The death of full time professional photography

[Francis Farmer]

I am beginning on writing an article on what I see is the death of full time photography business.

I would like to ONLY hear from full time professionals that have a brick and morder building. Their experiences etc.

No Part timers, People working out of their homes, or people that have spouses that bring home a great portion of the money.

Thanks Francis

[John Mireles]

To quote Mark Twain, "The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." There's probably more full-time pros than ever before so I don't think you can say that the profession is dying. It's definitely become more competitive. Come to think of it, the business has become more competitive every year since I've been in business so that's nothing new.

Last year was a tough year for us. We worked very hard for every job. But our billings grew by over $400k from the year before. Nowadays, it takes a lot more work just to stand still. If you keep doing what you did in the past, you'll be out of business before you know it. I hear about a lot of dinosaurs that are starting to circle the drain. The folks that have adapted and grown with the technology and changing markets are doing ok.

John

[cosworth]

How about people that don't shoot anymore due to what you are writing about? They would seem to be the most important demographic to speak to.

The ones already forced out of work.

[Kaya75]

the paradox my rose tinted glasses are showing me is that with the on set of cameras everywhere people are starting to once again appreciate photographic image once again.

kind of cameras cameras everywhere and not a photograph to be seen! about 12 years ago i was airbrushing for a living and i lived in my studio - was i working from home or living at work.... :)

[Rick Rosen]

The number of active wedding photographers has virtually doubled in the last five years. During that time span, according to PMA's research, over 55,000 young female (20-24 yrs.) alone have entered weddings. What that growth rate has created is fewer bookings per studio on average but a huge market for some of the newer photographers to concentrate some (if not virtually all) of their marketing efforts on generating revenue by marketing workshops and other materials to these new photographers.

Rick

[Francis Farmer]

I did a google search in my area for photographers. 25 photographers are advertising in my area as wedding/senior/baby photographers. My town only has 40K people in it. We do draw from a large area, but I didnt even try searching for surround area photographers.

Of those 25, only 4 have brick and mortar studios. The rest are working out of their homes and this is their 2nd income or have a spouse producing an income.

How can I compete with a young women selling a good looking wedding product for $ 600. When I charge 2k right out of the starting block. I can't even pay my health insurance and my over head for a price like that.

Professional photography has become a part time profession.

[cdifoto]

I can't even pay my health insurance and my over head for a price like that.

Ditch the studio. Huge unnecessary overhead for a wedding photographer. Mottled background portraits are stale anyway.

[airfrogusmc]

I do all commercial work and its all on location. Ads, annual reports, brochures and have been a full time professional supporting my family with photography since 1986 and part time 8 or so years before that. Had my own full time business for 7 years. Before that worked as a staff photographer for a hospital for 10 years. I do not have or do I need a studio. Everything I do is on location. I don't do weddings, family portraits, but do allot of on location formal and environmental portraits. A physical studio wouldn't help me one bit.

[John Mireles]

A physical studio wouldn't help me one bit.It all depends on what you're doing. If you're shooting weddings, you don't need a studio. All location work - don't need a studio. But having a studio is great if you're doing product photography or general commercial work. It's also great for portraits.

We didn't need our current studio, but it's allowed us to do more work that we couldn't do before. The studio is quickly becoming a profit center. We bought our building so we also benefit from the business (and tenant) paying on the mortgage. Not only is it making money for us today, it will help with retirement down the line.

John

[michael_]

the point i think is you cannot just shoot one genre you have to spread yourself across a variety of areas to sustain a full time living, evidence for me of that is just 2 hrs ago, I scored a contract with a solicitor to shoot all his evidence for cases, work will be 20-30hrs per week and this came out of knowhere and something i hadnt even considered, if you try to concentrate just on weddings or motorsport or landscape i think it is extremely difficult but spreading yourself out will work.

but i agree studio work and owning it yourself is just to damn expensive thats why here in sydney especially so many people are renting space as per needed

[airfrogusmc]

Getting back to the original statement I don't think any of this is hurting someone that has established a solid client base and has something that only that photographer can offer to that client base. I feel thats the most important thing.

I have a good friend thats in the very high end wedding market and he hasn't been hurt at all. He works mostly with wedding consultants and it takes years to get into those circles and the consultants wouldn't recommend any of these new, cheap, wedding photographers.

