The Future Of The Media
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123609984
This is a great article with many excellent comments to boot!