Custom Photography & Usage Terms
I guess I could start a “Redirect Friday” tradition here. I think it’s really important for these two blog posts, by Nicole Z and Rob Haggart respectively, to be as widely disseminated as possible. Like so many of my peers, I straddle both the home consumer and commercial sides of the photography business. The conversations that I have most often, revolve around both of these topics:
Why does this cost so much?
&
What do these contract terms mean?
Nicole, in an older post, has done as good a job as anyone explaining just what goes into your 2 hour portrait session. So well in fact that’s there’s no reason to paraphrase, so just go read it : “Why Does Custom Photography Cost More?”
Rob Haggart @ A Photo Editor has compiled a well explained list of photography terms – that serves as a great primer for both agency rep and photog alike. In fact, I’d venture that this is more useful as a reminder to photogs that your usage is dictated by the terms of your contract, not what you and your buddy at the agency agreed to over cocktails. Get it in writing and get it signed!
Thanks to John Harrington for bringing Nicole’s post to the fore.
Nicole nailed it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had this conversation with clients. It costs what it costs because of the massive time and equipment investment involved. Digital IS more expensive and more time consuming and more flexible and more frustrating.
I remember when the flagship Canon 35mm film SLR cost $2k and you bought it once every 8-10 years. Now the flagship Canon 35mm DSLR costs $8k and you buy it every 2-3 years. But try explaining that to your client whose marketing budget has been halved in the last 2 years.
Not to mention the $10-15k worth of computers and harddrive back up needed just to work on and store the images. It’s a pricey endeavor.