May 26, 2024

Yes, it’s a basic question. How to charge for photos? How many should I give, how many outfits, hours, etc. New photographers and sometimes veterans love to colocate their lives because they don’t understand customer service.

I edited all my broll here with Filmist LUTS, it’s not just for Lightroom and C1. Also make sure you start listeb to Pro Photography podcast for more topics like this.

That’s what you need to understand in this crazy competitive world. The truth is that unless you are experienced, confident and know how to serve. They don’t need you. They might as well use their phone.

I don’t mean this to make you feel bad. Only to be real. We have to have high standards. People don’t need McDonald’s style photographers anymore. And if you don’t make them feel good, they won’t come back.

So in general charging for an image screams amateur. Now selling stock photos, fine art prints, etc is a bit different. But if your client feels like you are holding back, you lose credibility instantly.

Here’s that book I mentioned. You can read it in data but all these years later it’s still a great reminder when you run a photo business, make workshops, or are in charge of a cafe in Mexico.

To be great in a craft business. You have to understand how to be a servant. How to make people feel good. How to give them experience and quality. How many photos in a session and how many you give the client can vary. Your skill and confidence should be a constant, however.

So the topic today is whether you should charge per photo and how to charge for photos. The real answer is that you you charge in a way that is the simple simple and makes the client feel loved regardless of whether you price high or low compared to the market.

That says. The lower your price, the lower the quality of clients you get.

Let me know what you think… Gavin Seim

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January 21, 2009

As I mentioned in last week’s tip, the slower winter months are a great time to get the different aspects of your business in good order for the upcoming wedding season.  This week’s tip is to make sure the literature for your business is accurate and up to date.  I would not only include brochures, business cards, pamphlets, contracts, and postcards in this category, but also the wording on your website or blog as well.  Here are some important things to look for when looking over your materials:

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January 14, 2009

Here in Minnesota, the wedding season slows down quite a bit this time of year.  Why?  Let’s just say I woke up to -18 F this morning and leave it at that.  Now is a perfect time for those of us working in “cooler” locations to take a moment to wrap up any loose ends from 2008 and get refreshed for the 2009 wedding season.  I suppose “refresh” could refer to mind and body but I’m mostly talking about your business literature and images in this case.  Let’s focus on the latter for this week’s tip.

Start sifting those “Wow!” shot gems out of the hundreds, thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of images you and your staff snapped off last year.  “What do I do if I have like 250 great shots picked out?” Well then I would suggest going into your closet, pull out your “World’s Most Awesome Photographer” T-shirt, put it on, pat yourself on the back and get your butt back in front of your computer ‘cause you’ve got more editing down to do!  Be tough on yourself.  Pick out what you think are your ten to twenty best “Wow!” shots from 2008.  Much like Kevin Kubota touched on in PPS Episode #47, select the images that best represent the kind of shots you truly enjoy doing and want to do more of.  Choose the images that best define you.

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May 14, 2008

church interior

As the wedding photographer, we tend to be one of the first ones to arrive at the church or other such ceremony locations the morning of the wedding. This first usually involves finding the one unlocked door to get into the building followed by walking into a dark and very quiet sanctuary. This can be both refreshing and creepy at the same time. One of the advantages of being one of the first ones to arrive at the church is that you get your pick of the best locations to shoot from.

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April 30, 2008

blackdog

Do you find yourself falling back on the same outdoor location to shoot your engagement sessions? Even worse, do you do the same two poses on the same boring backdrops in your studio? Do all of your engagement sessions closely resemble one another? One of the easiest ways to break out of this rut is to shoot a couple’s engagement session at the location they got engaged at. Not only is it a new location for you, these images will mean so much more to your clients.

Now it’s true some of the locations your clients got engaged at won’t be reasonable to travel to for a quick photo session. If that’s the case, why not suggest doing the session at the place they first met? If all else fails, find out what the couple’s interests are and go from there. What do they like to do in their spare time? Do they have any similar hobbies? Say they let on that they love riding bikes together around a particular lake or park. Perhaps they frequent the same coffee shop and sit at the very same table every Saturday afternoon. Maybe you discover the couple is really big into taxidermy…awkward. Hey, I never said you wouldn’t end up in some pretty weird places, just not your “safe & comfy” locations you tend to favor!

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