If I did table top work or more traditional type commercial work then a bricks & mortar type studio would certainly make sense but I don't do that kind of work.

[airfrogusmc]

the point i think is you cannot just shoot one genre you have to spread yourself across a variety of areas to sustain a full time living, evidence for me of that is just 2 hrs ago, I scored a contract with a solicitor to shoot all his evidence for cases, work will be 20-30hrs per week and this came out of knowhere and something i hadnt even considered, if you try to concentrate just on weddings or motorsport or landscape i think it is extremely difficult but spreading yourself out will work.

but i agree studio work and owning it yourself is just to damn expensive thats why here in sydney especially so many people are renting space as per needed

I somewhat disagree. In todays market I think you need to become more specialized. Separate yourself from the crowd. Define what you are and what you do. All the photographers I know now that are doing very well are all very specialized. The more you know your area the better you can serve your client and the better you serve your client that longer they will stay your client. My business is all about repeat business. I have the very first client and have dozens of others that use me on a regular basis. Some a job or two a week, some a few times a month and others only a couple times a year but I have a very narrow niche and its because of that narrow but very loyal client base I can make a living doing it.

[nmh]

...
Of those 25, only 4 have brick and mortar studios. The rest are working out of their homes and this is their 2nd income or have a spouse producing an income.
...

Consider that many families need two (or more) paychecks no matter the area of work.

[Cybnew]

How can I compete with a young women selling a good looking wedding product for $ 600. When I charge 2k right out of the starting block. I can't even pay my health insurance and my over head for a price like that.



Easy, Be good at what you do. People do realize that they get what they pay for, and if you are only charging $600 a wedding, as opposed to what someone like you is charging then at least some what of a seed of doubt is planted as to why the price is so low.

according to PMA's research, over 55,000 young female (20-24 yrs.) alone have entered weddings. Do they have any information on how many stay in business?

I am getting ready to launch a senior photography/wedding photography business in San Francisco, an area which has enough wedding photographers, but after assisting at an extremely reputable studio, I feel I can be successful here. There is a photographer I have assisted who shoots weddings (I say this loosely) and rarely gets any business because he is just another guy with camera. In the end, it still comes down to Quality over Quantity, and people for the most part are bright enough to realize this.

[NZDoug]

Marshall Maclune said, in 1960 ish, in "The Media Is The Message", that anyone in the 1980s , who couldnt take a picture would be considered illiterate. The gap between rich and poor has increased a 100 fold in that period, along with technological progress, so, exotic tools of the artist of old (expensive cameras, photgraphically speaking), have become commonplace among the wealthy.
Photography is a 50 times as easy as it was 30 years ago so the competition has increased and the value has decreased, so, if you want to shoot and eat, you need more money than traditional socialistic values.
Photographic skills are now relegated to those who can produce a commercial product at the lowest common denominator.
Most will give it away on the premise of proving that they are professional. :p
Photojournalistically, truth has been relegated to the lowest form lacking honesty in the media, as big business controls the budget, to feed us our infotainment. :p
So, its not promising for the junior shooter, imho, who believes in truth, justice, and the American Way, like Superman.
BUT!!!, Im still here after 61 years and still cant get a real job, BUT!!! I like and own my house, and I feel sorry for people who cant swim every day in the sea and only play with their toys to earn their keep . :rolleyes:

[Rick Rosen]

Do they have any information on how many stay in business?


There were no stats on the attrition rate of new wedding photographers. What else their survey indicated though was that a very high percentage of new photographers in that demographic had another source of full time income from either a day job or a spouse. Their wedding business was therefore not their major income source. All I can say though is that WPPI is still experiencing a growth in attendance every year. That should be an indication of whether the photographer base is growing or receding.

Rick

[Gary_Evans]

There are probably more full time pros as there is actually more work out there if you think about it.

The need for images is now huge compared with say 10 years ago. More magazines needing images, advertising, stock etc etc. In my own personal target market onsite event photography didnt exist in its current form until the advent of good reasonably priced dye sub printers.

However, the arrival of the cheap DSLR has made many become/want to become/believe they are professional photographers. Many of those who do shoot as a second income target the obvious market - the social market, weddings and portraits. And that is why you guys are feeling the squeeze.

