Yesterday, I spent the day with the girls – girls from Mary Kay. One of the local reps – who’s son we photographed for his senior portraits – thought that it would be a fantastic idea for us to attend one of her monthly Mary Kay meetings so that we could photograph all of the makeovers – before and after – as well as have some fun with various props.
Both Loretta and myself had a great time with the girls! Here are just a handful of the shots we captured yesterday …
As a business owner or executive of a company, your image must portray confidence, competence and credibility. Whether the image is destined for a business card or a company brochure, your portrait must reflect who YOU are because potential clients want to be able to connect with someone that they can trust and believe in!
Recently, we had the opportunity to update the business portraits of numerous executives and business owners from around the area. Each session was slightly different – one took place during a client appreciation dinner while the other was captured in the living room of the executives home – but the results were just the same. Each of our clients walked away with portraits of themselves that portrayed who they were – as a person and business owner/executive.
Here are just a few of the portraits we captured from each of the sessions …
To update your professional image, contact us about all of our business portrait options for you and your company!
Everyday, we receive a ton of email from current and potential clients inquiring about our services and recently, we received an email from someone with a very good question. A question that is often on the minds of all of our clients, but one that is hardly every asked … Why Does Custom Photography Cost More?
After reading this message, I could do nothing else but smile. And I smiled because out of all the different types of clients that we work with, this is the first person to actually ask why … and I couldn’t be more happy!
As I began to reply to the email, I realized that this could be a great blog post … and so I switched screens and began to write. However, because of our extremely busy schedule, I quickly ran out of time. That’s when the light from above brought me to ProfessionalChildPhotographer.Com and their article on the exact same topic. So I would like to take the oppotunity to answer our client’s inquiry with a well written article on custom photography …
Digital technology is brilliant. The digital revolution has brought amazing flexibility and amazing amounts of control for the photographer, the hobbyist, the professional, the amateur. With flexibility comes a price though. Camera equipment is still considerably more expensive when you factor in its’ lifespan, the need for additional resources for processing those images, the time it takes to get a usable image and the effort that goes into all of this.
Even though you pay $1.99 for a print at your local drugstore and paying for film is pretty much a thing of the past (although you still pay for memory) you may be wondering why you may pay upwards of $40, 50, 70, 90 for a custom photography print. Some photographers hear this statement every once in awhile:
“How in the world can you charge $60 for an 8×10 if it costs me less than $2 to print at the local drug store?”
The answer is multifaceted and has a lot to do with the time, aforementioned equipment costs, artistic vision and reputation of the photographer, expertise and the usual costs of running a legitimate business.
TIME of the CUSTOM PHOTOGRAPHER:
Approaching it from a time standpoint, for instance let’s imagine if you will that you have hired a photographer who has work that you love and that is travelling an hour to your on location session. TIme break down:
- session prep time (30 mins – 1 hour, includes equipment and back up equipment checks + vehicle checks)
- one hour travel time TO session
- 15-30 minutes prep time at client’s home
- 90 minutes-2 hours with client photographing subject
- one hour travel time FROM session
- 30-45 minutes uploading time from digital cards from camera to computer
- 30-45 minutes time spent backing up the original images
- 2-5 hours editing time to present you with a diverse gallery of edited images
- 1 hour prep time getting ready for ordering
- 2-3 hours time with client for ordering images
- 1 hour sorting through and checking order
- 30 minutes-1 hour prep time for delivery
- 30 minutes-1 hour getting order shipped
- any additional phone time or time needed for add on ordering, shipment issues, quality issues
As you can see, average client time for a session ranges from just under 13 hours to 19 hours dependent on the photographer’s level of service. This is time dedicated only to your session. When the photographer charges $150-$300 for the photo shoot you are not just paying for the two hours of session time, you are paying the photographer for 12-19 hours complete time for your session.
COSTS of the CUSTOM PHOTOGRAPHER:
Regarding equipment costs, a good quality professional camera with a selection of good optical quality lenses and digital storage mediums and computer set up can run from $10,000-$30,000 costs dependent on the photographer. Even though you can purchase a really good quality digital SLR for about $2100 there are still other costs related to photography. A good lens for portrait photography can run up $900 to $2500. A dependable computer system with software loaded for business and creative usage can run $2500 to $8000 dependent on the photographer.
Then come lab costs for specialty products. A good photographer knows the lab is integral to their success. Photography labs dedicated to the professional photographer often cost more and offer a range of products that allows the custom photographer to continually offer new, innovative products for you, the discerning client.
