portraits

Magic Act

Some photographers charge more, other photographers charge less, and some photographers undercharge and effectively work for nothing. But I’ve never heard of a photographer who overcharges or gouges customers.

A fellow corporate photographer recently wondered what he should tell potential clients who point out that another photographer charges much less than he does. Perhaps this might help:

Photographers are not economic magicians. When a photographer charges less, it means the customer is getting less. There’s no way around it. Maybe it’s less quality, maybe less service, maybe less experience. But it’s always less. The customer has to decide if they’re willing to settle for less.

If the pictures are not important then it might be okay to take a chance with low-priced photography. But smart companies know to always avoid risk because cheap can sometimes be too expensive.

My photography business doesn’t settle for less, (which is why I buy only premium cameras, lenses, computers, software, etc.), and I refuse to offer less because my customers are important.

I want my customers to succeed in their business marketing and I want my pictures to play a part in that success. I don’t cut corners and give customers less because that would only undermine their business goals.

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Time and Space

Professional photo shoots can be more complex than clients expect. After seeing multiple equipment cases wheeled into their office and a slew of lights set up, it’s not uncommon for clients to say, “Wow, all this for just one picture?” or “I didn’t think this was a Hollywood movie!”

Some photography can be done with minimal gear in small spaces. But other projects may demand extensive lighting setups which require more time and space.

When a client insists, “It’s just a couple of pictures, it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes,” photographers often smile in knowing recognition.
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$900 Headshot

Many professional photographers do business headshots. A quick web search shows:

• One Toronto photographer charges $29 for business headshots. One wonders why he even bothers to charge anything at all. In the end, $29 is the same as $0 to his business.

 

• Another Toronto photographer, who claims 18 years in the business, charges $60 for headshots – cash only, please. Many of the sample photos on his site were stolen from other photographers. Using Google, it’s easy to trace the pictures back to the original sites. In this case, buyer beware.

 

• A Toronto-area photographer, charges $1,000 for “unlimited” business headshots. The fine print says that, for $1,000, he will come to your office and shoot as many portraits as you want in three hours.

This guy claims that he once did 84 headshots in three hours. He goes on to brag on his web site: “that’s one headshot every two minutes!” If you do the math, that’s about $12 per portrait.

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Consistent Business Portraits

A potential corporate client reached out, requesting a photographer who could replicate the look of their previous business portraits. Their new employees needed headshots that matched the style of the existing ones.

Matching previous portraits is a common request, and it reflects a company’s understanding of the importance of consistency in business messaging. Consistency fosters a sense of stability, which in turn builds trust.

Trust is built with consistency. – Lincoln Chafee, US state governor

It’s typically easy to match the style of existing business portraits but I asked the company to provide samples of the previous images, just to be sure.

Oiy!
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Failing A Class

It’s not even necessary to read the news story. The picture says it all.

In a Grade 2 class photo, all the students are grouped together in the centre. Except one. A student in a wheelchair is off to the side. The child’s father said he cried when he saw the photo.

The picture is not just thoughtless, it’s also bad photography. It shows how not to do a group photo. The picture is what you get from an inexperienced photographer. School portrait companies, in this case, Lifetouch, are notorious for having a high turnover of photographers.

Lifetouch says, “Our school photographers take their role in preserving memories seriously” and “Our school photographers are committed to making each child feel special and valued.” It seems the company failed this class.
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Fear Photography

As a photographer, which would you prefer: lots of low-paying customers or only a few high-paying customers? For example:

Photographer A shoots three business portraits every week at $100 each. His annual gross revenue is 3 X $100 X 52 = $15,600.

Photographer B does only one business portrait every other week at $600. Her annual gross is 1 x $600 x 26 = $15,600.

Which is better: low price with high volume or high price with low volume?
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There’s No Money in Cheap

Some photographers still insist on pricing below cost or competing only on price. In the race to the bottom, these photographers will always win, or lose, depending on how you look at it.

If a photographer sells very cheaply or works for free, hoping that customers will one day agree to pay much more or that a huge volume of work will magically appear, then this photographer will be greatly mistaken.

On April 6th, CPI Corp., the company that owned and operated all of the Sears portrait studios and about 20% of the Walmart portrait studios, in the USA, shut down its US operations. Its Canadian in-store studios are, so far, unaffected.

CPI, (in)famous for its dirt cheap portraits and free prints, was ….. (wait for it) ….. losing too much money. It owes about US$174.8 million. Creditors gave the company until April 6th to repay US$98.5 million. So CPI is a winner in the race to the bottom!
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