Sunday, October 24, 2010

Pricing Your Work in a Tough Economy

The marketing assistant for a ceiling fan manufacturer called me in early November for a quote. She needed photographs of a Chicago restaurant interior to be used in a brochure and on their website. She had located my business by searching on Google for a Chicago architectural photographer. She liked our work, especially the lighting of the interior spaces.

Her photography list included images with and without people, showing various angles of the space making sure to highlight their fans. My contact did indicate they had no budget for professional models, but she would not share her overall budget with me. I was cautiously optimistic - she was thorough, indicating she hired photographers regularly, she had a deadline, and she appeared to want my expertise.

I went to the restaurant website to get an idea of what we would be facing. The location has cathedral ceilings with skylights on either side of the fan. The décor is dark with dramatic lighting. The space would be a challenge to light properly - keeping the mood and also showing off the featured ceiling fan.

I put together the estimate making sure to cover all the details necessary to give this client the same quality of work featured on our website. The quote included scouting the location, planning with the restaurant owner, lining up restaurant employees to pose as customers and budgeting to pay those employees a small fee allowing me to secure signed model releases, an assistant and an average amount of digital postproduction. I wrote up the license for the client to use the images as they outlined. The estimate came to $3,200.

The marketing assistant thanked me for my time, but told me we were too expensive. She said they customarily paid $600 to $700 for this type of assignment.

Wow. I have become accustomed to low budgets, but this was really incredible. This manufacturer was looking to complete a commercial assignment with very specific parameters, released models and a bundled license of rights for a budget comparable to a one-time use editorial job.

This was an easy one to walk away from as their budget did not even come close to covering my cost of doing business, let alone qualify as fair compensation for the licensing package requested. Still, the experience nags at me. Did someone take this job? Has this manufacturer been using photographers with no liability coverage? Quite a risk when they are asking for fans 14 feet in the air to be cleaned and polished. Do they have releases for all the people appearing in the photographs on their website?

It was hard to imagine a professional working at this rate and covering all these bases. Did the client eventually pay more? I hope this is what happened, but I also know that many photographers are running scared in this economy.

Pricing professional photography - even in good economic times - requires the careful consideration of many factors, including:

  • How the images will be used
  • The photographer's cost of doing business
  • What the market will bear for the specific type of work
  • The production needs of the project

Pricing in a tough economic climate adds an additional layer of difficulty. The downward pressure on photographers' fees has been intense in recent years due to the increased democratization of the service we provide, the new ease of image distribution and the ever-growing availability of free or nearly free photographs. When this recession hit the entire global economy in late 2008, our existing problems were compounded.

There are times when you may need to lower your price to get the work, but it is much wiser to negotiate a change in the parameters of the job rather than unilaterally lowering your fee.

Let's say, for example, that a client needs four products photographed, three views each. Your estimate is over their budget. Rather than cutting your price, suggest they only do two views per product or use the same background for each image. The client gives something up and you can give on the price.

The biggest risk you take in lowering your fees in tough times is that clients will not be willing to raise them again when the economy improves. If you work with clients creatively to meet their currently tighter budgets, you do not damage your fee structure for the future.

Remember that your fee structure is not a dartboard: Your fees should be based on the costs of being a professional, the production needs of the assignment and the licensed use of the work. When you price based on specifics you can pinpoint, you can negotiate and defend your fees with confidence. This is what distinguishes you as a professional.

Tip #1

The American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) has a step-by-step guide to pricing and licensing photography

The steps are:

  1. Creative Fee: Your cost of doing business + the specifics of the assignment
  2. Licensing Fee: How the client will use the image
  3. Production needs of the job: These are the expenses
  4. Know your market: Industry practices for a particular kind of work

PRICE = 1 + 2 + 3 (adjust for 4)

