Diversity

No. Not the dance troupe! I'm talking about adding as many strings to your business bow as possible. I've talked before about surviving in a recession and one of the ways I've managed to do that is by diversification.

Obviously I am a wedding photographer, but they are mostly only on Saturdays. That gives me all week to shoot other people! Hence my portrait work.

I've have a target market for my family portraits and target my advertising accordingly. I don't exclude anyone but targeting a certain sector of the local population will naturally limit my market. So to extend my market a little bit I started taking different types of photos in my studio. As well as family photos I also offer boudoir photography, maternity shoots and animal and pet photography.  That has the studio covered but is still mostly evenings and weekends to fit around school and work. I still have the daytime to fill... Which is why I started the commercial photography part of my business.

Businesses are generally open 9-5 Monday to Friday, which is when the studio is quiet. So why not go out and do some work for them?! I spoke to a few businesses and built up a good list of contacts which enabled me to go out and photograph businesses and their products to be used in their marketing materials. This in itself has been diverse from hotels, to restaurants, to Vulcan bombers, to massage therapists, to food, fitness and fashion!


I'm also a Google Trusted Photographer, which means I am able to provide Google Business Photos. That basically means I create 360 degree panoramic virtual tours for businesses in Lincolnshire!


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Even with all of that I realised there's a sector of the market that would actually like to take their own photos. So why not let them do it in my studio! It's only a small part of what I offer, but I have made my studio available to hire to pros and amateurs alike! But once I started renting to amateurs I found a lot of them didn't really know what they were doing, so I started running studio photography courses!


Who knows... maybe I'll spot another gap and start doing even more types of photography soon! We'll have to wait and see.

Why Does Pro Photography Cost So Much?

I've posted before here, here and here about why we charge what we do, but I thought it was worth adding a section specifically about bespoke studio work. This is inspired by another blog I read. Have a read yourself here if you fancy it!

Everyone has a digital camera these days and it's getting easier and easier for anyone to produce reasonable quality photos with little or no experience. You can pop down to Max Spielman or even Tesco and get them printed for less than a quid. Or get the right website at the right time and all you pay is the postage! Which is why people are often forcing me to justify charging upwards of £15 for a single print...

It comes down to a few factors which can basically be split into 5 categories: time, equipment, premises, advertising and expertise.

Time
There is a lot of time and effort that goes into a shoot that most people don't realise...

• Booking the shoot: 15 - 30 minutes - chatting with the customer, answering questions, filling in the calendar
• Shoot preparation: 15 - 30 minutes - tidying, putting the heating on in advance, checking equipment, switching on, etc...
• The shoot itself: 1 - 2 hours
• Clearing up afterwards: 15 minutes
• Uploading photos from cards: 15 minutes
• Editing the photos and creating a slideshow for the client to view: 2 - 3 hours
• Sitting with the client to view their images: 30 minutes - 2 hours
• Finalising and ordering prints: 30 minutes - 1 hour
• Ordering handmade frames: 1 hour
• Delivering photos when required: 1 hour

OK, these are approximate times, but a single shoot can take anywhere between 6 and 11 hours to complete! And that doesn't take into account difficult customers...

Equipment
A professional photographer won't be using an iPhone. Not for taking photos anyway. They also won't be using a £250 point and click camera from Jessops.  They'll be using a dSLR which is likely to cost upwards of £1,000. They'll also have a selection of lenses costing at least £500 each. A good set of studio lights will set you back upwards of £2,500. There'll be a computer that won't be cheap and a genuine copy of Photoshop costs in excess of £700! Then there's the smaller things like background papers, props and reflectors. All of this needs servicing and/or repairing every now and again. Not to mention insurance costs...

Professionals will also not get their photos printed at Tesco! They will use pro labs which are infinitely better quality. They are also a lot more expensive...

Unfortunately, as a business owner I have to pass these costs onto you, the customer.

Premises
I may have mentioned it before but I have a studio. I think it adds an extra special something to the whole process and lets me take photos that amateurs or pros without studio space can't take. It's the style and method of photography I've chosen and it's why my clients come to me rather than anyone else. That all costs (a lot of) money though. I have rent, electricity, phone, broadband, water, business rates, and insurance to pay. And again, this has to be passed onto the customer...

Advertising
I do a lot of advertising, online and in the real world. The online stuff is mostly free but can be very time consuming. The offline advertising can be very expensive. Wedding fairs can be upwards of £100, leaflets are £50 a batch, newspaper or magazine adverts can be anywhere between £200 and £600 and networking can cost £1,000 a year! And all of this has to be done on an ongoing basis...

Expertise
This one is a little harder to quantify. I have studied, been on courses and gained years of experience. Over my time I have developed a particular style which is unique to me. I think that's something worth paying for!

And let's not forget I'm doing this for a living! Yes I enjoy it, but I still need to make a profit from what I do...

So next time you're paying for some photos and wondering why a small piece of paper costs £15, please try and bear some of this in mind.

Why Use a Studio?

In the current climate, photography is a very popular profession for people going self employed, whether following redundancy or just to supplement an existing income. It's (relatively) inexpensive to set up and you don't need any special qualifications or really any experience to get started. (OK, you'd be daft just to start up without a bit of ability, but you'd be surprised the number of people who do...)

The easiest way to get started is to go mobile. Whether it's in the home or on location, by far the highest number of 'professional' photographers don't use a studio. It has its obvious financial advantages to the photographer, but there are also advantages to the customer as well - no need to pack the kids up in the car, no need to find parking, no need to leave the house at all! Location shoots are good to put the shots into context and can help people relax. Kids are often more comfortable in the park than in a studio, for example...


But I still have a big soft spot for studio work. But why? Well, for one thing it's a bit of an event coming into the studio. It's nice to make an outing of it. It's as much about the experience as it is the photos. My studio (and many others) is set up to make individuals, couples and families comfortable and relaxed. When you walk in it has the 'wow' factor! It's not just a photo shoot, it's a Photo Experience!

From a technical point of view, there's a lot more flexibility in the photos I can take in the studio. There are no space concerns that you can have in a living room, so I can fit a lot of people into one shot, I can get in close or back away to give different perspectives. I also have everything I need in one handy place. If I want to take some contrasty black and white pictures I have the kit to do it. That's not so easy in your home...

I have a whole load of props to use to add a bit more interest to your shots that I can't transport, such as chairs and two chaise longues!

I also have the space for you to come and view the pictures on a big screen. I don't need to invade your house for a second time and we don't all need to crowd around a laptop screen to see your shots!


As always it's down to personal choice, but please do think carefully before investing in your memories!

What do You Look For?

This is really a plea for your comments. I'd be really interested to know your thoughts. What do you look for when choosing a photographer? Whether it's for family portraits or a wedding photographer what is the most important thing you consider when making your decision?

Is it simply the first one you find on Google? Is it the one with the fanciest looking website? Does a fancy website put you off if you think they'll be too expensive? Is it how easy it is to find the info you're looking for? Do you go mainly on price? Do you choose purely on the quality of the photos? Do you as for recommendations from friends? Would you prefer to go to a professional studio or have the photographer come to you? Is it down to the personality of the photographer? Or is it something else???

There's a lot of questions there, but which is most important to you? Please feel free to leave any comments below, get in touch on Facebook or just email me!

Thanks!