Often people wonder why they should hire a professional photographer. Afterall, all they're doing is taking photos with a flash camera right?
While that's kind of true there's more to it than the equipment.
Unconvinced?
How about using the video below as an example.
The guy on the bike is a professional.
The bike is professional quality.
Is it the bike that lets him do what he does or something else?
Feel free to post comments below :)
So, as it turns out, my brother is a bit of an entrepreneur. In his business savyness he has taken to selling cheap phones. He calls them Brick (as in they're named like a person) because the phones he is selling are old brick phones by today's standards. While I was a bit concerned that the idea wouldn't fly (as one particular mobile company often gets close to his price point) he's actually doing fairly well, selling a fair few of the old nokia phones at a really good price point (as in cheap).
***UPDATE***
As an added bonus Brick is BACK forChristmas. Pop across to find a great wee stocking stuffer for a cheap phone you can take camping without worry.
What will this do to professional photography? While some people may leap to the conclusion that it will spell the end of professional photography as we know it I believe that this is far from the truth.
1) It's like RAW
Photographers love RAW because it lets them do more in post. It lets them adjust the exposure and the colour balance after taking the photo. The addition of focus to this mix will just be another tool in the belt.
2) Professional Photographs are about more than focus
The key point for me has always been framing, focus is an additional piece of flavouring.
3) It's a whole other kind of photograph
The ability to dynamically change the focus point in a photograph will allow greater user interaction. Such images will probably become popular for companies selling products or experiences. However it is less likely to be used by companies selling a story - maintaining focus control will maintain story control.
Adidas have done a beautifully awful job of attempting to repair, or at least prevent further damage to, their brand image in New Zealand.
David Hugget (Adidas' NZ manager) and Greg Kerr (Pacific Managing Director) have been fronting up to the New Zealand media to explain Adidas's point of view. While this would have been a good idea their approach seems to have been under-researched. They even misunderstood some of the responses they had made to the issue over the previous week.
This all began with the idea that New Zealanders had an issue with the local retail price of the world cup jersey. To be fair, in the strictest sense, this is true as this is the price that effects consumers. That being said the retail price isn't what made the news though. The difference in the New Zealand retail price and the equivalent retail price from overseas outlets is what made the news. Importantly this difference took place after months of the media going on about price gouging around the rugby world cup in a number of other sectors. As there were differences in pricing between the local and global market the jersey became associated with price gouging. Price gougers are villains and this meant that Adidas and their retailers became perceived as villains.
Phase 2 saw the rise of the heroes; local retailers who either matched the price of offshore outlets and told the public that they would now be making a loss, approached Adidas about reducing wholesale prices, or did both. Whether they are making a true loss (selling the jerseys for less than they paid for them) or a relative loss (selling the jerseys for more than they paid for them but less than they intended to pay for them) has not been clearly stated and probably never will be as the figures will be commercially sensitive. Importantly though in the court of public opinion this does not matter. The retailers were now seen to be on the side of the public which left only one villain standing; Adidas.
Unfortunately for Adidas the actions they chose to take after meeting with New Zealand retailers villified themselves further in the eyes of the New Zealand public. By chatting to offshore retailers and asking them to take New Zealand off the list of countries that they would deliver product to they seemed to be trying to force New Zealanders to pay a higher price for the same product than non-New Zealanders. This served to strengthen the idea that Adidas were indulging in price gouging. It also gave the impression that they were trying to control the market place by blocking competition. This is a point that became incredibly important when they did front to the media.
In reality I suspect that this move was intended to support local retailers. At an absolute guess I would say that, after meeting with local retailers, Adidas felt that the retailers had approached them as local retailers were unable to compete with offshore retailers i.e. offshore retailers had an advantage. By requesting offshore retailers not sell to New Zealand this offshore advantage is removed as, effectively, the offshore competition no longer exists. As such it is possible that Adidas saw themselves as heroes for the local retailers at this point. While that may have been true Adidas had a problem. The local retailers weren't villifying offshore competitors when they spoke to the public; they were villifying Adidas.
With significant damage done to Adidas' brand they eventually caved to public pressure and fronted to Close-up, Campbell Live, Radio Live, and News Talk ZB in a single 24 hour period. While this was probably intended to be some kind of damage control ultimately it amounted to 4 spots of Adidas punching themselves in the face.