TIP #2

IF YOU DISCOVER THAT YOUR COST OF DOING BUSINESS IS DRAMATICALLY HIGHER THAN THE PREVAILING FEES CHARGED FOR THE TYPE OF PHOTOGRAPHY YOU WANT TO DO, YOU MUST REEVALUATE YOUR BUSINESS PLAN. EITHER CHANGE YOUR OVERHEAD AND SALARY GOALS OR CHANGE THE TYPE OF PHOTOGRAPHY YOU ARE DOING. THERE IS NO WAY TO BUILD A SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS IF THESE TWO FINANCIAL ASPECTS ARE CONSISTENTLY OUT OF SYNC.


http://www.adbase.com/Blog/Building-Your-Business/PricingYourWork

5 Essential Tips For Killer Black and White Photos

Black and white photography is often treated as the inferior alternative to colour - after all, why limit yourself to monotone shades when you can use the full spectrum of colours? But this is a very limited way of thinking, because black and white photos can often be even more striking than the colour equivalent. Follow these five essential tips to make the most of your black and white photography.

1. Shape and Form

By removing colour from your scene, you are doing away with one of most potentially distracting elements in your photo. This will focus the viewer's attention on the shapes and forms within a scene. When composing your shot, look beyond the colours in the scene and instead arrange your scene's elements in a way that is visually enticing.

2. Contrast

Without differences in colour to separate the objects in your scene, contrast becomes even more important, because it will stop objects merging into one another. If you are photographing a light subject, try to frame it on a dark background, and vice versa. Increasing the variety of tones and shades in your scene also helps to add depth.

3. Pattern

In colour photography, the colours themselves can often distract attention away from any patterns within a scene. However, by shooting in black and white you can direct the viewer's attention back to the pattern, making it appear much more prominent.

4. Texture

Whenever we look at a photo, we immediately begin to build up a mental picture of the scene in our mind. One of the main ways our brain does this is by using the colour information available in the photo. Of course if we shoot in black and white, this colour information isn't available, so the brain pays more attention to other elements, such as texture. This makes the texture appear more detailed and engaging.

5. Lighting

Lighting affects all of the above elements, and so it is absolutely essential to a good black and white photograph.

When framing your scene, think about how the lighting affects the shapes, contrast, patterns and textures in your scene, and try to choose a shooting angle that emphasises the most important ones.

Side lighting usually gives excellent results because it adds depth to your three-dimensional objects with highlights and shadows, and enhances the textures, patterns and surface details within the scene.


http://ezinearticles.com/?5-Essential-Tips-For-Killer-Blackå-and-White-Photos&id=785376

Friday, October 22, 2010

PROOF OF A PORTFOLIO VS. PROMISE OF A RESUME


chasejarvis_lulu lemon athleticaPeople that have “done it” will be able to do it again. Whether it’s shooting a successful commercial assignment, hanging in a museum, making a music video, or whatever. It may not be a de-facto truth, but that’s what’s believed on the open market. It’s SAFER for the person hiring a creative if they can point to something that you’ve already done. One reason I get a lot of work is that I’ve done a lot of projects. They’re banking on my portfolio–work I’ve actually completed, work that I can point at, not a “resume,” or work that can be surmised.

I’m not saying it’s right or fair. It’s just the way it is.

But what if we’re not on the up-side of experience? For someone trying to get their first chance at anything where the keys to the kingdom are closely held by someone else, this can be a huge paradox.

If what you think you need is a new platform to show you can do something, you’re barking up the wrong tree. “Just gimme a shot and I’ll deliver” won’t cut it, no matter how loud you say it or how much you hope for it. The people making the decisions want proof. After all, if you fall flat, it usually means their ass is cooked.

So instead of lamenting “woe is me”, try this: Don’t create a resume, create a portfolio. Create actual WORK that looks like what you want to get “discovered” for. And make that work very strong.

Stop waiting for someone to take a chance on you. Do the work. And then show it to whomever’s got the keys to the kingdom. Once you’ve “done it”–and done it well–the phone will ring.


http://blog.chasejarvis.com/blog/2010/10/proof-of-a-portfolio-vs-promise-of-a-resume/


Friday, October 15, 2010

Sunrise to Sunset

Hey Folks...
Here is a handy dandy link for us...
Thanks for the idea Marlene!



