D.J. Cash

The photography industry Studio – Why is it broken

Our industry is broken

I took some time to actually look at the state professional photography industry today. I looked at it objectively as both a photographer and as a customer to really try to find the following address for industry.

We know that photographers industry is under enormous pressure from various sources and form for different reasons.

One of the changes more radical in the photographic industry is the emergence of affordable high quality equipment. Anyone with a few big can go get a high end Nikon or Canon and hang out a shingle. Yesterday they were working at Waffle House are now a photographer. In the past these new photographers were relegated to the background because could not produce the image quality requires the buying public. Snapshot photographers were. Nothing more, nothing less.

Today photographers Snapshot is using the same computer as the full-time professional photographer is the quality and delivery of various programs.

Because the amateur-professional has none of the general requirements (insurance, licensing, advertising and other business expenses of this kind) that may weaken the convenience of full-time for a point view pricing. Sometimes considerably. And his client is happy because in his mind that he saved a boatload of money.

The result will be the next issue that I see. We and the industry fails to point that the paradigm of the prices have changed. Due to the abundance of competent professionals of fans out there, the full-time professional photographer, no matter how much you scream about it are at a distinct cost disadvantage.

Let me give an example.

If I do a lot of photography. If I go to take photos process and offered for sale. My impression is 15.50 5X7 (which I have said is too cheap for my colleagues).

At an event recently there was an amateur-shot must favor the same program and send images for sale. You could see the clear difference in quality capture, display and use of available light. His prints 5X7 prints were $ 5.00. He sold me more than $ 500 in that program.

Customers are looking for the big "V" word in deciding where to spend their money. VALUE is the name of the game. And the value is perceived by the customer is not defined by the photographer.

Even in a creative studio that I've seen this paradigm the value of play out.

I was in a mall over the weekend. And all have shown our professional contempt for studies of the mall, but we really looked at from a purely economic point of view?

The study I've seen was a separate operation. None of the studies that we all know shopping. Their packages range from $ 12 to $ 36. The "portraits" were shot green screen (which clearly was not lit properly.) They offer "hundreds of funds" and their production was done in a inkjet printer. No art photography by any stretch of the imagination. They had a full store and was there a wait of 2.5 hours for one session.

I could speak with an employee of this operation and gave me some ideas on their volume. In a weekend that will make adjustments and over 300 150 for the rest of the week setting a week 450 is a number amazing. Each adjustment takes about 5-7 minutes. They have a two camera positions to maintain that volume. Using a commercially available software package to do the chroma key.

Its aim is to sell some more than others 20.00.

If we set down and play with the numbers that can reach a rough estimate of the profitability of this operation.

450X20 gives $ 9000 gross a week and 36 K a month.

What "conventional" study would not love to have that amount of gross sales. And remember they are in a MALL with all expenses related to the.

The normal return for the owners of most of the studies is that it is low-end customers that do not spend money. Do they answer NO to spend $ 300 for a 8×10 but spend money. The problem is that they want "Pictures" and not "artistic heritage part of your family heritage for all time" They are a different client that we as industry have ignored. In addition, marginalize anyone going after this market because they can harm trade OUR. Nothing could be further from the truth.

We do not want that customer. As professionals photography and artists that customers are below us. "We just have to educate them on what is quality and will come around" is a statement that I hear a lot … so stupid never going to come around to our price range. So forget about that customer.

36K a month … I would like have that.

As the industry we are also responsible for positioning our products in a way that does not attract customers who have a higher threshold value.

I looked at the picture above market as an example. Most studies announced as promote their other services. Go to most web sites focusing on senior portraits are the same music and piano pretty boring with the same "family heirlooms" put the lines. It seems that the attitude is that we overwhelm our class to get 17 years old to shop at Abercrombie and Fitch and prefers to be online than in the real world to come for the beautiful senior portraits.

The most successful higher education, have geared their portraits of marketing for this segment of the population. They get it. Many of us, and we wonder why we are not getting high-level business. We are positioning our advertising to a traditional market that, frankly, hates beautiful piano music.

We need to revise our customers and be more responsive to their needs. After trying a few pictures acid on its website does not make you a survey of senior portraits. This is the attitude and most of us the attitude we project is "siesta."

I think for the photography industry to wake up we have some important issues to address. We must change our paradigm prices, because they simply are not getting customers in the study. Changing our attitude. Most customers want, not great pictures family heirlooms. They want to be excited and not bored to tears experience in the study

I think if we started we'll be there on the road to recovery from a once great industry.

.

About the Author

Dave is a professional Commercial photographer located in the Dallas/Fort Worth area

His websites are
Image Fusion Studio and
Studio Alegria

His focus is the business of photography

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