Thinking of quitting... What's the point?

<blockquote>

<p>Over the past few weeks, I've really started to market my services. Business has been slow.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I take that you mean business as in bookings for the next wedding season, May-August 2011, and not business as in September and October, 2010? This is when wedding photographers take their vacations, go shoot some fall colors, etc.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>The last few years I was just breaking even...</p>

</blockquote>

 

<blockquote>

<p>... Over the past few *weeks* (my emphasis), I've really started to market my services.</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>You focus on the quality of your photography relative to others in your area but I would suggest finding an entrepreneurial partner or somebody to mentor you on the <em>business</em> side of your enterprise. </p>

<p>Unfortunately photographers are being replaced by machines just like so many other professions have been replaced by machines. What I mean is it use to take a really skilled photographer to produce good pictures, but today's wonder of technology cameras allow even a person of modest skills to get decent pictures. So yes, uncle Bob's decent photos are acceptable at or near the free price point. I know folks are going to go on and on about how it's all in the photographer, and I agree that a good photographer can produce better pictures than a lesser photographer with better gear. But, the problem is that as photographers we are looking for tech and creative flaws in a photograph that the average consumer could care less about. Most folks seem to want a low price point and an "acceptable" product.<br>

You spent a lot of time talking about how much better your work is than much of the competition. However, success in business isn't really all about being the best. It's more important to be able to provide what the customer wants at a price they are willing to pay. If you cannot do that you cannot succeed. It's like a mass market instrument maker, I'm sure they could produce better guitars, for example, but would enough people be willing to pay what they would have to charge to stay in business? Maybe not, so they have to give the market what sells.<br>

So you have to either figure out how to give the masses what they want, figure how to selectively sell to the smaller group that you wish to service with high quality goods, or simply forget photography as a business, and get back to what once made it fun and enjoyable. Sometimes business isn't about what you want, it's about finding a need and filling that need. Maybe you are trying to selling a product that there isn't a lot of need for in your area. Don't mean to be negative, but an honest look at thing could save you from pumping a lot of time and money into something that is just not there.</p>

<p>The post is interesting. I agree with David and many others. I would like to see your "hi end" works and in large sizes too. Why won't you give some link?<br>

That has been said, women are throwing into the business more actively now. One of their works is shown below. Try to CONVINCE AND EXPLAIN your potential customers the <strong>difference</strong>. Show them average "uncle bob's" works and your ones. In my town there are 240000 inhabitants, it is small. But I do guarantee 100% sharp, properly exposed, saturated pictures in a written form of the contract. Though my equipment is not expensive so far. <br>

I predict the following trend - seeing photos not on paper in the albums, but on big screens of hi-res displays. This is here your "hi-end" level would shine. This is here good optics, colors, sophosticated composition, DOF and advantages of "hi-end" will shine. Try to lower your prises a bit at least. </p>

<p><strong>Moderator Note:</strong> Ruslan, on photo.net, one can only post one's own images, so I must remove the image you posted.</p>

<p>I could describe myself as one of these 'Uncle Bob Photographers'. To my clients I'm a London Portrait Photographer (www.andrew-mason.com/gallery) but I also have a 9-5 job Monday to Friday doing something I'm not particularly interested in so I can pay the bills.<br>

Photography is my passion and I'd love to do it full time but realise that financially it's not feasible. I'm happy to make some money on the side from it doing something I love.<br>

The fact that I can produce work of comparable or better quality to some full time pro photographers and charge slightly less gives me a competitive advantage and I realise that, but do I feel guilty or need to apologise? No. I have just as much right to make money from photography as a full time pro, and I have every right to compete with them for business.<br>

If you are lucky enough to be a full time pro photographer you are fortunate enough to not have to do the 9-5 daily grind, and you spend your day doing something you love.<br>

Photography is a very competitive business with constant new entrants, low barriers to entry, and thousands of talented people who are good enough to make money from it. That's never going to change. As a business you need to deal with that or not survive. </p>

<p>Despite oil paints (and other mediums) being available to all and sundry for hundreds of years I have yet to hear how Rembrandt, Van Gogh or Picasso complained that their "business" was under threat. Today the medium has changed but the artists have not. They still do what they do because not to do it would be a fate worse than death. There are a select few who rise to the top in their lifetimes, but most photographers are still the struggling artist types who barely scrape together a living and often have to "moonlight" to stay afloat.</p>

<p>Rather count your blessings that you have any business at all! Maybe adjust your marketing/pricing etc. but in my experience it's the folks who stick it out with a smile on their face that make it through to the top in their chosen profession.</p>

