For Photographers

Pricing Photography for Social Media

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Photographers, in the old days, priced their photography based on its usage. Generally speaking, editorial had the lowest price, public relations and corporate had a mid-range price, and advertising had the highest price.

This worked quite well for 45 years or so. Then Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter came along.

The line between editorial, public relations, and advertising can be nearly invisible with social media. When a company publishes pictures on social media, is that editorial, public relations or advertising?

Every type of business communication is a form of marketing. At the very least, social media should be considered public relations rather than pure editorial even though it may use editorial photography.
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Let the Games Finally End

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Over the past 17 days, I drove 1,554 kilometres, ate 9 lunches and 14 dinners, paid $124.50 for parking and shot just over 7,000 pictures. I was covering the Pan Am Games in Toronto.

As expected, the Pan Am organizers, politicians and various Pan Am sponsors are claiming that the event was a runaway success and they’re now giddy with anticipation of hosting a Summer Olympics and even a World Expo. The Pan Am Games were a success only in that no disasters happened (not counting the billions of dollars spent).
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Talking a good picture

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Most portrait photography advice is technical such as what lens to use, how to position lights, what pose to use, etc. This is the easiest advice to offer but it’s also the least valuable.

You can do a good portrait with almost any lens in almost any type of light. The reason is that the content of a portrait always trumps the technical aspects of the photo.

Viewers don’t look at a portrait and say, “Wow, look at that lens choice!” or “I really like that 3:1 light ratio.” If a viewer notices the technique before the subject then the photographer has failed.

The most important factor in creating a good portrait is the ability to capture the moment when the subject’s character, personality or, to be overly dramatic, their soul, is reflected in their face.
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Fade to Blacks

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Every Canadian news outlet today reported that Blacks, a 67-year-old Canadian retail chain of 59 photography stores, will shut down within two months.

[Update: It didn’t completely shut down. See end of post].

(To be accurate: In 1930, Eddie Black opened a Toronto radio and appliance store, “Eddie Black’s Limited,” which later sold a few cameras. In 1947, his sons opened a section in the store that sold guns, fishing tackle and cameras. The following year, in 1948, the sons took over the business and launched “Eddie Black’s Camera Store.”)

Today’s news stories repeatedly mentioned that the increased use of cell phone cameras has killed the photo store. The irony is that Blacks is owned by a cell phone company.
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The Job of Photographer

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France’s Ministry of Culture and Communication released a survey titled, “Le métier de photographe” (The job of photographer). The study (il est en français) is based on a December 2014 questionnaire completed by 3,000 photographers in France.

The results may not be surprising to photographers but it can help to look at some numbers. Here are a few examples from this French survey:

— The number of people who call themselves a “professional photographer”:
1995 – 15,400
2000 – 14,100
2005 – 18,000
2014 – 25,000 (estimated)
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On your marks

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Earlier today, I received an e-mail that read:

Good morning!

I am looking for a photographer that has the equipment to remove watermarks from a school proof photo. I have a letter from lifetouch giving me permission to do so.
Is this something that your studio is able to do?
If not, are you able to refer me elsewhere?

With sincere appreciation,

(name redacted)

A school portrait business like Lifetouch or for that matter, any other type of photography business would not give permission to remove a watermark. It doesn’t make any sense.

This is like asking, “Can you shoplift a jacket for me? I have a letter from the store giving me permission to do so.”

As all professional photographers should know, it’s illegal (and here) to remove, alter, or hide, a watermark or copyright notice from a picture of which you don’t own the copyright.

As every consumer should know, the easiest way to remove a watermark from a photo is to pay for it.

 

Giving Away The Store

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Do you expect to get the entire pizza when you buy a single slice?

Would you ask the waiter for the rest of the bottle after you’ve bought one glass of wine?

Do you stay and watch every movie at the cineplex when you’ve bought a ticket?

Some customers hire a photographer and then expect (or demand) every picture that was shot.

The Customer

Why might a customer ask for every picture?

— Another photographer once gave the customer every picture and now that customer (incorrectly) thinks this is the normal practice.

— The customer thinks the photographer didn’t choose the best images and they’re worried that they’re missing out on something (i.e. FOMO).

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