Sears Portrait Studio

cdifoto wrote in post #11465409
Last time I applied for a job there to help out a friend who was managing it they were using Olympus dSLRs with the kit lens. Nothing special at all. I remember it well because they're such ugly looking cameras.

Yep, if you get the lighting setup properly, any old kit lens would get "Sear quality" portraits

cdifoto wrote in post #11465409
Last time I applied for a job there to help out a friend who was managing it they were using Olympus dSLRs with the kit lens. Nothing special at all. I remember it well because they're such ugly looking cameras.

*GASP*

I think my Olympus is a thing of beauty!

:p

sniper_md wrote in post #11463793
This is not the client I cater to or would like to work with, so we do not compete for the same people with Sears' kids. Back to square one - not my competition...

Must be nice to pick and choose who are my clients and who are not. I guess you have the market all locked up in your area.

Not sure if I'd want more 100$ customers at my door - Nope.

asysin2leads wrote in post #11463734
They may be high school kids making $8 an hour, but there are plenty more people going to a Sears or JC Penny and not you. Therefore, yes, they are competition.

Blunt, and truthful. Sad truth, as well. :/

asysin2leads wrote in post #11466867
Must be nice to pick and choose who are my clients and who are not. I guess you have the market all locked up in your area.

Not an unusual thing. Some people don't actually bring in a profit, after you've considered all the costs. Those people weren't really clients.

asysin2leads wrote in post #11466867
Must be nice to pick and choose who are my clients and who are not. I guess you have the market all locked up in your area.

I don't choose my clients in the sense that I don't turn anyone away if they want me, but they do choose me rather than my prices. I'm a good value, but I'm not cheap.

Looking at it purely from a business point of view (this is The Business of Photography area after all) rather than from the artist/creative point of view I find it short-sighted verging on arrogant to say that Sears, et. al., aren't your competition. Any company or person that shoots a photo for someone else is your competition. They have an impact on your market, and they have an impact on prospective client's perception of the industry as a whole.

I paid $3000 for basic wedding coverage but for our Christmas photo and our Christmas Cards there we were at Portrait Innovations.

Now, it wasn't my idea. I had been contacting many of the portrait photographers in our area but my wife made the appointment. I figured, what's the harm. $159 (shocker, not the $9.95 that my wife was initially interested in) later we have more pictures than we know what to do with, the the 50 Christmas cards we needed, all images on CD (hi-rez on the way) and a print release. The local photographers who would have actually given us better results than PI wouldn't cross the street for less than $450. Yea, I could have gone with CL for $100 but compared to the images and service from PI there was no value there.

Yea, Sears may be the Sears of the photo world and you might want to be Nordstroms or a small boutique but their business plans are strong and their market influence huge.

There are several folks out there, CDI comes to mind, that have a very business-minded point of view, but far too many that put themselves out to be pure artists who function in their own world of non-competition.

-F

Yeah you have to know your place. You'll screw yourself if you think too highly of your work...or not highly enough.

Austin Fern wrote in post #11470069
Looking at it purely from a business point of view (this is The Business of Photography area after all) rather than from the artist/creative point of view I find it short-sighted verging on arrogant to say that Sears, et. al., aren't your competition. Any company or person that shoots a photo for someone else is your competition. They have an impact on your market, and they have an impact on prospective client's perception of the industry as a whole.

I paid $3000 for basic wedding coverage but for our Christmas photo and our Christmas Cards there we were at Portrait Innovations.

Now, it wasn't my idea. I had been contacting many of the portrait photographers in our area but my wife made the appointment. I figured, what's the harm. $159 (shocker, not the $9.95 that my wife was initially interested in) later we have more pictures than we know what to do with, the the 50 Christmas cards we needed, all images on CD (hi-rez on the way) and a print release. The local photographers who would have actually given us better results than PI wouldn't cross the street for less than $450. Yea, I could have gone with CL for $100 but compared to the images and service from PI there was no value there.

Yea, Sears may be the Sears of the photo world and you might want to be Nordstroms or a small boutique but their business plans are strong and their market influence huge.

There are several folks out there, CDI comes to mind, that have a very business-minded point of view, but far too many that put themselves out to be pure artists who function in their own world of non-competition.

-F

Good stuff.

Austin Fern wrote in post #11470069
Looking at it purely from a business point of view (this is The Business of Photography area after all) rather than from the artist/creative point of view I find it short-sighted verging on arrogant to say that Sears, et. al., aren't your competition. Any company or person that shoots a photo for someone else is your competition. They have an impact on your market, and they have an impact on prospective client's perception of the industry as a whole.

