Whoa! Boy have I opened a can of worms with this one....I guess what I have
achieved with this thread has been the most valuable thing that I needed to
learn. I think that what I really needed prior to embarking on this venture
was a bit of a confidence boost or a reassurance that what I am doing is
worth paying for. My one hour lab "friend" picks my stuff to pieces when I
show it to him, saying that I have used too little depth of field, or that
the kids ear is in focus more than his nose, or that a flower isn't placed
quite correctly (which pisses me off cause I know I have better composition
skills than him, if nothing else). I guess when it comes down to it, as
many of you have pointed out, if there are a couple of slight technical
errors in the shots, it doesn't really matter providing that the parents of
the kids are happy with what they've been given. So far, I have shot four
separate families (none of whom I charged anything except film and
processing) as well as my own kids a zillion times, and on each of these
occasions, the parents have been overjoyed with the results. I guess that
this reaction is what I should be basing my "rates" on, rather than what I
personally feel that I am "worth" or what some one hour photo guy (albeit
with many more years of experience than I) says...
To start with William (Bill) Robb, who said:
"Tanya, I am going to tell you exactly what I think, in my
typical understated, respectful and polite manner. If you are
easily offended, or your kids are reading, hit delete now.
Otherwise, there is a reply interspersed below"
hehe, my kids are only 3 and 16 months, the three year old knows the letters
"W" (for Woolworths) and "M" (for Mummy) and "K" (for Keegan, his brother),
so unless you communicate with only these three letters, I feel that you are
pretty safe...Oh, and I am NOT easily offended, far from it, in fact....
"Bullshit. I went and had a look at the stuff you put up on that
website. You have a marvelous eye, and obvious rapport with your
subjects. I have been working commercially for nearly 30 years,
and I still get my shit in a knot before a lot of jobs. This
doesn't mean I am going to sell myself cheap. If I am going to
be a whore, by gumm, I am going to be an expensive one.
Shoot yer three rolls of film, that is your insurance.
Don't be a cheap whore, you won't get respected for it, and when
you want to graduate to being a high class whore, no one will be
willing to pay you for it. I have seen it happen before in my
under populated part of the world.
Since you ae giving more, charge more. People will only value
your work as much as you do."
Of course I understand your point here, and I love your terminology (you'd
be right at home in Australia! lol!). I too am concernced that it
would be difficult to increase my prices later on (especially with return
"customers"), but again I don't want to appear to be "full of myself" by
charging top dollar. OMG, I can't even begin to imagine what people (such
as my 1 hour photo lab chum) would say "she's charging what?
but she only picked up a camera for the first time 9 months ago!". Also,
you must remember that this is a VERY small town, with SMALL
minded people, with very small pockets. If I were in Sydney, I wouldn't bat
an eyelid, and would charge the most that I possibly could, but
seeing as I do have to live here....
"Yup, fer sure.
More horse poopie. I do my best portraits with a wooden camera
and a 20 year old lens. Latest technology doesn't matter for
crap with portaiture."
I don't really mean "latest" technology, I just feel that I could provide a
more reliable and professional service if I at least owned a decent
lightmeter, a variety of lighting choices (at present I have two choices -
with reflector or without reflector, oh, and RTF on my MZ-50 and PZ-20)
I also reaaaaally miss the DOF preview that was on my PZ-1P and which none
of my current bodies have.
"If you are offering something unique that they aren't offering,
it doesn't matter how many of them there are. The portrait trade
is about personalities, the pictures themselves are a secondary
item. If the personalities work, the pictures work."
I do agree with this statement completely. It will be the entire "basis" of
my business. I am a people person,
I am a people photographer, I have an in built ability to read body language
and to understand what it is that
people want and expect. I know that I have a knack for dealing with kids in
particular (I had this prior to my
ever becoming a mum), and it is this knack and my "gift" for communication
and being "approachable" that I
hope to bring me to a level above those around me who I consider to be my
"competition". For me, the consideration
of personalities IS secondary, it is something that I don't need to think
about because it comes very natural to me. My
way of thinking is to suit my pictures TO the personality and this is the
trait that hope people will come to know me for.
"Does buddy with the one hour lab do all this stuff? You put your
heart and soul into what you are doing. Don't be afraid to make
people pay for it..."
Nope, as I said, he uses THE same backdrop for every shoot. I have been
shown many shots from around town by
various people, and I can automatically look at them and say, "Oh, I'll bet
that ****** made these". He has a room
which he uses as a studio, with all of his stuff preset up. He arrives 5
minutes before the shoot and leaves half an hour
later. He sits everybody facing the camera and his only major effort is to
get them all to smile. After this, he might move them
around a bit, and says smile again. He takes about 20-24 shots like this.
I truly believe that he was meant to be a
landscape and sports photographer. I know him well, and I KNOW for a fact
that he is only doing portraits to make money.
He actually criticizes me for all of the extra work I put into each shoot,
saying that I am "crazy" and that they never appreciate
it. He even said that I should just "take my money, take some shots and
run". That's lovely work ethics for you, eh? Anyways,
I am a firm believer in customer service and also by either doing things
well or not at all, so that is what my "client" gets, whether
I am shooting them for free or for a thousand bucks, I will always put my
"heart and soul" into it. I guess maybe I should start
to value my time a little better and perhaps charge for it a little more...
"How do ever expect to buy the equipment you think you need, if
you give your work away?"
Charging the price that I mentioned, still gives me au$100 clear profit per
session which I can put into my equipment "kitty". I will
rethink my strategy though, and post what I decide a bit later.
"It makes you irresponsible and dumb. How dare you walk into a
market and try to bugger it up for every one? You want to know
what happens in markets where someone comes in and low balls the
available work? Everyone suffers for it. The photographers
suffer because some idiot is saying that photo portraiture isn't
worth paying for, and everyone has to drop their prices to
compete. The clients suffer because with the new, lower pricing,
quality suffers, because it isn't worthwhile to do a good job
anymore."
Yep, point taken. Of course, I understand this, I am not totally clueless.
I was just more worried about offering good quality work
for what they are paying. I guess if you guys think that what I am offering
IS of a respectable quality, then maybe I could revise my
fees. After all, should I ever really make a go of this and work at a
professional level, I don't want to be cutting my own throat because
I have caused the bottom to fall out of the market in my town, so to speak.
(BTW, I studies marketing/psychology at Uni. I know
well how this stuff works...)
"You don't believe me? Look at the crap cameras we are getting
nowadays..You still don't believe me? Look at all the photofinishing
complaints generated on this list... "
I believe you, oh, wise one.....
"Being an asshole is one of mine. Get used to it."
hehe, I already am, I need someone to give me a good boot up the bum
sometimes....
fairy. :-)
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