sarah_beeson

<p>Stephen, your response was most helpful! Thank you! :) That is a good idea to reach out to local corporations to offer executive shots etc. I like what you said "I still see a lot of vanity among rising professionals, especially in large cities, who seem inclined to pay well to present the best side of themselves pictorially".. because I can totally understand that and see how reaching out to that kind of crowd would be good. I am going to start brainstorming some companies in my area that I can start from ..maybe some local reality offices? :) ...</p> <p>Peter, I definitely know that I need to make some changes to my workflow to speed things up. ;) One problem I have is that my laptop is old and outdated..but being a mom and having my husband temporarily unemployed, money is tight so I cannot afford a newer faster running computer. :( With this problem I feel like photoshop and lightroom both take SO much longer for every little thing than they should so it really makes the whole process all together take MUCH longer . :P Also, I know that if I could buy some nice professional actions and/or presets that it would help speed up my process. But most of the ones that I really like that would suit my style and work well with my work are anywhere from $75-$300 for each set which I have never been able to have enough money to put aside to buy myself some of these. If you know of some GOOD actions/presets (there are lots of bad cheap looking ones out there) that are free or affordable, PLEASE let me know! :) <br /><br />David, I totally agree with you that although it is depressing to think about :(... our "industry" as professional photographers is going down hill with the growing popularity and accessibility of digital cameras and the fact that anyone can go to somewhere like walmart/costco and get a nice DSLR camera and call themselves a "professional" now..which makes it REALLY hard to try to make a living wage as an ACTUAL professional. :( I do want to try to at least make somewhere around $300-$500 a month with my photos so that I can help with bills and if I can make around at least $600-$800 I could put aside some money every month to invest in equipment..or possibly make payments on my college loans. But once I move into my new home later this spring and get my studio stuff moved over to my new space, I am going to look into doing reality photography of houses (I was doing this about a year ago and actually made some decent money for a little while..but things in my personal life got hectic with my son so I had to put that "on hold" for a little while.) We have a family friend who is also my parents Realtor that gets me good business in that field, and although I don't prefer to take photos of houses instead of people.. it gets me some extra income AND I sometimes meet portrait clients through meeting the owners of the homes I'm photographing :) <br /><br /><br />Thank you all for your input :)</p>

<p>Hello, I am writing to you all with a question about what I should do with my photography business. First, let me give you a little back story so you'll better understand my situation. I went to school at the Art Institute and graduated in 2012 with a degree studying Portrait Photography and after I graduated , I officially got my business license and opened my business the following year in January 2013. In school I took some business classes that taught us to calculate all of our expenses and figure out what we WANTED to make etc. and how much time we spend editing and everything and then to take all that into account and we had to do a project where we figured out much we "should" charge in order to cover our business expenses (as well as make SOME kind of profit to get by on...people forget photographers are HUMAN too)..and really I came up with I should be charging NO LESS than something around 600! (I forget the exact amount.. I think it was like $628 or something like that). WELL... I live in a small town where there are NOT that many jobs and LOTS of "stay at home moms", and over the last 6 years or so I have watched it go from being 3 "top photographers" in town that EVERYONE went to (and they charged like $500-$1,000 a shoot!) to now over 200 "photographers". SO many that I can't even count and I'm ALWAYS hearing about more. It is to a point that really, as one of my instructors put it to me, the supply is MUCH higher than the demand. I have tried to stand my ground and NOT lower my prices to "get more customers" and I have had many people also "not choose me" because I opt for professional lab prints instead of giving them a disc to take to walmart. Also, in my area there are SO many photographers who only charge like $25 for a shoot and will give away a print release!<br /> The problem I am running into is that I am also a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my editing process. In MY mind, this is a good thing because my work comes out the best that I can make it, but I know this is much more time consuming. I have done the math and for a regular portrait shoot (NOT a "mini session with only a few poses etc.) I usually spend about 1/2 hour setting up, 2 hours shooting, and then anywhere from 30-40 hours editing usually about 20- 30 photos over the span of 2 weeks. Now if I'm charging around $300-$400 for this shoot that gets me about $10 per hour of work...so about minimum wage in my state which I think is fair...right?...... But people have been telling me TIME and TIME again that I cost too much and going to people who only charge up to $100 . BUT ..If I only charged this much then I would get less than $3 an hour! That is NOT enough for ANYONE to get by on (let alone pay off my degree that GAVE ME the VALUABLE skill and knowledge I have!) ..and really..it's insulting.<br /> But now I find myself in a rut where I can only get maybe 2 bookings a year. I am advertising, I am talking to people in the community..and I HAVE had opportunities..(and Know to never just tell my people my pricing right off the bat)...but I keep getting more and more people turning me down and hearing about more people "through friends" saying "well she's good...but she just cost way too much!"<br /> HERE is my question now: Do I essentially "downgrade" my editing process and only do the bare minimum to cut down on my editing time? This way I am not wasting 30-40 hours of hard work and I don't feel like I'm cheating myself by only charging $100. $100 for 10 hours or so worth of work is $10/hour... so it's fair right?.... OR do I continue to stand my ground and keep my prices where they are KNOWING that I AM worth my rates but risking that I may get little OR NO business? SO TORN on what I should do..really..it's been tearing at me for quite sometime now and I just feel like I'm selling my soul and selling my self short...but at the same time..I CAN'T GET ANY BUSINESS! :( HELP!</p> <p>Sincerely,<br /> This desperate photographer<br /> PS- Sorry for my novel ;P</p>