This all began with the close-up interview on Wednesday the 10th of August which, iteself, began with the obvious question.
-Will you drop prices?
Cue 2 minutes and 9 seconds of dodging and 3 swaps of the person speaking before finally (after prodding from Mark Sainsbury) providing a clear answer:
No.
Why are they there then? Apparently to explain that the price reflects their investment in New Zealand Rugby and retailers while blaming the price difference on exchange rates while encouraging New Zealanders to shop at any store they wish including online retailers as they support a competitive market place.
Those final points make absolutely no sense. Why?
- Some have suggested that fluctuations in the exchange rate have no clear relationship to the jersey price
- If New Zealanders shop for an All Blacks jersey online apparently they won't be supporting New Zealand rugby despite the fact that they will be purchasing a product that is intrinsically linked to New Zealand rugby. If this is true it would seem to be an issue worth addressing.
- Adidas do not support a competitive market place as they had a hand in stopping some online retailers delivering jerseys to New Zealand.
"this is a whole retailing issue... I've got friends of mine who are buying stuff online, whether it be cosmetics, whether it be electronics"
"We encourage and support a competitive market place"
"We welcome the ability for people to buy wherever they would like to buy from"
From there they talk a wee walk to the base of the sky tower where they had a chat to John Campbell. While they manage to make some valid points the tide is still against them
- We haven't changed our price for the last 2 years
- Bizarrely, when asked about the amount they are contributing to the game Greg Kerr says "The consumer is not going to understand it" This is bizarre because, just minutes ago on Close Up, they did expect the consumer ot understand the impact of the price of their committment.
http://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/podcasts/audio/11072904.mp3
Mike Hosking (while asking about what they would do differently if they had their time again) "you'd stop digging?"
David Huggett "Umm.... I wouldn't say stop digging"
BEAUTIFUL!
This is an awesome list of things to consider when pricing your photography (a.k.a. giving a photography quote).
Unfortunately Dom hasn't provided them in written form. As such I've slammed them down here.
Important points to consider:
- Most of the time you can ignore 90% of the points listed below when giving a photographic quote. Early on you'll probably only be worried about how much time you'll be spending on the photo shoot, the time you'll be spending editing the photos, how well you get on with the client and the possibility or repeat business.
- Don't be afraid to ask what your client's photography budget is. That way you can tailor your photography services to their budget and their expectations in terms of cost and complexity.
a) Costs associated with the photo location
- Location Fees
- The time taken to find the location in the first place
- Parking Money for you and the rest of your team
- Crowd Control
Do you need to pay anyone to not get hassled? Do you need to block the area of from the public? Will you need to hire security or someone in a similar role to help with any of this?
b) Models
- Are you organising them or are they being organised for you? If so cover your costs.
- How many do they want and what level of modelling ability do they need?
- Dom suggests that models can cost 60-300 pounds for the day
- Add a little extra for yourself for any time spent organising them
c) Hair and Make Up
- Are you organising this or is it being organised for you? If so cover your costs.
- Add charges for organising these people
d) Fashion and Clothes
- Are you supplying these? If so cover your costs.
e) Photo and Lighting Equipment
- How much will/would it cost you to rent your equipment? Charge your gear at rental rates and add organisation time fees
- Will you require an assistant to set-up, pack down and/or operate your equipment? If so charge for them
- Consider how you will transport your equipment, will you be renting a van?
f) Are you the artistic director?
- If so charge for your creative time as well
- If not do you like the creative director you will be working under? If not you may like to include some kind of price penalty to make up for this and/or scare them off.
g) Shooting Time
- How long will you shoot for?
- Do you price per hour? What do you feel your equivalent professional rate would be? That of a waiter? A coach? An accountant?
h) Transport
- For you and Models
i) (Absent)
j) (Absent)
k) (Absent)
l) Editing
- How much post production work and culling will be involved?
m) Indirect Photographic Equipment
- You will use software, a laptop/desktop, etc. You also need to cover the cost of these assets over time.
n) Level of image Manipulation required
- Will you be doing the airbrushing etc?