Sunrise and sunset in Winnipeg

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Flag for CanadaWinnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Winnipeg is capital of the province Manitoba

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Rising and setting times for the Sun

Length of daySolar noon
DateSunriseSunsetThis dayDifferenceTimeAltitudeDistance
(106 km)
Oct 1, 20107:29 AM7:07 PM11h 38m 15s− 3m 41s1:18 PM36.8°149.757
Oct 2, 20107:30 AM7:05 PM11h 34m 34s− 3m 41s1:18 PM36.4°149.716
Oct 3, 20107:32 AM7:03 PM11h 30m 53s− 3m 41s1:18 PM36.0°149.674
Oct 4, 20107:33 AM7:00 PM11h 27m 12s− 3m 40s1:17 PM35.6°149.631
Oct 5, 20107:35 AM6:58 PM11h 23m 31s− 3m 40s1:17 PM35.2°149.589
Oct 6, 20107:36 AM6:56 PM11h 19m 51s− 3m 40s1:17 PM34.9°149.547
Oct 7, 20107:38 AM6:54 PM11h 16m 10s− 3m 40s1:16 PM34.5°149.504
Oct 8, 20107:39 AM6:52 PM11h 12m 30s− 3m 40s1:16 PM34.1°149.461
Oct 9, 20107:41 AM6:50 PM11h 08m 51s− 3m 39s1:16 PM33.7°149.418
Oct 10, 20107:43 AM6:48 PM11h 05m 11s− 3m 39s1:16 PM33.3°149.375
Oct 11, 20107:44 AM6:46 PM11h 01m 32s− 3m 39s1:15 PM33.0°149.331
Oct 12, 20107:46 AM6:44 PM10h 57m 53s− 3m 38s1:15 PM32.6°149.288
Oct 13, 20107:47 AM6:42 PM10h 54m 15s− 3m 38s1:15 PM32.2°149.245
Oct 14, 20107:49 AM6:40 PM10h 50m 37s− 3m 37s1:15 PM31.8°149.201
Oct 15, 20107:51 AM6:38 PM10h 47m 00s− 3m 37s1:14 PM31.5°149.158
Oct 16, 20107:52 AM6:36 PM10h 43m 24s− 3m 36s1:14 PM31.1°149.115
Oct 17, 20107:54 AM6:33 PM10h 39m 47s− 3m 36s1:14 PM30.7°149.072
Oct 18, 20107:55 AM6:32 PM10h 36m 12s− 3m 35s1:14 PM30.4°149.029
Oct 19, 20107:57 AM6:30 PM10h 32m 37s− 3m 34s1:14 PM30.0°148.986
Oct 20, 20107:59 AM6:28 PM10h 29m 03s− 3m 34s1:13 PM29.6°148.944
Oct 21, 20108:00 AM6:26 PM10h 25m 30s− 3m 33s1:13 PM29.3°148.902
Oct 22, 20108:02 AM6:24 PM10h 21m 57s− 3m 32s1:13 PM28.9°148.861
Oct 23, 20108:03 AM6:22 PM10h 18m 26s− 3m 31s1:13 PM28.6°148.820
Oct 24, 20108:05 AM6:20 PM10h 14m 55s− 3m 30s1:13 PM28.2°148.779
Oct 25, 20108:07 AM6:18 PM10h 11m 25s− 3m 29s1:13 PM27.9°148.739
Oct 26, 20108:08 AM6:16 PM10h 07m 56s− 3m 28s1:13 PM27.6°148.699
Oct 27, 20108:10 AM6:14 PM10h 04m 29s− 3m 27s1:13 PM27.2°148.660
Oct 28, 20108:12 AM6:13 PM10h 01m 02s− 3m 26s1:12 PM26.9°148.621
Oct 29, 20108:13 AM6:11 PM9h 57m 36s− 3m 25s1:12 PM26.6°148.582
Oct 30, 20108:15 AM6:09 PM9h 54m 12s− 3m 24s1:12 PM26.2°148.544
Oct 31, 20108:17 AM6:07 PM9h 50m 49s− 3m 23s1:12 PM25.9°148.506

All times are in local time for Winnipeg