<p>Remember, just as there was only one Monet (despite the competition) there is still only one Ansel Adams, one Henri Cartier-Bresson and one Alfred Stieglitz. So you can choose to move on and disappear forever, or you can keep plodding towards fame, riches and a really cool obituary one day! ;-)</p>

<p>Tons and tons of great views. Most of the undeniable truths have been laid out for you to peruse at your leisure and offer tons of food for thought in the coming days. I would only venture to add a small, mostly technically-oriented aspect which has been largely overlooked here (with only a couple of passing mentions): that of cost control through better organisation, better workflow and better cost practices throughout.</p>

<p>I'm saying this because I've come across that a LOT lately, with professional photography studios coming to me to ask advice and training on how they can speed up their processing, reduce turnaround times, organise their input-output chain and automate parts of their business. Invariably I find that most people HAVE to charge a lot because they WASTE tons of time doing things which could either be completely removed from the equation or sufficiently automated. For example, I have found the overwhelming percentage of photographers and studios still edit their images ONE by ONE using PS which adds significantly to their turnaround times. They still edit digital albums in PS which causes even more delays, requires even more computing power, etc, etc. They still rely on "a friend" who does "minor" tasks but who, equally invariably, has even more antiquated practices than they have. Apparently, people still forget that ANY chain is as strong as it's weakest link.</p>

<p>Sure, you may not be able to price yourself ideally - after all that is something that takes practice and, unfortunately, a lot of trial-and-error. But what you CAN do very easily is control your costs. Talk to a printer, make a business deal with him and outsource your printing. Talk to a lens rental outfit, make a bulk deal and reduce your lens-rental costs - reducing your insurance cost in the process. Set up a good DAM system and look to cutting down your times there - AND make sure you reflect those adjustments on your prices. Customise your offerings more and allow the customers to pick options, parts, sections of a product thereby creating something more suited to them rather than your idea of what it should be about.</p>

<p>Sure, you can attempt to compete on quality and passion, but when it comes to money and paying YET another bill during the course of organising a wedding, your passion simply comes last. A couple wants a 500 dollar wedding? Do you need to pay the bills? Do it. But do it on your terms - offer them the services they can pay for without demeaning them (the services I mean). Yes, chances are you may have to put in some loss-making hours in order to make ends meet when the higher-end packages don't sell, but that's part of life. Trust me, even McDonald's has loss-making meals out there...</p>

<p>One final word: you said photography is your passion, but if it TRULY was, then you would never even have thought about entertaining the concept of quitting. Passion is something you simply cannot do without - you cannot quit it or stop it or even put it on ice. It screams and grabs at you, it depresses you when you cannot indulge it and without it you are dark adn gloomy and miserable. That's why it's called "passion" and not "attraction"...</p>

"...trying to find ways to make a profit and charge less."

<p>This is really not the way to go IMHO. A few years back, when I first started out, I charged very little. At the time, I thought it was a nice tidy sum. I went back to look at my actual costs (film, developing, printing, etc) I found that I was barely breaking even. When I showed my work and rates to a seasoned businessman in a different but related creative field, he immediately proposed I raise my rates (based on my work). I was loathe to do so till sometime last year. I finally bit the bullet (with much help from my better half), reworked my packages and raised my prices). Strangely enough, my very first booking under my new rates was for my new top-end package. I couldn't believe it!... I had learnt a valuable lesson. Price yourself according to where you want to be in the market and you'll attract that very calibre of clientele.

<p>In the final analysis, your financial success will depend as much (if not more) on your financial acumen as on your photographic abilities...

<p>Elle, it's same allover the world.Increasing $ 500 fee is very hard in this business and it take years but decreasing $1000 takes less than seconds. Try to cut your expenses as much as you can.Keep 01 assistant.Cut down your studio spaces or move to a cheaper location.Don't buy expensive gears.Just keep the cost down. </p>

<p>Elle: ask yourself this question - "if I did a better job on the sales and marketing side of my business (including handling price and other objections), could I have a profitable business?" If the answer is yes, then my advice is to get your hands on a good sales book or get some sales coaching. Secondly, get a good marketing book. I highly recommend this one - it will show you how to build a great business WITHOUT a big cash investment: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=the+referral+engine&x=0&y=0">The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself</a> by John Jantsch.</p>

<p>William W -</p>

<p>Not to disagree on a Monday morning (and a fine one it is!) but I've had an Actuary prove to me that 1 + 1 does not equal 2 - it in fact equals 3.</p>

<p>But - that is beside the point - From the OP's point - the numbers are what the numbers are. We all have to make a living - and charge an amount sufficient to allow us to do so - either that or we find other work, marry someone wealthy or hit the lottery.</p>

