Can you do it cheaper?

Do you value good photography?

With every mobile phone owner being a ‘photographer’ these days I find myself more and more feeling that I need to justify my prices for my photography offerings. 

We all understand that for a product/service to be successful, it has to add value to you as a person or business. 

So many businesses I speak too, especially SME’s, take their own images using their mobile phone. And yes, the new phones are pretty damn awesome, but they have some very real limitations. 

Try using off camera flash for example?

Or creative use of Depth of Field?

Or a long exposure?

Or an action shot (fast shutter speed)

etc etc

The fact is, I don’t think I know a photographer who doesn’t admit that smartphone camera’s are damn good! 

However, just like me carrying a spanner doesn’t make me a mechanic, owning a camera doesn’t automatically make you a photographer. 

So WHAT is a ‘photographer’?

In my humble opinion a photographer has a creative eye. A creative mind. 

In my youth, from around 8, I was sketching wildlife and portraits. Not squiggly lines that resemble stick people and a house consisting of a triangle atop a square. But fairly accurate representations of the animals I was sketching. 

This interest in sketching and drawing was sparked by a simple task given to me aged 7. “Draw this matchbox”

Now my immediate drawing was a rectangle. Done!

Nope, I was instructed to really look at the box. It was placed at an 45 degree angle to my line of view. Look at the angles. The perspective. Now try again. 

I drew about 200 bloody matchboxes!

And hence with, my view of the world changed. I started looking at things, everything differently. I’d look for interesting angles. interesting lighting (or indeed, lack thereof), interesting textures etc. 

I spent a lot of time outdoors just observing the world around me and drawing what I saw. 

My photography at this point also started changing. I had owned a camera for 2 years by this stage (got my first when I was 5) and up to this point had been the typical “point and click” photographer. I saw something, I pointed my camera at it and pressed the shutter. Very little, to absolutely no thought went into the composition. 

So when my eyes were opened by that little matchbox, my photography became more like an expression of myself rather than simply a memory. 

When I saw something interesting (and in fact there are interesting things all around you) I would assess it. See where the light was. How could I best use the available light? Are there any interesting angles? Leading lines? I started ‘composing photographs’ rather than taking pictures or snaps. 

Jesus, this started off as a post but I waffled on so much I had to change it to an article! Soz about that. 

It occurs to me, through various posts, comments and conversations I’ve had in the past few years that it’s generally believed that professional photographers charge too much. 

I have 40 years of composing and taking photographs. If you have 40 years experience in your field, I’m sure you will feel justified in whatever salary you are earning? I had a career in IT for 28 years. Money was pretty damn awesome in all fairness. I didn’t ever seem to have to justify my salary to anyone then. 

However, with photography, it’s a whole new ball game. Seemingly having to justify my prices. 

So forthwith, when you commission me to work with you on a project, this is what you’re buying for your money:

1. A photographer with 40 years of creative photography experience. 
2. 28 years in IT closely aligned to the sales and marketing teams. I’ve a good understanding of brand images in marketing campaigns and sales presentations. 
3. 10 years of project management experience. When you commission me to work with you, once we agree a timeline and deadline, you can rest assured I’ll deliver early. 
4. 15 years of account management. I consider all my ‘clients’ to be accounts. It is never my intention to only work with you once. Therefore, with my experience in account management, I understand that you retain clients by exceeding their expectations. 
5. Images you would expect or you’re money back! There’s a saying that goes something like, “buy cheap, buy twice”. This is SOOOOO true in the photography world. I can’t tell you the number of stories I’ve heard from consumers who’ve paid for images and were not happy with the results. I’ve had a woman show me her wedding photos, where her white dress, has a green tinge in every photo! If her white dress was slightly green then I assume you can imagine what the skin tones looked like? When it comes to photography, you honestly do get what you pay for. Yes, there will be cheaper photographers than me (there are many that are more expensive just by the way), who generally do photography as a side hustle, that will provide ‘okay’ pictures to you. But is your business just ‘Okay’? Doesn’t your business deserve better than OK? Be weary of cheap photographers folks. I’m aware of some photographers advertising on FB (possibly elsewhere too) using stock images!! Not images they’ve actually taken. So I offer a money back guarantee because, to be frank, I’m not even going to agree to taking your money if I am not confident at retaining you as an account. So on the off chance you’re not happy with the images I provide, I’ll provide excellent customer service.
6. A creative partner. I will work with you, should you wish, to come up with creative ideas for your brand. Whether that’s images of people or products. This includes location scouting. Sourcing models. Creative lighting. Props etc
7. A LOT of hours of working ‘behind the scenes’. I feel that there’s this feeling of, “You charge X per hour to come and take a few snaps?” The thing is, you’re not just paying for that hour. Besides all the experience and knowledge, you’re also paying for MANY hours of post processing. Perhaps some pre testing and experimentation if a new lighting idea is suggested or requested. Depending on the shoot type, a photographer can spend anything between 10 minutes and 2-3 hours editing EACH image you have chosen. So that ￡99 per hour, is actually closer to ￡33 per hour. I was earning 2-3x that per hour in my IT job! ￡33 per hour or ￡264 per day, for someone with 40 years of experience behind the camera. How much do you earn a day? When I was working in IT, the companies I worked for would charge other companies between ￡1000-￡1500 per day for me to go onsite and do consultancy work.
8. Access to thousands of pounds worth of kit. With a specialised, single lens ranging from ￡400 - ￡2000 EACH. Camera bodies between ￡1500 - ￡5000 EACH. Lighting stands. Lighting units. Light modifiers. Light meters. Post processing hardware etc
9. You get to meet me! YAY!

Thank you for reading. Have a great day.