There's been a bit of uproar lately around a company that claims it can produce advertising photos that would normally cost thousands of dollars for as low as $19. This great video rails against the temptation for up and coming photographers to take those gigs.
Coming to you from Daniel Norton, this thoughtful video essay talks about the devaluing of photography and how it's important for photographers to avoid contributing to that, particularly in the case of Catalog, a startup that claims to offer advertising photos for businesses at the lowest of low prices. Presumably, they aim to do so by preying on up and coming photographers, as no established shooter would touch those sorts of projects with a 39-foot pole. It can be an alluring prospect for a new photographer, however: make a bit of immediate money while putting down brand work on your resume. Nonetheless, it's terrible for the industry, and it promotes a business model that's simply unsustainable for photographers and creates a total lack of respect for the craft, including the time, cost, skills, and effort that go into such work. Check out the video above for Norton's full thoughts on the matter.
Lead image courtesy of Nino Batista.
I kid you not, I got an email an hour ago from a nationwide company offering $550 for a shoot. They asked for a copyright buy-out, and said the images would be displayed in 1,500 stores and online.
I hope that company burns from the inside out.
You and me both.
I'm wondering how many readers will be actually happy to take such shot... Hoping to start their portfolio this way and this they will be able to raise price later...
Dreamers
I've been getting similar garbage for about the last year or so.
I've been getting a lot of those requests, too. It's prevalent.
Saints fan? 8-1...Who Dat! Sorry for going off topic. :-)
No; Everyone can take a picture.
But I will define "photographer" in a different manner if it have to bring money to support your family.
Not exactly. Everybody also owns a stove and pans, doesnt mean we're all chefs. Photographer is an actual profession, meaning you are a professional who gets paid to produce work. Having a camera in your phone doesnt mean you get paid to produce work, any more than having a stove means you get paid to produce cooked meals
Photographers can also make yearly salaries, calm down
$15/hr can make you rich.. if living in a 3rd world countries :)
I guess it depends on your definition of comfort and what part of your country.
I wonder if Nikon, Canon, Sony, Broncolor , Elinchrom, Profoto, et al are aware of this and will price their equipment accordingly.
maybe ur overvaluing ur-self...
I would not care to work with anyone that values images at $19 each. I turned down a couple new groups that offer $100 to go shoot menu items at restaurants, I think the Soccer Mom set would have second thoughts about accepting that rate. By the time you pay taxes and gas I don’t think you’d have much to buy lunch. If that is what the budget has been set at I would hate to see what their office looks like.
And yet, so many photographers discourage membership in organizations like WPPI, ASMP, and PPA, which teach members the real-world economics of why they should charge enough money to get into business on a solid footing and keep it on a solid footing.
Your reactions remind me of factory worker's reactions to robotics or unskilled laborer's reaction to illegal immigrants. Very few people empathize with them. Just an observation...no need to reply.
This concept is essentially custom stock photography with no rights for the photog. In other words, it's pretty much the worst mash-up of all possible scenarios for anyone who cares about the craft.
Earl Scheib, anyone?
I would not get all upset about this as they will cash in on the VC money, realize the idea looked better on paper, buy a few Teslas and disappear in a couple years. Probably with a few Tbytes of other peoples pix. there's a sucker born every minute.
Its a company rolling nationwide called Snappr.co, somebody knows about it?
Same problem here. I was approached by a French company, who supposedly has ‘big international clients’, to shoot for them and they offered £45 for 25 RAW images. Their AI would do the editing. They didn’t pay any expenses or give details how long a job would take. You could end up shooting for somebody for a few days to get the right 25 pictures and they’d still pay you only £45 for all I know. Joke. Obviously I told them No and that they are devaluing not only my work but also every other photographers work. They replied they had plenty of photographers working for them and happy. So I guess you do get people who will take jobs like are willing to work for less than £2 a picture. Shame some photogs make Photography into McDonalds.
They must not have expected very much then. Models, MUA's, etc. don't work for free.
Barriers to entry are low, the exorbitant amount of free workshops, tutorials, and college level courses being made available give the perceptions that the results of out efforts are a commodity at best. Create art, and let the volume low margin shooters duke it out with these ridiculous unsustainable prices and promos. Raise the bar, be efficient in all your processes, and wrap your craft in high levels of service. People are paying 1200 for a phone that lasts maybe a year, surely we can sell above that!
But if the "client" is happy with the outcome, isn't that all that matters? Not everyone can afford $1,000 or more for pictures. I mean some pro photographers advertise that they shot an entire football game with an iphone. I'm just saying, if a person or couple is happy with their $500, $300, or $200 shoot, good for them. I get it, not every photographer who spends thousands of dollars on their photography equipment wants to do shoots at that price, but some will and more power to them for offering the clients an affordable option.
In any profession there are now companies which hire professionals at low rates to do cheap work. Don't take it personally. Get even with those companies by networking and marketing yourself in person to potential new clients. The more you do that the more in demand you will become and the more reasonable your rates will be. Leave the bottom fishers to photographers who sit behind their keyboard all day, every week, all year.
This is no different than any other market/profession/job...there will always be someone willing to do it cheaper than you. It is up to the customer to decide what they want to pay, and see who bites. If your value is above what theyre willing to pay, then feel free to turn it down...but don't get mad when another photographer picks up the gig. In the end, the client will either learn a (somewhat) expensive lesson in that they get what they pay for...or maybe they'll get a killer deal because the photographer knocked it out of the park!