<p>Consumers are pinched as far as money goes - they are looking for the best at the cheapest price. I've found that people on the borderline budget wise often go cheap - without worrying about quality. </p>

<p>On the other hand - I've also seen consumers still in the 90's mindset that it doesn't matter if the quality is poor, lagging or whatever, as long as the product is by a certain individual - that is what counts (brand name over quality) -</p>

<p>It's really about finding your niche and working it. I know I'm not going to get every wedding, portrait or senior that asks me for a quote - but I'm going get my share of them and give them the best quality photos that I can for the price.<br>

<br />Dave</p>

 

<p>Admittedly, I have only read the OP, not the entire thread. As a non-professional photographer, and more a likely consumer of professional photo services, I think it does not matter a bit whether you think you are better than the Uncle Bobs or not. Particularly for this subject, a picture's worth more than the proverbial thousand words. It must be immediately apparent to your target market that what you offer is head and shoulders better than the rest. If you have to justify it, or explain it, or point it out to people, you have already lost the battle. If you don't have a market that is convinced that you are worth it, it does not matter how you price it, that would be the definition of a moot point.</p>

<p>I'd like to see your website and any other promotional material. If your work is that good, I suspect that you aren't doing a good job of selling yourself.</p>

<p>It's probably a good idea to leave the pro photography business. I've seen more photo studios close in the last 5-6 yrs than in all my years of photography. I'm a full time web designer now, but back in the 90s worked for several photo studios, shooting mostly weddings on my Saturdays. I see photography becoming what attorney's were back in the 80s and 90s. I use this analogy a lot. Everyone wanted to go to school for law at one point, and back then everybody in college wanted to be a lawyer. The field got so flooded with people graduating school with law degrees that it became harder and harder for new attorney's to find work. When this happened, we end up having a lot of bad lawyers and a very few good, honest ones, who actually love what they do. And of course all the bad ones will represent you for less money. <br /><br />There are fewer people today who actually truly love photography. Most of the ones doing it now are all about trying to make a dollar so they can splurge and buy the latest and greatest equipment. I think it's becoming less of a craft, as everything is now so easily controlled by a click of a mouse... which is why we've now got the uncle Tom's doing it and getting by charging $50 a wedding. It's just become too easy for the average person.<br /><br />I don't enjoy seeing good photographers quit. I want to also encourage you that if you feel strongly about what you do, keep at it. It may mean having to run the business in your home. There are ways to cut back on costs and I think that with digital now, we do save a lot of money outside of just buying software and tools.</p>

<p>Go to the park and watch a mom with a 5d2 + 24-70 taking snapshots with the camera on full auto. Its a fun hobby and its now pretty affordable and with the advances in auto/scene modes, its not very difficult to get decent shots so I am sure it cuts into what many pros do. Same with music, years ago the D.J. business was booming but now you can get a computer with 2 self powered speakers with an application that mixes the songs automatically. Does it sound as good? no, but many people feel its good enough. </p>

<p>I do believe the photography business is a tough business to be in right now, just way over saturated. I was starting to do more work a few years back but I have pretty much kept it a hobby now which I really enjoy. I will say the area of weddings that has been hardest hit is video, I still see photographers at every wedding I play but I never see video anymore. </p>

 

<p>Elle,<br>

To be able to earn a livelihood from doing what one loves to do is a rare thing indeed; something that few of us get to do. Being the Pro commercial/editorial photographer you say you are, along with your love of photography, puts you on your way to being one of the lucky few. If you see trying to grow <em>(or transfer)</em> your business interest into the already saturated wedding photography arena as an useless effort, then why do it? Why not expand off your existing field of expertise. While many paper mediums may be shrinking, the world of electronic media is exploding.<br /><br />Speaking strictly from a business point of view, there will always be others who will undercut your prices and their own integrity. But remember, be it another (Pro), a Want-A-Be or an Uncle Bob, they're just trying to do the same thing you are. It's called free enterprise. Well, maybe not in Uncle Bob's case, but you'll have to blame Canon and Nikon for empowering his incursion into the world of the professional. By the same token, there will always be those who know and want high quality work, and will pay a fair price for it. And too, there will always be those to whom quality means little or nothing as long as they can tell who is in the "photo". For them - price will always be the only prerequisite.<br /><br /></p>

<p>We always tell the inquiring customer to "Only purchase what you can afford ." Maybe that's why we shoot mainly 3 hour weddings and hand the client the cards at the end of the days shoot. RAW editing is reserved for requesting B&G > with the funds to procure. Quality will always cost :: after shooting for 30 years~~we produce only what their budget allows. Our little town of 6K is well saturated ......our next angle will be to just show up and we use their cameras :[)</p>

