For Photographers

Bureaucratic Red Tape

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From shooting assignments at four large companies over the past three weeks:

• For an editorial portrait of an executive, that executive’s telecom company required every e-mail to be cc’d to the following people:

– the photo subject’s executive assistant

– the executive assistant’s assistant

– the director of national marketing and communications

– the communications senior manager

– the public relations senior manager

– legal affairs

– the social media manager

– an outside public relations and marketing agency

– building management

– building security

 

• Another corporate client had to add me to its vendor list. To do this, the company sent four documents for me to complete. One of these documents was five pages long. The documents were then sent to three people at two sister companies in two countries.
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Corporate art and copyright

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A recent magazine assignment had me photographing in a Toronto law firm’s office. The reception area, conference rooms and hallways looked more like an art gallery than an office. It’s become common for corporate offices to be decorated with original artwork.

When hired to shoot an executive portrait, a corporate photographer might be tempted to photograph the person in front of a piece of office artwork because it adds a point of interest. But beware of copyright issues.

(I’m not a lawyer so don’t believe anything you read here . . . )
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Artist Resale Rights

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If a Canadian photographer sells a print to someone, that person can resell the print any time they want, for any price. The photographer has no say in the matter and does not get any portion of the proceeds. The Canadian Copyright Act currently does not include the right of resale nor a droit de suite. However these rights can be reserved by contract.

Private Member’s Bill C-516 (Artist’s Resale Right Act), a proposed amendment to the Copyright Act, is still before Parliament. It proposes “a right to a [5%] resale royalty on any sale of the work for five hundred dollars or more that is subsequent to the first transfer of ownership by the author.”

The proposed Act would apply to public resales by art dealers, museums, art auction houses and art galleries, but not to private sales between individuals.

Some countries, art dealers and auction houses already recognize an artist’s resale right.

But sadly, unlike other countries’ laws and the USA’s proposed ART Act, Canada’s Bill C-516 excludes photography.

 

Please check the date of this article because it contains information that may become out of date. Tax regulations, sales tax rules, copyright laws and privacy laws can change from time to time. Always check with proper government sources for up-to-date information.

 

Canadian photographers and spam

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In a few days, on July 1, 2014, Canada’s new anti-spam law comes into effect. It will probably affect many professional photographers.

Two things to remember: (i) the law is brand new and nothing has been tested in court, and (ii) I’m not a lawyer.

Basically, the law states that a business cannot send a commercial electronic message without having the recipient’s prior consent.

What’s a “commercial electronic message”?
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Use You Clues

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When a customer is searching for a photographer, they don’t just look for pretty pictures on a web site and the lowest price. Instead, they’re looking for clues that a particular photographer is worth hiring at whatever price they might charge. The customer is looking for value which is quite different from low price.

Every professional photographer pretty much uses the same camera equipment, same computer and same software. Most photographers can, more or less, shoot the same pictures although this can vary by a huge margin. So how do you increase your value to the customer?

You have to offer something that customers can’t get from any other photographer. And what can’t they get from any other photographer?
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Transactional or relational photography?

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In general, there are two types of customer: transactional and relational. Although, most customers alternate between the two, depending on what they’re purchasing.

A transactional customer cares mostly about the current purchase and its price. For example, you probably have transaction-based interactions with gas stations, convenience stores, grocery stores, auto insurance agencies (at least here in Ontario), carpet cleaners, etc. You don’t really care which business you purchase from, you just want a good deal. Most customer interactions are transactional.

A relational customer, as the name suggests, is more interested in forming an ongoing business relationship. A purchase is based not so much on price but on previous experiences with that vendor. This type of customer wants low risk more than low price. For example, you may have a relationship with your dentist, doctor, favourite camera store, car dealership, hairstylist, etc. A relational customer is often a repeat customer and they tend to spend more.
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Peak Photography Experience

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The word “photography” sounds a lot like “psychology” doesn’t it? :-)

To help market their business, a photographer is always told to be different from other photographers. But most photographers misunderstand what this means.

It’s not so much about the photographer being different but rather it’s about the customer being different. That is to say that a photographer might be considered different if they can make the customer feel different (i.e. more satisfied) compared to another photographer.

Psychologist Daniel Kahneman’s Peak-End Theory says that we judge a past experience not on the overall experience but rather on our memory of the peak moment(s) of that experience and how the experience ended.
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