handholdability disappearing on digital

[grant_.]

heaven...be patient....

[fotografz]

Michael, another photographer taught me how to sell digital capture fees.

 

If a commercial client balks at such a fee, I offer to shoot film and provide them with the

estimated expenses for film, polaroid, processing, proofing, and then remind them they

will have to get it all scanned at $40 to $70 a pop (depending on sizes and timing). All

commercial work is now converted to digital CMYK out-put materials for publication.

 

After seeing the tab for all that, the tiny digital capture fee then looks like a bargain.

[fotografz]

Oh BTW Michael, money DOES grow on light stands also. We charge a studio and lighting

package fee with every job. After taxes and upkeep, last year's fees paid for a new Profoto

D4 2400 watt generator that can be controlled from the computer. Business is fun 'cause

the toys are free ; -)

 

And anyone can do it! I be damned if the multi-billion dollar corporations that

commercial photographers serve should make even more profit by squeezing it out of the

bottom line of the little guy.

[chris_fall]

Marc,

Honestly I'd love to see a copy of your contract for weddings and how you work that into the fee. I've been thinking about doing that for awhile with all I have to pay with insurance and the cost of upkeep and expanding. Thanks for the advice though.

[fotografz]

Don't charge a digital capture fee for weddings Chris.

 

Commercial accounts require line item estimates which include all expenses like props,

stylists, wardrobe, travel, supplies, location rentals, production assistances, AND film,

processing, and proofing. We replaced those specific film related line items with digital

rental/capture fees. It pays for the gear so basically it's free for use with weddings. We

need about 7 commercial jobs a year related to a camera like the 1Ds, so that in 2 years

we cover the depreciation of the camera. If we book more than that, it becomes profit.

As they say in the movies "it's just business".

[mattalofs]

Along this line of thought (but kind of in reverse) I've thought of offering a super deluxe medium format package with a corresponding medium format processing/scanning fee. Might see how it works out. MF gear is so cheap these days that it wouldn't take too long to pay it off.

[chris_fall]

hmmm interesteing thinking, thanks Marc. i geuss i won't do that then. The thing i really need to do then is learn advertising. lol.

[fotografz]

There's a lot of smaller accounts that need commercial shots done Chris. Industrial stuff,

corporate head shots, and shots for smaller ad agencies that don't have big budgets. I

even do some commercial work that is never printed, but instead is used for consumer

testing before the big bucks are spent on doing the advertising for real. It's ($) out there.

[EricM]

What's a Schmendrick?

[EricM]

Marc, I'm so impressed with 3200 on that body. hmm...that's it. For Sale, 3 Nikon F bodies with motordrives/battery packs, SB 25/26/800, nine fastest primes from 20-300mm, three f2.8 constant zooms/ jacobsen sound blimp.

[EricM]

and of course a D70 goes in there too.

[al_kaplan1]

I've been saying for years that Leicas are free;-) Easy to hand hold too, and great lenses! The money you save on cameras can buy a lot of film. Film is nice stuff, especially black and white film! Yesterday morning I sold an 11x14 print, actually about 8x12 on 11x14 paper, for $200.00. I'd taken the picture way back in 1974. I still use the same Leica, and I've sold a lot of photos from that project over the years.

[joshchapman]

Marc, where along the line did you pic up your business/financial knowledge? That's probably the one part of the business most photographers could use help with, and you seem to have a pretty good handle on it.

[fotografz]

Hi Josh, I picked it up while running ad agency creative departments for 30 years. In the

beginning I was all shot in the behind with "making art" and subsequently "suffering for

my art". But contact with successful photographers and cinematographers taught me that

making money and making art weren't mutually exclusive concepts. Most of the big names

in photography have agents these days who handle all the business stuff. But smaller

operations need to get advice and make money a priority even more than the "big"

shooters.

 

I'm particularly focused on it now as retirement looms in the future ... since I don't relish

the idea of eating cat food sandwiches and living in a tornado attracting trailer.

 

My advice to anyone in the visual arts is to pay attention to business now, or you'll regret

it later.

[joshchapman]

That kind of experience would probably do it : )

Does anyone know of any courses, books or other resources for those of us not in the business full time? (sorry, this is kind of OT)

[paul_sokal___dallas__tx]

I've shot available light in the church with a D-70 at 1/25th, 70mm, handheld without significant blurring. I was well braced but no artificial support

[still_man]

I have seen no difference between film and digital "handholdability" where the image size is the same.

 

What I mean is that if I would use a 50 on film, but use a 35 on digital, the image size is the same and I have no difference in how low the shutter can go before I need help holding still.

 

If I were comparing 50mm on film vs 50mm on digital, then yes, there would be a difference becuase my field of view is 1.5x tighter on the digital camera.