<p>Elle,<br>

Perhaps you'd feel better about what you do if you stepped back a bit. Consider doing something else to make a living and continue marketing your photography the way you want to do it and at a price you want to charge. You may not book as much work, but you'll make much better money per hour and will be working for people who appreciate what you do.<br>

Just a though -I hope whatever you do, it all works out for you....-TED :-)</p>

<p>Where is Elle?</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Good Question</p>

<p>Let's hope she's busy with work, or attempts at securing gigs.</p>

<p>Interesting post & responses, I shot my last wedding last year, after 15 years, 20-25 weddings per year, $15,000.00 spent on equipment, mainly film, (you know, the roll stuff you put in the back of a camera), photos & albums spread over my house, darkroom in closet, I decided to quit. Tough decision, why ? 1st, I am a old schooler, taught the old school way to photo a wedding, lots of posed shots, shot perfect, lint picked off clothes, etc. Shot med format, shots had to be correct. I did change to all digital, shot some photojournalistic shots, had website, but could not change. 2nd. plenty of new younger female photographers who were more creative with PJ shooting who shoot for less. 3rd. Just could not come up with 2000 shots. Back to the old school thing. Not all brides whats that. My cousin-in-law was not happy with her wedding pics, she said they were too "gimmicky" abnormal poses, too many special effects. <br>

Advice ? hang in there on weddings, not everybody wants 2000 photo-shopped-special effects shots, some do, make them pay upfront, pre-sell as much as possible. The market gets more competetive every day with auto digital cameras. Photoshop is taught to 6th graders. Saw the work of a 19 year old, not bad, could use a few posing lessons. Shot a wedding for $125.00. I used to spend that much just on film years ago !! The wedding market is dividing into catagories, expensive ($4000-8000+) and the budget group. I was in the middle like you are. If I started back, I think I would be in the budget group, Why budget ? I got tired of dealing with the rich brides & moms that were not happy with anything. Plus keeping samples of expensive frames & albums around. <strong>Shoot the wedding & correct photos, burn a few CD's, give them to the bride, then go to the next one !! </strong></p>

<p> </p>

<p>Hello Everyone!</p>

<p>Thank you ALL so VERY, VERY much for the kind words, encouragement, sympathy, advice and comradeship. It's obvious that I'm not alone in feeling this way, and that does, in some respects, make it a bit easier. I appreciate that so many took the time to read and reply to my self-involved pity-party!</p>

<p>I apologize for disappearing. Something I didn't mention in my original post is that I also have a 9-5, so on top of finishing up 2010's weddings and trying to do some marketing, I haven't had a chance to respond the way I wanted to.</p>

<p>This is actually part of my problem. I work between 60 and 90 hours a week, and I am no farther ahead financially than I was 3 years ago. I'm exhausted. I'm discouraged.</p>

<p>Neither my 9-5 nor my photography are able to pay the bills on their own. If I dropped photography as a career, I'd have to find another secondary gig to make ends meet, and my photography would suffer. I could actually probably work LESS with a secondary part time job and make MORE... but... that's passion for ya.</p>

<p>I've decided to give it one more year as a professional wedding/portrait photographer, investing as much as I possibly can (time and money-wise) into marketing myself as a unique option.<br>

<br /><br />I may even revisit the editorial sector. I have been paying less attention to that area because I don't live near a major urban market right now, and found the commuting to be both a hindrance and exhausting. Many of my photographer friends are struggling -- good ones, too -- because the market is dying. You REALLY have to stand out these days, as most editors have their go-to artists.<br>

<br /><br />I think, as many of you pointed out, the market here (where I am right now) isn't really able to support "unique," especially with an influx of "cheap." I don't really feel as though I'm at a point to tackle the big markets yet, but I will see how this year goes. If things do not pick up, I will diminish my pro gear and continue with photography as a hobby.</p>

<p>I also wanted to clarify a few things. I never, ever, EVER meant to imply I am "That Good." I tried to be very careful to say that I have LOTS of room to grow. And I want to, which is what I think makes me a good photographer. I've been torn apart by employers and mentors -- in much less-kind ways than I've even seen on here -- and I think THIS is what has helped me to become the 'tog I am. I am not even close to touching the perfectionism I want to reach in my art, but I'm willing to get there and I'm not inclined to just listen to friends and brides say how pretty I make them look... which is one of the reasons I decline from posting work in an online forum.</p>

<p>Of course the emotional me feels like I'll never, ever be GREAT -- that I'm a hack... Oh to not be plagued with crippling self-doubt every other day...</p>

<p>Anyway. Thanks again to you all and best of luck with your own endeavors.</p>