The death of full time professional photography

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

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

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.

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....

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

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.

Francis Farmer wrote in post #4995558
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.

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.

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

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

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.

CIDER wrote in post #4995879
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.

economic changes

Francis Farmer wrote in post #4995558
...
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.

Francis Farmer wrote in post #4995558
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.

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.

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.
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.
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 .