- On how many images?
o) Delivery method and associated costs
- Transport costs - petrol, time etc.
- Postal Costs - envelope, packaging, stamps, time etc.
- Internet costs - connection fees, relevant online service fees (such as Flikr Pro), etc.
p) Copyright
- A higher release covering more mediums and/or publications is associated with higher fees.
q) Potential of repeat business
- Direct, repeat business from that client
- Indirect such as a link on their website or a byline in a newspaper
As you might have guessed I chose to get the photo shown below printed. It is one of my current favourites afterall. I'll start with the points that most people are likely to care about before moving on to the points that I really like to consider.
Overall: Overall, for a new company that appears to have used a TreatMe special to launch itself and possibly push itself beyond its comfortable capacity (contact on an unrelated topic suggested that the people in charge were overwhelmed with demand), PixelPaint have done an exceptional job. In fact if they can fix the issues with their canvas's unidentified gsm (weight) rating and add some kind of reporting to their my orders section they'll be able to score a solid 10/10. If not they still deserve a high 8.
***Update***
The canvas weight has now been confirmed as 240gsm - reporting of progress in the my orders section still leaves a lot to be desired.
Placing Your Order:
Uploading the file was simple and ran exactly the way you would expect it to if you are used to snapfish or even facebook. Completing the ordering process was also hassle free.
Print Accuracy:
The colours and edges are exactly as I expected them to be. Full marks here and some solid back-up to their claims about their obsessive nature.
Assembly:
The frame is strong and the canvas is thoroughly stapled in place. Additionally the canvas is strong enough to withstand solid knocks (while I have seen some canvas suppliers punch their demo canvases at full strength I'd rather not subject my baby to that particular test).
Usability:
Somewhat unexpectedly the canvas comes ready to hang with a band across the back. While some may suggest that this is unnecessary (you can just hang them using the wooden frame) it is nice to have the extra option available.
Packaging:
The canvas was well packed in a good-fitting box. It was also wrapped in bubble wrap fro added security. It should be fine if the package gets caught in light rain. I am unsure about heavy rain.
Brand:
The pixelpaint site has a really refreshing and clear voice. It makes you want to be friends with it (or at least the person who wrote the content). However the best thing about their brand is that they are aiming for quality and they are prepared to take responsibility for producing quality results.
Technical Info:
The information they provide is enough to put your average punter at ease but the lack of information on the gsm rating (weight) of the canvas is unfortunate. It would be great if this could be tested and updated. Even a rough estimate would be nice (and would be in line with the languag-branding of the site).
Customer Service:
This is a bit of a mixed bag. In this day and age we have come to expect online services to provide a really solid report on how our order is going. Is it awaiting printing, being printed, being looked over, or is it currently in transit? If there's a delay why has it happened? When will I be able to expect my canvas to be delivered?
While these issues are vaguely addressed in the FAQ section on the site it would be great to see this kind of reporting integrated into the My Orders section of the site. From the time my order was submitted to the time it arrived this screen remained unchanged in my account.
The key reason that the lack of information on the my account page is frustrating is the vague timelines supplied in the FAQ section. Canvases take 8-10 working days to process but may take longer if a defect is found in the canvas. The FAQ provides no indication of how long this additional delay is likely to be and, once the 8-10 day limit passes, you are encouraged to not contact pixelpaint staff as it is probably on the way. Once again this issue of doubt could be resolved by adding a progress report to the my orders section of the site.
Extra Notes:
Order placed: July 12th, 2011
Order Received: August 1st, 2011
Postage Date: Unmarked
One of the standard debates in the 'movie maker' world is the film vs digital argument. While the death of film has been announced a number of times the progression of digital format cameras over the past few years (most notably the RED and, lately, dSLRs) has really narrowed the gap. These days video cameras can produce clearer images with a wider dynamic range than they used to have.
While most people restrict this debate to semi-scientific speculation and discussion of how film 'feels' better than video there are some who go beyond. Those who try to pin down the question and really address who the current champion in the film vs digital fight is. Enter The Great Camera ShootOut - A series where situations and exposures are held constant while the camera bodies are switched out.
Film vs. Digital. Who will win? Watch the footage (in full screen) and make the decision for yourself.