[Rick Rosen]

There are probably more full time pros as there is actually more work out there if you think about it.

The need for images is now huge compared with say 10 years ago. More magazines needing images, advertising, stock etc etc. In my own personal target market onsite event photography didnt exist in its current form until the advent of good reasonably priced dye sub printers.

However, the arrival of the cheap DSLR has made many become/want to become/believe they are professional photographers. Many of those who do shoot as a second income target the obvious market - the social market, weddings and portraits. And that is why you guys are feeling the squeeze.

The market for images has been very adversely affected by the growth of the stock photo industry and especially the "royalty free" concept on those images. There are a lot of commercial shooters moving into weddings to help pay the rent.

Rick

[xpsentity]

Adapt to the market and prosper.

You have to have something NO ONE else has.

Mediocre never should have cut it anyway. Just a little shearing of the sheep ;)

[Francis Farmer]

That might be the case in your area, but in the south it isn't. Price dictates your business. I have been in business for 31 years. So I have adapted well to change. But the biggest challenge is how to do more with less overhead. I have a 3600 square foot studio. You no longer need a building that big. In fact I am toying with the idea of becoming a location photographer only. With all of the new technology, I believe I could shoot, show proofs via internet, and sell without the customer having to come in to a building.

Is anyone else working with a business plan like that?

FF

[blackshadow]

I believe I could shoot, show proofs via internet, and sell without the customer having to come in to a building.

Is anyone else working with a business plan like that?

FF

I work exactly that way for my photography Francis, I am not a full time professional but moving more that way. I work freelance as a photographer as well as a decent managerial job (3 days/week) and my photography earnings are increasing and will soon overtake my "proper" job.

Just because I don't work full time as a photographer doesn't mean I am not a professional.

I see that in time the earnings I make from photography will outstrip the PR/Marketing work I do and eventually I will make a full time living as a photographer. It's been less than 2 years since I sold my first photos so I think I am doing pretty well the way I operate - especially considering the main type of photography I do is music photography which is probably the lowest paying form of our profession and I am competing with people who are prepared to shoot for free.

[xpsentity]

Is anyone else working with a business plan like that?

FF

Yep. I also have a nice small studio in my house. I chose gear specifically on the basis of portability as well. I can pull my entire studio setup in 10 minutes and fit it in the front seat of my car. I find the variety of locations you get to shoot really helps you progress photographically.

[transcend]

I did a google search in my area for photographers. 25 photographers are advertising in my area as wedding/senior/baby photographers. My town only has 40K people in it. We do draw from a large area, but I didnt even try searching for surround area photographers.

Of those 25, only 4 have brick and mortar studios. The rest are working out of their homes and this is their 2nd income or have a spouse producing an income.

How can I compete with a young women selling a good looking wedding product for $ 600. When I charge 2k right out of the starting block. I can't even pay my health insurance and my over head for a price like that.

Professional photography has become a part time profession.

No, it hasn't. I work as a full time sports photojournalist. I make enough money to live very comfortably. I have no spouse, great health insurance, a very large, expensive collection of gear and travel the world extensively to shoot.

The business has changed, the photographers who refuse to will get left behind. This does not mean pricing yourself out of a comfortable living, it means thinking outside of the box and marketing yourself effectively. Most importantly, improve your deliverables. I have competition shooting and selling what I do at 1/4 the price. The difference is the clients I work with value quality over price. They don't blink when they get an estate or invoice and are happy to pay what it costs.

I work from home, but have a full studio for product shoots. Saying you want to hear from full time photographer, but only those with a storefront is absurd. Times change. You need to as well.

That might be the case in your area, but in the south it isn't. Price dictates your business. I have been in business for 31 years. So I have adapted well to change. But the biggest challenge is how to do more with less overhead. I have a 3600 square foot studio. You no longer need a building that big. In fact I am toying with the idea of becoming a location photographer only. With all of the new technology, I believe I could shoot, show proofs via internet, and sell without the customer having to come in to a building.

Is anyone else working with a business plan like that?