You don't see Rolls Royce complaining that Hyundai is underselling them...but the people that pay the premium for a luxury vehicle appreciate smaller details and superior craftsmanship. That's not to say that Hyundai (or their customers) are somehow inferior because they don't demand the prices of other manufacturers.
There is a plethora of photographers out there. Some do it for fun, some for fun (but will take some money for it if it works), and some who do it professionally/commercially. If people aren't lining up to pay your prices, either you've overvalued yourself and/or are producing work that doesn't command the price. Simple economics will say theres too much supply and not enough demand...and therefore the supply side must compete in price/quantity/etc..
Either way, each person has to evaluate what their time and skills are worth and stick to that. But I wont be mad if I turn down a job, and someone else takes it for a lesser price. What someone else charges certainly doesn't devalue my work.
Another reason for shooting on film. Raises the bar of neccessary skill and equipment, and justifies higher pricing because there is an actual materials cost again. Maybe not something for fast paced news or sports photography where images have to be accessible immediately, but definitely something to consider for portraiture, editorials and architecture. And a nice benefit: Not even the best medium format sensor beats even 4x5inch or 8x10inch large format. By the self imposed notion that everything has to be faster and faster and at the same time cheaper our industry is slowly killing itself.
Just last week and three days ago I had two discussions with two clients. One was a new client in an industry that still spends money on photography but is suffering from over saturation and price competition in some scenarios and another is a regular client of a multi million dollar company who is the 6th largest in the world at what they do.
New client tells me they have gone through three photo shoots already, I ask if there is anything they didn’t like or should know about our upcoming shoot so as to make sure they are happy. New client responds “ have you heard the phrase you get what you pay for?” “Yes” I say; “well there ya go” he says. I could have hugged him. People notice a difference and it still matters to many.
There will always be cheap photographers, and some sections of the industry will get devalued for a number of reasons. Yes pricing can devalue a section of the industry, and that’s sad, but it isn’t exactly a photographers fault or even a businesses fault. Our customers and by extension our clients customers start to not need or require a certain level of quality. Once people don’t want to pay or care less about the quality then the price drops. Social media photography for brands is a perfect example of this. Who needs all your lights and expertise and 45MP when the content generated from and iPhone and a free nights stay at a hotel is good enough to be seen at 1080 on Instagram?
Another example is client 2. They are a multi million dollar company who I do a regular amount of work for and they pay well. As an agreement we had was coming to an end I started putting a price sheet together for them. I decided to offer a service that they usually get from another photographer just in case he couldn’t do it. Not wanting to undercut him or overcharge I asked the client what they pay him for this service and client gives me a very low number, even saying “he is really cheap” he explained that for many years they used to pay at least double for the same job, and it boils down now to the fact that the guy does solid work and the need for quality just isn’t there anymore. Its just better business sense for him. It’s not that the work is even bad because it’s not, it’s just that for what it’s used for it doesn’t need to be fancy, it needs to be quick easy and affordable. So it’s not something I’m including in their price sheet now. But they are still paying me 5x to 7x more than him for what I do for them. There is a market for making money but it may mean photographers finding and transitioning more into fields that still demand quality, and there are plenty.
Bottom line, it isn’t JUST other photographers or even businesses that are driving pricing down in some areas, its the public as a whole more than anything. They want fresh imagery/content constantly and that will naturally diminish quality required to please which will drive prices down. Find a price to put in front of your name for what you do that you are happy with, and eventually people will pay, and if not and business is dying maybe it’s time to challenge yourself to learn new genres and push in a different direction. Some of this also has to do with the market you are in too. It’s no secret urban centers tend to harbor the higher paying jobs. But things like senior photography and newborn photography are likely going to get devalued more as time marches on because they are bigger more accessible markets to more people. Every photographer iI know struggles at one point or another with pricing and quotes, I know I still do at times. Just gotta keep at it and stick to the range you are willing to work within.
Great point about the expectation of more and faster images. Awesome perspective as always, Dylan!
It's like the Ubers, on-line meal order services etc. A lot of people will do it because they need the money On the whole I think this is not a good development.
It's not just photography. Take a look at Harlan Ellison's YouTube video titled "Pay the Writer." Just be forewarned -- it's full of F-bombs. Imagine -- Harlan Ellison, one of the most famous writers ever, they didn't want to pay him. (Seriously -- it's about writing, but it's all about photography.)
I get undercut all the time. The most infamous person who undercuts me is a young guy with quite a following. He even told me once that I charge more for one photo than he charges for an entire job. And honestly, I don't know if he wasn't bragging.
I just keep shooting. If people want to pay my rate, great. If not, I move on.
You've been warned about the F-bombs . . .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj5IV23g-fE
To be honest, I think a lot of photographers need to wake up and realize that in general the photograph has NOT got the value it had 15 years ago. The reality is the more there is of something the less it is worth. That's a fact! Stop banging on about your special craft and accept it — it's not so special. If you intend to continue with your photography you're going to have produce that is of value (for your market).
Guys, what would be your opinion about a European company which offers a platform for freelance photographers to do 1hour interior shoots for 25eur/hour without doing post-production (they do it themselves). They kinda slip in assignments in your calendar on the days that you mark as available for work, you give out the copyright to them (although still able to use the pictures for your portfolio, but if it's not your post then what's the point). They also schedule your time, but usually it's within 1-2 days as per their promo material. Just got an offer, but feels weird, like they need only half of your skills. What do you think?