Memorable (part 2)

No Comments

In his 2011 book, Moonwalking with Einstein, science writer Joshua Foer describes how someone can increase their memory. He learned of a technique while covering a national memory competition. The following year, Foer won that same competition using this very technique.

To improve one’s memory, Foer learned that one has to associate an image with the information that needs to be remembered. The more memorable that image, the better the chance of remembering. It’s possible that Allan Paivio’s Dual Coding Theory (visual explanation here ;-) ) might help explain this.

Alexandra Horowitz, a PhD in cognitive science who teaches psychology at Barnard College in the US, wrote, “… a simple fact of human cognition: we naturally remember visual images. … The less banal, the better. Quotidian scenes are forgettable. What snags the cells of our brains are disgusting, bizarre and novel images.”
Continue reading →

Memorable (part 1)

No Comments

A university study recently published in Psychological Science concluded that taking pictures may impede one’s memory. The press release is here.

A brief summary of this study: one group of people were asked to take some general pictures during an art museum tour. The next day, these people had difficulty remembering exactly what they had seen. A second group were asked to zoom in and photograph specific details of what they saw and to pay more attention to their photography. This group of people had a better memory of what they saw during their tour.

The researcher wrote, “In order to remember, we have to access and interact with the photos, rather than just amass them.” The study uses the silly phrase, “photo-taking impairment effect.”
Continue reading →

Marginally Cheaper By The Dozen

No Comments

You can tell that it’s getting close to year’s end as companies rush to get work done or hurry to spend any remaining budget. I’ve received nine inquiries for business portraits in the past two weeks, and each job had to be delivered and invoiced before December 31. The requests ranged from two to thirty business headshots.

One potential customer asked why I don’t offer a bigger volume discount for multiple business portraits. They wondered why the cost to shoot 30 business headshots didn’t drop to under $50 each.

Here’s why:
Continue reading →

Typecasting

No Comments

There’s a quote attributed to French author Antoine de Saint-Exupery that, roughly translated, says:

When you want to build a ship, don’t start by gathering wood, cutting boards and distributing the work, but awaken in men a desire for the vast and endless sea.

A similar philosophy could apply to photographers who seek quality customers. Instead of passively accepting any customer at any price level, it may be better to first teach customers to understand and appreciate the benefits of quality photography. Educated customers will expect more and pay more.

There are four types of customers:
Continue reading →

For Internet Slaves

No Comments

If you’re an “Internet slave”, read this New York Times article by writer and cartoonist Tim Kreider about working for free.

Practicalities aside, money is also how our culture defines value, and being told that what you do is of no ($0.00) value to the society you live in is, frankly, demoralizing. Even sort of insulting. And of course when you live in a culture that treats your work as frivolous you can’t help but internalize some of that devaluation and think of yourself as something less than a bona fide grown-up.

For most professional photographers, this should not be news. But photographers new to the business should pay attention.

 

More or Less

No Comments

Two photographers were talking shop. The first photographer said that he recently charged $7,000 to produce 14 portraits for a company’s annual report. The second photographer replied, “They should’ve called me. I would’ve done it for $2,000.”

And there’s the problem.

The second photographer said he would’ve been happy to do the same work for less money. If this photographer was smart, he should’ve asked, “What did you do to earn that fee?”

Of course, the better goal is to figure out how to be paid more. What would a photographer have to add in order to earn more?

Some photographers forget that it’s not supposed to be a race to the bottom. Photographers compete mostly with themselves. It’s not about charging less than another photographer but rather it’s about figuring out how to deliver more to the customer.

When the choice is between (a) doing the same work and getting paid more, or (b) doing the same work and getting paid less, it’s surprising how many photographers will choose less.

 

Stop Time

No Comments

When considering a potential purchase, a customer will, where possible, compare the price of the product or service to other similar products or services. But when a customer has no reference points to help determine the worth of a purchase, they will usually fall back on two old standbys: price per weight and price per hour.

For example, a customer will often assume that a 5-lb. box of Product A should be cheaper than a 10-lb. box of Product B and that a two-hour service should cost less than a four-hour service.

Many companies don’t have a lot of experience hiring a corporate photographer. This means they may have difficulty determining an acceptable price for professional photography. Is a particular photo commission worth $500 or $5,000?

To gauge a photographer’s price, a customer will often resort to hourly wages. For example, if a photographer charges $1,000 to shoot some business portraits over the course of two hours, the customer might think, “That’s $500/hour! That’s much too expensive!”

The cost of photography should not depend on time spent but rather on value gained. Pricing photography by the hour is like pricing books by the number of pages or pricing paintings by the square inches of canvas.

When assessing a photographer’s price, instead of reducing it to dollars per hour, ask how important that photography is to your company’s marketing plans. If the marketing value can’t be expressed in dollars per hour then neither should the photography.

 

css.php