I paid $3000 for basic wedding coverage but for our Christmas photo and our Christmas Cards there we were at Portrait Innovations.

Now, it wasn't my idea. I had been contacting many of the portrait photographers in our area but my wife made the appointment. I figured, what's the harm. $159 (shocker, not the $9.95 that my wife was initially interested in) later we have more pictures than we know what to do with, the the 50 Christmas cards we needed, all images on CD (hi-rez on the way) and a print release. The local photographers who would have actually given us better results than PI wouldn't cross the street for less than $450. Yea, I could have gone with CL for $100 but compared to the images and service from PI there was no value there.

Yea, Sears may be the Sears of the photo world and you might want to be Nordstroms or a small boutique but their business plans are strong and their market influence huge.

There are several folks out there, CDI comes to mind, that have a very business-minded point of view, but far too many that put themselves out to be pure artists who function in their own world of non-competition.

-F

I think you're presuming too much about other people's attitudes about themselves.

Does Kia consider Rolls Royce their competition? I doubt it, as I doubt Rolls Royce considers Kia their competition. They are not after the same market dollars--nobody is flipping a coin between buying a Kia or a Rolls.

Sears is not my competition because I avoid their market space. People who shoot team sports are not my competition, either, for the same reason. OTOH, interior designers and landscape artists are my competition--they're after the same disposable income of the same market that I am.

RDKirk wrote in post #11470552
interior designers and landscape artists are my competition--they're after the same disposable income of the same market that I am.

That's weird, IMHO. I wouldn't consider complementary services my competition. After all, photographs are part of interior design, not a replacement for it.

As far as landscapers, do people really use your photos as yard art? If so, rich people are tacky too.

Based on your logic, Lamborghini et al are also your competitors. "Hmm...an RDKirk sitting, or an Italian supercar? Decisions, decisions..."

Yeah sure you're trying to get a chunk of the rich woman's dough but so is the electric company, the realtor, the plumber, the newspaper, the private school, etc etc etc. Doesn't mean they're your competition.

You're all just her expenses...you're not competitors.

RDKirk wrote in post #11470552
I think you're presuming too much about other people's attitudes about themselves.

Sorry, don't have to presume a thing. Read the Business area long enough and you know EXACTLY how people perceive themselves.

RDKirk wrote in post #11470552
Does Kia consider Rolls Royce their competition? I doubt it, as I doubt Rolls Royce considers Kia their competition. They are not after the same market dollars--nobody is flipping a coin between buying a Kia or a Rolls.

Sorry, you're thinking small. Business is big. Your market includes all shoot and go studios in your area. Kia and Rolls are are global markets. Kia is owned by Hyundai and Rolls is owned by BMW. Their parent companies are very aware of each other and have plenty of head to head competitions within their portfolios of vehicles.

RDKirk wrote in post #11470552
Sears is not my competition because I avoid their market space. People who shoot team sports are not my competition, either, for the same reason. OTOH, interior designers and landscape artists are my competition--they're after the same disposable income of the same market that I am.

You may avoid their market space but they sure don't avoid yours unless you don't do any portraits at all.

cdifoto wrote in post #11470587
Yeah sure you're trying to get a chunk of the rich woman's dough but so is the electric company, the realtor, the plumber, the newspaper, the private school, etc etc etc. Doesn't mean they're your competition.

You're all just her expenses...you're not competitors.

I'm not an expense, however, I'm a luxury, and I'm competing for the money she's budgeting for luxuries. She's not weighing me against the plumber (if the water heater has burst, it's not a competition at all--the plumber's got that). She's weighing me against the drapery Chris Lowell is trying to convince her to buy. In fact, part of my sales process is to get inside her house and actually make interior decoration suggestions--I'm totally and directly competing with interior decorators, telling her "This portrait looks smashing right there over your sofa."

RDKirk wrote in post #11471123
I'm not an expense, however, I'm a luxury, and I'm competing for the money she's budgeting for luxuries. She's not weighing me against the plumber (if the water heater has burst, it's not a competition at all--the plumber's got that). She's weighing me against the drapery Chris Lowell is trying to convince her to buy. In fact, part of my sales process is to get inside her house and actually make interior decoration suggestions--I'm totally and directly competing with interior decorators, telling her "This portrait looks smashing right there over your sofa."

Anything that costs dough is an expense.

You're helping decide where your pic should go but you are NOT decorating her house. Stop kidding yourself.