Pricing commercial photography

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From time to time, potential customers and photo students will ask, “What’s the day rate for a corporate photographer in Toronto?”, “What does the average Toronto commercial photographer charge?” or “What’s the standard hourly fee for business photography?”

The answer to all of those questions is the same: no such fee exists. There is no day rate, no half-day rate and no hourly fee.

It would be like calling a restaurant to ask, “What’s the going rate for a dinner?”

Does anyone ever ask a dentist, “What’s your hourly charge?” 

Can you ask a shoe store clerk, “What’s the standard price for a pair of shoes?”

Professional photographers base their fee on how the pictures will be used, what’s involved in producing those pictures and the photographer’s talent, experience and overhead costs.

Since every job is different, there’s no one-size-fits-all price, no going rate, no standard hourly fee.

 

Corporate Photography Policy

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Most companies use photography on their web sites, social media, corporate blogs, printed brochures and marketing materials, in-house publications, trade show displays, and probably in several other ways. As such, it’s important that companies have a policy regarding the handling and storage of these photographs.

• By law, almost every picture is copyrighted. Permission to reproduce such photos needs to be in writing. Does a business have written permission for every picture it uses? Where are these written permissions kept?

• Professional photography is licensed for use and rarely, if ever, sold outright. Where does a company keep copies of these licenses and how are they tracked?

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Dim Bulb

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A photography article describes some tools that can be used to help get colour-correct photos. One such tool is the use of proper illumination for viewing prints.

I went to the website of a Florida-based company that was mentioned in that article and was deciding whether to purchase several of its $90 lamps. But before sending off a few hundred dollars, I looked at its About Us page. It was very obvious that something wasn’t right.

The About Us page yells, “Nice to meet you!” and then brags, “The truth is we’re a small company made up of real people – no drones here!” And right next to this statement, there’s a cheap, stock picture of anonymous people. (Available here, here and here).

If a company misrepresents its identity, can you trust what it says about its products?

Needless to say, I didn’t buy anything.

I don’t mean to pick on this one company because there are many other businesses, from small to international, that use cheap, anonymous, stock pictures for their business image. But it’s been proven that stock pictures push customers away; it makes them hide their wallets.

When a company uses stock pictures, it’s counterproductive. It fools no one but themselves.

 

Ten signs you’ve got a bad customer

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High-maintenance customers can be difficult to deal with. They can also damage a photographer’s business with their time-consuming and stress-inducing behaviour. You know you’re dealing with a bad customer when:

10. An abundance of e-mails pour in and each one is marked URGENT!!!

9. They expect the photographer to work for free in exchange for a credit line and they want unlimited use of all the photos.

8. They talk down to the photographer: “Can we work faster?”, “Are we sure that’s the best camera angle?”, “Did we check to make sure everyone’s in focus?” and they demand to see the LCD review of every picture.

7. At a publicity event, they expect the photographer to help set up the product displays, hand out brochures, and wear a t-shirt and baseball hat emblazoned with their company logo.

6. After a company party, they scold the photographer for not getting a picture of the CEO’s wife’s sister’s family who were sitting somewhere in the ballroom.

5. They expect everyone in the photos to look like magazine cover models. Otherwise it’s the photographer’s fault and they shouldn’t have to pay.

4. After being promised free, next-day, rush delivery, they still call two hours later demanding to know why the photos are so late.

3. They change their mind every day: “We want a photo of our factory” . . . “We’ve decided on a group shot of our sales department” . . . “It’s a photo of our sales department in front of the factory and make it look like a Vanity Fair cover.”

2. They try to negotiate a lower price after the job is done.

1. They’re late to pay.

 

The Three R’s for Photographers

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The previous post, directed towards business customers, was also indirectly aimed at photographers. It was pointing out that most customers don’t hire photographers for their pictures! Or to rephrase that: purely providing perfect pictures doesn’t please the paying people.

Some photographers will stress over whether to move a light a few inches this way or that way. They will agonize over precise white balance. They’ll suffer great pain if every pixel isn’t razor sharp or if the depth of field isn’t just right. But in most cases, customers don’t notice or even care about these things.

This is not to say a photographer can be sloppy in their work but that customers have different priorities.

For many customers, it’s more important that a photographer shows up on time, dresses and behaves appropriately, completes the photography efficiently and competently, and returns their calls or e-mails promptly.

A photographer’s business practices are more important than their photography skills. Yes, the photographer must be at least competent in their work. But good business practices can trump great photo skills. As the cliché says, running a photography business is 90% business and 10% photography.

Remember your three R’s: responsible, reliable, respectable.

 

Ten signs you’ve hired the wrong photographer

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You know you’ve hired the wrong photographer for your corporate photography or public relations photography when:

10. Their e-mail address is something like hotshotpixx@yahoo or flashphoto5000@hotmail.

9. They show up for your executive portraits wearing jeans and running shoes.

8. They frequently say, “Don’t worry, I can fix it later with Photoshop.”

7. At your event, they never stray more than an arm’s length away from the refreshments.

6. At your corporate event, they spend more time handing out business cards to your guests.

5. Low quality business portraits are blamed on the subjects’ lack of modeling skills.

4. After the assignment, they just transfer the images to a CD and hand it to you.

3. Offers a discount if you pay in cash and don’t want a receipt.

2. They give only verbal estimates.

1. They’re the cheapest photographer in town.

 

The Importance of Memories

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“Of all the many things that make up a wedding, few are more important than the photographs.”

That’s the opening sentence in a NY Times story about an ongoing lawsuit where a groom is suing his wedding photographer for $4,100 (cost of the photography) plus $48,000 to recreate the wedding so it can be re-photographed.

The groom claimed the photographer missed the last dance and the bouquet toss. He also stated he wasn’t happy with the finished pictures and that the two-hour wedding video was too short. His claim for emotional distress has already been denied.

And now some details: the wedding was in 2003; the couple separated in 2008; he filed the lawsuit in 2009 just before the six-year statute of limitations expired; the divorced was finalized in 2010; he has no idea where his ex-wife lives.

Read the New York TImes article for lots more information.

Last month, author Seth Godin wrote a blog post titled “Memories of Bitterness”. Although his post has nothing to do with the groom’s lawsuit, the underlying point to Godin’s post might be somewhat applicable. Customer service is about providing the customer with a positive buying experience.

 

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