FF


There has been more change in the last 4 years than in the 27 before that. You need to adapt. I rarely see my actual clients face to face, but deal with their product, their athletes and their events on an almost daily basis. Proofs are done via a secure website, contracts are dealt with by fax and email and negotiations are done on the phone and via email. I have been doing it full time for 4 years, and have seen a healthy increase in income and business every year. Word travels fast when you do your job well.

My clients love that I can have proofs to them within a few minutes of the end of an event, and then a final shot on their desktop upon their selection within minutes via FTP. I do it via laptop from hotel rooms and press centers world wide 8 months of the year.

[Francis Farmer]

fraser, i guess i didn't clarify myself. I wanted to hear from the conventional portait/wedding photographer that is operating out of a store front. I believe we are the ones that are being impacted the most. We are being swamped with moms-with-cameras, and guys-with-cameras. Shooting weddings for $800. They have no overhead and usually have a spouse with a good job and insurance.

FF

[transcend]

fraser, i guess i didn't clarify myself. I wanted to hear from the conventional portait/wedding photographer that is operating out of a store front. I believe we are the ones that are being impacted the most. We are being swamped with moms-with-cameras, and guys-with-cameras. Shooting weddings for $800. They have no overhead and usually have a spouse with a good job and insurance.

FF

I think all areas are being impacted equally. I see 500 people at every event i go to with a digital rebel shooting photos. Many of them fire images off to companies trying to trade them for free gear, or to see their name in lights, so to speak. I have lost clients in the past due to them getting crummy images in exchange for gear, but in the end it works out. Clients who are pinching pennies aren't going to be super stoked to pay $1000 for an image anyways and if they do, they won't be repeat customers.

I can see studio guys having more expensive overhead, but you'd be surprised when you saw what my overhead is. It is probably just as close, minus the rent and utilities. I have the same equipment (more in some cases...not many studios need 300 2.8s and elinchrom rangers cost significantly more than their monoblock counterparts), the same general business expenses and WAY more travel expenses.

A photographer shooting portraits who needs a studio would probably be better off in a small strip mall style location than a palatial 3800' studio like you mentioned. The foot traffic alone will probably bring in more business. I know a few portrait guys who simply closed their mega-shop doors up years ago and moved into smaller locations and became much more profitable almost over night. 31 years means you have a HUGE client base. Moving won't cause you to lose that, and will possibly generate some interest in your new digs anyways. Marketing is key.

Funny studio story. I have a friend of mine who is shooting the entire catalog for a major industry player. They used to have some office guy with a rebel shoot their product under horrendous conditions, and then had their photoshop guy spend hours correcting it. All of a sudden they realized they could save more money by hiring a professional to do it right after they saw his final product. The digital camera surge is hurting everyone, but quality can trump price almost every time.

[airfrogusmc]

I think in any area of photography you have to find and define what you do and do it better than anyone else. If you have something that your client can only get from you then you will never have to worry. The key is consistency. It is and always will be the key to success. Find a level of technically ability to be able to express your vision CONSISTENTLY and that will put you above most of these low ball fly by night photographers.

[John Mireles]

Without a doubt, the influx of so many new photographers has had an impact on the business. It's a process that's been ongoing since the creation of the first camera. Back 150 years ago, to be a photographer meant lugging around a huge camera, making your own glass plates and then developing them in dangerous chemicals.

The equipment was expensive and bulky - only a small handful of people could even hope to become a photographer. Then came actual film. Then came the advent of the handheld camera. Then came the 35mm. Then color film. And now, digital. It's all been a long progression of greater accessibility to the masses.

Digital has had a huge impact on the wedding and portrait business. So many new people have come into the business. You see it every day on this forum. Folks dream of quitting the day job and becoming a photographer. (I'd say that's most of the people on this forum from what I read.)

This influx has had an impact on my business. Even though I work at the higher end of the wedding and portrait market, there are now many more high-end wedding photographers for me to contend with. Where my offbeat photojournalistic style was fairly unique, it's now more commonplace. My work may still be better than most, but it's easy to find alternatives that are good enough. Just a few years ago, most of the alternatives sucked. Badly.

But, I've worked hard to adapt to the circumstances - if I did nothing, I would have been in big trouble. As I mentioned before, we had our best year in 2007 with huge revenue growth. We've had to work harder than ever before to achieve it. We've moved into new markets and made adjustments to how we work with our existing markets. Finally, we made sure to take care of our existing clientele so that we wouldn't have to spend so much energy going after new clients.