Discussion other costs of running a photography business could take awhile so we’ll skip the intricate details. There is of course much more: including costs of running the business, taxes, studio rental/mortgage if the photographer has ownership of a dedicated studio, vehicular costs, costs of advertising/marketing, costs of sample pieces that the photographer will likely bring to your session, etc.
APPLES to ORANGES:
Often times clients will mention to their photographer that X studio in the mall/department store only charges $25 for an 8×10 or they may mention other things related to discount photography chains. The fact is those discount chains make their money on volume, not on customized 1:1 service. According to several articles at the time, did you know that in February 2007 a rather well known discount department store that started in Arkansas closed down 500 of their portrait studios across the nation? The reason is simple, you cannot make money on 99¢ “professional” prints if you do not sell enough of them. Interestingly enough – those same studios that offer the loss leader packages often charge much much more for their a la carte pricing (as high as $40-50 for an 8×10). The whole reason the big department stores began offering portrait studios in the first place was to get you, the savvy consumer, in through their door so that you could spend more money with them in other departments. Your “PORTRAITS” are considered the true “loss leader”.
Going to a chain studio, as a consumer, you don’t have the benefit of 1:1 attention for 2 hours at your home where your child is allowed to explore, play and be comfortable in their home environment, nor do you get the experience that many custom photographers are known for or the lovely captures of natural expressions. You simply get a bare bones, “SAY CHEESE” experience. Keep this in mind when selecting a photographer.
REPUTATION/EXPERTISE of the PHOTOGRAPHER:
Being in demand, being well known for quality work, having a good reputation often costs time on the photographer’s part. Their expertise comes at a cost, their time learning their craft and learning the intricacies of lighting and the commitment put forth on their end to create a persona about their business that oozes professionalism. A great number of photographers go a very long time from the time that they purchase their first good camera to making money at the business of photography. Many photographers, when first starting out, rush in thinking that the business will be easily profitable in no time, how expensive could it be to get a camera and use it to create their dream? They often neglect to factor in the cost of business, the cost of equipment, software, back ups, etc..
Being of sound reputation, a better professional photographer knows that they must always reinvest in their business to create the reputation of being top notch. To create good work good equipment, reliable equipment, back up equipment is a necessity. The photographer who desires to be known as better/best/unparalelled reputation-wise knows that the most important thing they can do for their business is reliability and dependability. This is how reputations get built. Good work often is a wonderful side product of building that good reputation.
WeddingWire.Com, one of the internet’s leading bridal information websites, just released their list of winners for the 2009 Brides Choice Awards and Wanamaker Photography has been named as one of the area’s best wedding photography companies!
In its inaugural year, the Bride’s Choice Awards recognizes vendors from the WeddingWire Network that demonstrate excellent quality of service, responsiveness, professionalism, value of cost and flexibility. Unlike other awards in which winners are selected by the company, the Bride’s Choice Awards are determined exclusively by recent newlyweds (brides and grooms) through surveys and reviews. Our winning vendors have set the bar high for this competition, demonstrating excellent service and expertise in their industry.
“We are excited to launch this annual award program to honor high-performing vendors based solely on the experiences of our WeddingWire community,” according to Timothy Chi, WeddingWire’s Chief Executive Officer. “This year’s recipients have set the bar high, exhibiting excellent service and expertise in the wedding industry.”
Wanamaker Photography would like to thank all of our past clients for the glowing reviews and comments we’ve received and for helping us with the 2009 Brides Choice Award!
Click here to read some of the incredible reviews we’ve recieved on WeddingWire.Com!
I know that it has been a while since we last posted anything … but we’ve been super busy trying to close out and clean up everything from 2008 while trying to get 2009 started! But the great thing about starting the new year is that we get to attend one of the biggest photography expos in the country – Imaging USA.
This year, they held the convention in the warm and beautiful city of Phoenix, AZ. With temperatures in the mid-70′s and clear skies everyday, we couldn’t have had nicer weather for our trip. Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to see much of the city as both Loretta and I were busy learning in class and roving around the convention floor everyday from 7AM until 7PM. However, it wasn’t all work and no play … we did get to have a little fun at some of the parties that Canon and some of the other major vendors hosted.
But … the best part of the entire trip was seeing a shot that we took, blown up and displayed at the entrance for the SEPCON (Sports Photography) attendees! As you might remember, we were a cover contest runner-up for an industry magazine a few months ago. Well, they liked our images so much that they posted some in their online photo gallery and blew one up to use on one of their SEPCON pillars during the show …
Here is the original image, taken during an i9 Sports Flag Football game in Newburgh NY this past summer …
Overall, we had a great time, learned a lot and are looking forward to putting things into effect this year, including all kinds of new products that we had a chance to check out!
Here are a couple more shots we took while visiting …
