Ok lets try to finesse our way into having a legitimate business practice without screwing anyone over, shall we ? As in acting professionally and treating other professionals we demand for our own endeavors.
Following post is for those who are ready to assert their true desires and move forward succeeding in what they dream of. Specifically we are talking about photography buyers ( you – if you are, and yes you are, because we live in a world driven by visuals, in need of images presenting your brand and products in just the right way. We are also talking about photographers who are defining their value, there are some perks of wisdom for you here too. Devour please and make the place we all work in a better place.
Personal awesome traits aside, nobody owes you anything and just like a cup of coffee you buy elsewhere, but concoct in your home, its going to cost you. Yes you might get lucky as a one time thing and get some magic for super cheap ( HIGHLY UNLIKELY, ask a small percentage of my clients that did huff and puff at my estimates, went on hiring another photographer, then another one, then another one, and circle back right to me ending up spending trice the estimate in the end, thankfully getting amazing results in the end ), otherwise you are destined as a newly startup to be swimming unknowingly in the sea of super retouched, sparkly on the outside, having zero iconic value imagery and photographers who producer them, often getting them for cheap. It is because of those clients i so feel for and for all the unnecessary moneys they spend ( swear i rather take it and invest back in my business from the get go ) , I am writing this post, to warn, to inspire, to elevate in the end.
Lets make more informed decisions imperative to our business and thus wellbeing.
Here is your guideline in that swarming see of uncertainty.
This little guide below will be helpful.
Hiring photographer is a task of selecting one with the right style and value to make your business strive and prosper and make the risk worth while.
Along with variety of styles photographers, who’s portfolios you are considering one imperative comes to the surface that is of outmost value – experience. An experienced photographer is skilled to turn any disadvantage happening during shoot ( bad weather, unshaven armpits of a model, light that breaks down, stylist being late and on and on – and yes something ALWAYS goes “ wrong” and unscheduled and unpredicted ) – into success, no matter what.
Before you thrust yourself into the search of the photographer who’s style you admire, it is imperative for you to know how you want your end product to look like. Unsure ? Widen your pockets and hire a professional that is versed in creative direction AND photography ( I happen to be one ), alternatively a creative versed in delivery on brief AND a photographer.
Good professionals are of high value. Some professionals don’t yet know their own value… With that said, If your project is important for you DO NOT HIRE A “PROFESSIONAL” for cheap or even free. It is going to bite you in the metaphorical backside.
Now. Why professional photographers of value don’t come cheap? Simple. Cost of doing business.
We ( creative independent professionals and / or creative business owners ) don’t work shoot hours 9-5 ( hence per hour pricing is at best bogus ) , we invest in equipment ( watch out for next blog post if you are curious to know what exactly it costs to be a photographer ), education, software, upgrades, transportation, insurance, taxes, our own portfolios, marketing, advertising and so forth. Add to this all the post production work that goes into your assignment that is often unseen and behind the scenes when all stylists, make up artists, models etc released from duty and when another full on half of the production, for photographer and / or team of post production specialists – sometimes all in one 🙂 ensues.
Oh and yes I hope you already guessed one other thing right – that is photographers must pay themselves salaries, invest into growing business and so forth. You DO want a photographer that is sustainable – they are doing something right after all !
Yes you can find photographer for less. Someone working part time ( its more of a hobby or hope to make it one day a sustainable business ) , or alternatively choose the part time photographer who is good and well versed in just one specific style of photography – one that you need. Pheewww get ready for a loooooooong time spent googling looking for the one.
If you decide to do the latter, few precautions, make sure you have specific vision and shoot list ( if you don’t know what it is – its coming in one of the next blog posts, subscribe while you are it, so you don’t miss it ), and ask for portfolio proof corresponding your desires, make sure you ask how much post production went into final portfolio images and ask if it is included in the rate.
With all said above and below I do understand not every person and or business understands the value of photographer and/ or their services as a photographer. I hope that with posts like this one lifting the “veil”, and consistently producing high quality work, I strive to elevate that consciousness and understanding. Sometime its a long process, it took me 11 years and thousands of published images in print, let alone web, and lots and lots of very high end clients and smaller business clients, to understand what value, I – as professional, bring to the “table” with all the skills and experience i possess.
Never the less education continues.
I have recently found a great source of industry standard rates by Rosh Sillars – a professional photographer like me, who makes a living as a photographer, who had the time and chutzpah to write it all down for you and me. Feel free to follow this link and read all he had written and educate yourself even more . He also has a wonderful upbeat web seminars to get you in the gist of things whether you are someone wanting to hire a photographer or a photographer lost in a sea of rates looking for some benchmarks.
In short to summarize look at prices / rates below and understand who you are hiring.
For everyone who is on a journey to becoming a curious aesthetic person who can see the difference between a great image and not so much ( trust me it can be learned) , but not there yet –
Hobbyist – anyone who is charging nothing or under 100 $ is your bet for a roulette of playtime – you might get images you want, or you might not, hopefully you will have a good time discovering.
Amateur – anyone charging under 100 $ per hour – bit more skilled than the fellas mentioned above and / or they are better sales people.
Rosh ( mentioned above ) introduces an additional to “ per project” pricing model – new per image pricing model and you should REALLY get acquainted with that one if you aren’t sure as to what you want as a final result and you aren’t a big corporation. If you are a photographer who aren’t complaining with impending doom of losing your business because everyone seems to own a camera, this could be interesting to you as well.
I will touch base on this pricing model in one of my future blog posts because I consider it a brilliant pricing model for changing times when working with smaller local businesses and individuals and starting to use it as I am typing this. Those working with only big ad agencies and such should not worry about it for now 🙂
You can read more detailed description of Rosh’s explanation of rates here.
In short what you need to know is :
Student Photographers – $35-90 per hour / $25-115 per image
Semi-Pro – $50 – $160 per hour / $50-150 per image:
Professional – $75-$300 per hour / $75-$375 per image
Top Professional – $250-$500+ per hour / $300-$2,000 per image
In case you were curious and are about to fill in the Quote Request form – I, As per previous expierence and client’s payouts I fall into the “Top Professional” group for the past 12 years.
Rosh goes all out elaborating on variety of different specialities of professional photographers. Again I urge you to read it in more detail on his website. You will be better off after reading it in full and overall we are going to raise our consciousness as humans and next time you hire a photographer you will be equipped with the right questions to ask to ensure success of your enterprise.
Below specialities do not relate to yours truly but here we go anyway.
Senior Portrait Photography $125-$350
Local Website Photography: $35-$150 per image
Next week we are going to look into the elusive ( for you for now, but don’t fret you will be a top equipped with knowledge after that post ) subject of copyright and ownership of the imagery produced by photographer for you individually or as a business.
More on buying photography from Rosh Sillars visit here.
