The business side of photography
From time to time, newer professional photographers ask what they should do when a client is late to pay. The answer is easy: remind the customer to pay.
Okay, maybe it’s not quite that simple although it can be.
When a client hasn’t paid within the time period set by the photographer, often the reason is that the client has lost or misplaced the invoice, or they’ve simply forgotten to pay it. (Yes, it would be nice if we could “forget” to pay our bills.)
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From A to Z, here are some lesser-known photography phrases:
Aggressive pixels – A picture shot extremely tight. For example: when all others are using a 70-200mm lens, the photographer using a 400mm lens is said to be shooting aggressive pixels.
American Idol Effect – A reference to photo sites like Flickr.
Autotard – A photographer who always uses their camera on the “Auto” setting.
Available darkness – Shooting in a dark location without flash.
Baby zoomer – A wide-angle zoom lens.
Bacon assignment – A job that pays much more than it’s worth.
A year ago, I wrote a post about a Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) survey which showed that Canada’s top CEOs earned the equivalent of the average annual Canadian income by 2:30 PM on January 3rd, (based on 2009 numbers).
The CCPA released this year’s survey results (based on 2010 numbers). Canada’s top CEOs now earn the equivalent of the average annual Canadian income even sooner.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ annual look at CEO compensation reveals that by 12:00 noon on January 3rd, the first official working day of the year, Canada’s Elite 100 CEOs (the 100 highest paid CEOs of companies listed in the TSX Index) will have already pocketed $44,366. It takes the Average Joe an entire year, working full-time, to earn that same amount.
This represents a 27% pay increase from the previous year. The average Canadian received a 1.1% increase.
The CCPA has a depressing pay clock here.
Annual reports contain a mix of corporate photography, editorial photography and maybe a tiny amount of advertising photography. Other than to publish a company’s financial numbers, an annual report has to show what the company does, how it does what it does and show its accomplishments from the past fiscal year.
As we move into the traditional season for annual reports (i.e. late winter / early spring), here are some suggestions for annual report photography.
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Dear Santa,
Here’s my list for this Christmas. Please read it carefully so you don’t mix it up like you did last year:
• Less stress and more success.
• More spare time and less spare tire.
• Less grey hair and more grey matter.
• Big bank account and small credit card bills.
• Pay rates go up and camera prices go down.
• Large photo budgets and small copyright demands.
• Faster computer and slower deadlines.
I’ll be leaving some gluten-free, sugar-free, fat-free, nut-free, taste-free cookies on the front table along with a glass of soy milk. If things go well this year, I’m sure we’ll see the return of the frosted, double fudge, chocolate chip brownies and the grande caffé mocha with extra whipped cream next year.
Look through LinkedIn and notice how self-employed people describe themselves.
Corporate employees are often given a title by their company but a self-employed person can create any title they want.
It’s a safe bet that anyone who declares themselves to be an expert, evangelist, guru, life coach, influencer, disrupter, ambassador, thought leader, ninja or even a rockstar, probably isn’t.
What exactly do the titles “innovator” and “visionary” mean? One might wonder if “self-employed” is somehow related to “self-important.”
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On this blog, I’ve repeatedly mentioned that a company should never use stock pictures for its business image or marketing. This applies to running a photography business as well.
There’s a commercial photographer here in Toronto whose web site uses cheap, stock pictures taken from other web sites. In a slideshow to showcase his “talent”, none of the pictures were shot by this photographer. None whatsoever. Through the magic of the Web, stock pictures are easily traceable back to their sources.
If a photographer has to use someone else’s pictures, what does that say about their own work?
Not only does this make the photographer look bad, but one might wonder if this is legal. Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act (14(2) s.3, 8, 14) seems to suggest it isn’t.
Using stock pictures in place of real corporate photography or other custom business photography always costs too much. It can harm a company’s reputation and even land the business on the wrong side of consumer laws.
“We used stock pictures to save a few dollars,” is not a legal defense.