Photography as a full time profession is only dead if you've stopped growing and adapting. You can't pretend that nothing's changed. Yes, there's more competition and the photography market is tougher than ever to earn a living in. Many will take a big income hit. But there's also more opportunity if you're willing and prepared to go after it.

John

[tim]

No Part timers, People working out of their homes, or people that have spouses that bring home a great portion of the money.

Because photographers working out of their homes aren't real photographers? :rolleyes:

[nmh]

Because photographers working out of their homes aren't real photographers? :rolleyes:

I think it is really because the OP thinks that only the new competition is comprised of those "working out of their homes with someone else to cover all the bills". That may be correct, but I think there are many who have a working spouse (or equivalent) or simple get by without a huge studio.

Not having to cover various costs (medical, rent, bills, equipment, insurance, marketing, and so on) makes it easier to lower prices and not pay for the privilege - so maybe eliminating as many of those as possible would be a good business practice.

[pjtemplin]

a brick and morder building

If you want your article to have credibility, I'd suggest a careful look at your origins. Here, it should be brick and mortar, since mortar is what holds the bricks together.

[airfrogusmc]

I think it is really because the OP thinks that only the new competition is comprised of those "working out of their homes with someone else to cover all the bills". That may be correct, but I think there are many who have a working spouse (or equivalent) or simple get by without a huge studio.

Not having to cover various costs (medical, rent, bills, equipment, insurance, marketing, and so on) makes it easier to lower prices and not pay for the privilege - so maybe eliminating as many of those as possible would be a good business practice.

Or have something only you can offer ? Your vision, if your not shooting like everyone else, is one way to separate yourself and keep those photographers from becoming your competition.

[jaypie77]

What about my horse and buggy business? The iron horse is killing me!

Having to adapt to new market conditions is what business is all about. Perhaps photography was stagnant for a long time, but now we're fluid. So cheap moms would rather take their own crappy kid portraits, big deal: go after moms that aren't cheap.

[Lunajen]

I live in a samll rural area that has around 10,941 as of 2007. Now in this samll town we have roughly ten "photographers". Two of which are PPA affilated and one that has an actual studio the other one had a studio and lost it due to the economy. And most of the other photographers here in town are mommies with cameras...most of them have point and shoots and doing studio like work with canon s3is(great camera but not greared for the studio). I used to work in a local lab and would see their work and I knew that they were just charging outrageously sheap prices to get the work they were getting. Unfortunately, where I live price is king and not quality.

I know you are going to say..well you have a good quality product and people will come for that, but not really. Around her people could care less about quality, it is what they can afford. I am just saying that around where I live it is very chanlenging to find even part time work.

[Picture North Carolina]

I somewhat disagree. In todays market I think you need to become more specialized. Separate yourself from the crowd. Define what you are and what you do. All the photographers I know now that are doing very well are all very specialized.

As the well-known (original author unknown) quote stated:

"To be successful in business, do one thing, do it well, do it better than anyone else,..."

Unfortunately, the original quote continued and ended with: "...and do it for less."

But the pricing is a personal decision. ;)

/Dan

[/FONT][/FONT]

[cleanbluesky]

I would like to ONLY hear from full time professionals that have a brick and morder building. Their experiences etc.


You've got this all wrong, one simply cannot walk into Mordor.

[mezorn26]

I am beginning on writing an article on what I see is the death of full time photography business.

I would like to ONLY hear from full time professionals that have a brick and morder building. Their experiences etc.

No Part timers, People working out of their homes, or people that have spouses that bring home a great portion of the money.

Thanks Francis


When people can't even use a spell check, that would lead to the death of their business most often...:confused::confused:

[Fenster]

I think the full-time photography profession is changing, not ending, as everyone here has stated. To just come out and say it's dying and base everything around that is FUD.

[Francis Farmer]

okay, i can't spell. lol That is what I have my wife for..

In my area it is all about the money. Why use me, when I charge 2K for a basic wedding packages, when the girl down the street working out of her home charges 400, and does a good job.

