The business side of photography
How do you define the term “professional photographer”? The common answer is that a professional photographer is someone who gets paid to take pictures.
Of course that’s wrong.
There are many people who get paid for taking photos and they’re nowhere near professional, either in the quality of their work or the quality of their business, assuming they even have a business. Also, a good photographer is not necessarily a professional photographer.
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For professional photographers in British Columbia and Ontario: the new Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) starts on July 1, 2010, but the effects of this new tax start two months earlier on May 1st.
Starting in May, you must charge HST on any photography that will be delivered/completed on or after July 1st. If you complete a project and deliver the photographs before July 1st but invoice the customer after July 1st, then you must charge HST. Generally, the HST is applicable to any amount that becomes due on or after July 1st. But to no one’s surprise, there are several exceptions and special situations. Federal government information is here.
For clients who currently pay GST and PST, there will be no change in the total amount of tax they pay. For clients who now pay only GST, they will have to pay more tax. These latter (commercial) clients should be able to get the tax rebated to them.
The new HST will benefit registered photographers since it’ll be easier for them to claim tax credits for the provincial sales tax they pay on business purchases. But for consumers, the HST will do nothing but increase the amount of sales tax they pay.
Please check the date of this article because it contains information that may become out of date.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.
We’ve all heard the phrase “path of least resistance”. In nature, (and that includes us humans), when given the choice, the path of least resistance will always be chosen first. The path of least resistance is the path that leads to a destination that’s good enough.
This path can vary from person to person, depending on the situation at hand. For example:
For a cup of coffee, one person might walk to the next-door 7-Eleven store. It’s quick, the coffee is cheap, it’s good enough for right now.
Another person who wants something more flavourful and made-to-order, “good enough” means they may have no choice but to go several blocks for an expensive Starbucks coffee. More resistance involved but they deserve that coffee.
For someone who needs even more, they might drive a distance to a fancy hotel café which serves coffee in a fashionable location. Much higher resistance but being seen in that expensive restaurant will enhance this person’s reputation.
It never ceases to amaze me how some companies, even very large corporations, can bungle a simple photo op and totally sabotage its media coverage. This always ends with a “what were they thinking?”
Yesterday, Husky Energy barred the media from its annual general meeting in Calgary (updated story here). This story was picked up around the world in both news and business publications. What should’ve been a routine business story with a routine photo of its CEO, turned into the loud negative headline: “Husky Energy bars reporters from annual meeting”.
Of course, there were photos of Husky personnel blocking the doorway to the meeting and security escorting photographers off the property. The security guard picture was also picked up around the world.
Great PR move, folks!
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Basketball coaches seem to yell a lot. They yell to get the attention of their players, they yell when arguing with the referees and sometimes they yell for no apparent reason.
Basketball arenas are very noisy with non-stop loud music, shouting arena announcers and screaming fans. It would seem that the only way to be heard above the ambient noise is to yell.
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If you bought the same guitar as Eric Clapton, would you play music just like him? If you owned the same golf clubs as Tiger Woods, would you play golf just like him? If you used the same pen as J.K. Rowling, would your books be just as successful?
The answer to all of the above is, of course, a resounding “no”, (despite what the product manufacturers might say).
But yet, many people think that if they buy the same camera as a professional photographer, they will shoot the same pictures. Why?
From Margaret Atwood’s 2002 book Negotiating with the Dead :
To be an opera singer you not only have to have a voice, you have to train for years; to be a composer you have to have an ear, to be a dancer you have to have a fit body, to act on the stage you have to be able to remember your lines, and so on.
Being a visual artist now approaches writing, as regards its apparent easiness – when you hear remarks like “My four-year-old could do better,” you know that envy and contempt are setting in, of the kind that stem from the belief that the artist in question is not really talented, only lucky or a slick operator, and probably a fraud as well. This is likely to happen when people can no longer see what gift or unusual ability sets an artist apart.
The amazing technology built into digital cameras has created an under-appreciation and a devaluation of photography. Many forget that a camera is just a tool, like a guitar, a golf club or a pen. An experienced photographer is not someone who knows how to push a button. But rather, they know when to push that button. A professional photograph gets its value from what it shows and from what it doesn’t.
If online content becomes a free commodity, will your creative thoughts have any value? Of course, everyone loves free but sometimes free costs too much.
Should everything be supported by advertising so that all content can be free?
If yes, then is the ultimate conclusion that the only online content will be advertisements? Ads disguised as news. Ads disguised as entertainment. Ads disguised as relevant information.
Far-fetched?
