The death of full time professional photography

Cybnew wrote in post #4996690
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

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.

Gary_Evans wrote in post #4996805
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

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

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

Francis Farmer wrote in post #5000673
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.

Francis Farmer wrote in post #5000673
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.

Francis Farmer wrote in post #4995558
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.

Francis Farmer wrote in post #5000673
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.

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

Francis Farmer wrote in post #5002869
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.

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.

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

Francis Farmer wrote in post #4992964
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?

tim wrote in post #5010611
Because photographers working out of their homes aren't real photographers?

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.

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.