Maybe I am just too tired to reinvent myself. I sold my studio building last week. I am making a really good profit, more if I didn't have to pay capital gains taxes. What am I going to do? Do a little traveling. In the past 31 years I have never taken a longer vacation than 4 days.

As I don't know about "mzorn26", but Fenster you state that you are a part time photographer. I guess if I was early in my career and was part time with a good day job, then working on the side without the expense of a studio, would be exciting.

I guess it boils down that I am close to the end of this ride and you are at the beginning.

now let me go find spell checker. lol

[photoguy6405]

As others have said/implied... adapt or die. And the speed at which change takes place keeps accelerating and change happens much faster now than it used to. This isn't just photography, but pretty much any business.

I'm not quite sure why photographers that work out of their homes are somehow considered less legitimate. The quality of their work, and their business sense, should define their legitimacy, and reducing unnecessary and/or outdated overhead is just plain good business sense.

Slightly OT, and correct me if I'm wrong, but "back in the day", weren't home studios the norm? Or, at least common? Before city ordinances started outlawing home businesses, I mean.

[Francis Farmer]

Well I believe that I am adapting. I have sold the studio. I am not saying that home based photographers are less legit. They are not pressured with the same amount of overhead as a store front photographer.

Now I won't have to pay $ 1000 a month utility bills in the summer.:)

I will ask everyone a question. " How do you adapt to the flood of part timer photographers?"

[photoguy6405]

If you have $3000/mo less in expenses (to make up a number for example purposes) then you could lower your prices accordingly and make the same profit (theoretically, at least). Then complete on price, reputation, and quality.

I don't believe that "nobody cares" about quality. There are some who care only about price, sure, but by no means everybody. I believe that if you have the rep then you can be competitive and still do well. "Competitive" doesn't necessarily mean price-matching or price-beating everybody in town, but it also doesn't mean being 100% above your competition, either.

[transcend]

okay, i can't spell. lol That is what I have my wife for..

In my area it is all about the money. Why use me, when I charge 2K for a basic wedding packages, when the girl down the street working out of her home charges 400, and does a good job.

With your current client base, it is all about money. The solution is simple, target a new client base.

Make sure your work is outstanding, not just good, and target a different, more upscale, market. There will ALWAYS be high end clients, you just have to make sure you work is at the level that they expect (it may be now), and then make sure you market towards them.

I gave up dealing with customers who were happy with "ok" ages ago. It isn't worth my time to nickel and dime myself to death. Now I can do half the work, and reap 3x the reward.

[cdifoto]

Maybe I am just too tired to reinvent myself.

Time to retire.

[Rick Rosen]

As others have said/implied... adapt or die. And the speed at which change takes place keeps accelerating and change happens much faster now than it used to.

True, and most of the newer "rockstar" photographer have adapted - they are now offering workshops, DVDs and other "happy smoke" products to the wide-eyed newcomers who think in a few years they too can become the next rockstar wedding photographer.

Virtually every "name" photographer that I can think of in the last few years started to offer educational products to the newcomers. They are traveling extensively now presenting seminars. They feed off of the energy of the wanna-bes and some make a VERY good living from their workshops and other products.

On the surface there is nothing wrong with that and there have been seminars in professional photography for as far back as I can remember but never to the extent that I see now. But I have never seen the kind of self-promoting "buzz marketing" being done today to build a name recognition among new photographers as I am seeing now.
In the past if you wanted to present seminars you had to earn that right and you earned it from years of running a successful studio. Now, you enter the profession, buzz like hell and in 2-3 years start marketing expensive workshops and DVDs.

This is, IMO, no longer a profession where passionate photographers enter to make their passion into their career, many of these new marketers are more interested in, IMO, generating sales to the hordes of newcomers than in actually shooting for a living.

I teach as well (so I am not just pointing fingers) but I prefer to preach the message that wedding/portrait/commercial photography is a challenging business now, partly due to the over-saturation of service provides for the demand, and any one entering the profession needs to get a handle on the realities of the profession so that they can try and build their business with a realistic base of actual statistical data and realistic expectations. I leave the "happy smoke" to some of the other guys.

Rick

[Francis Farmer]

I have been told that a very successful photographer closed his business and now he and his wife travel all over the country. Spreading the knowledge on how to make a living in photography. Even tho they shut their studios down.