portrait pricing guidelines with steve bedell – part four

portrait pricing guidelines with steve bedell – part four

Portrait Pricing Guidelines with Steve Bedell – Part Four
Marketing Monday Guest Post

Here is Steve’s continuation from part 1 and part 2 and part 3 portrait pricing

Six: Wall portrait bonus

We all know the money is in the wall portraits and wall groupings. So from our initial contact right through the sales session that’s what we should be striving for. To drive that point home, I offer a discounted price of about 30% off on gift prints when they purchase a portrait 20 inches or larger. (Note: The discounted price is the price I feel I should sell that product for. If they don’t have a wall portrait I am just more profitable on the smaller prints)

pricing for profit graphic part 4


SEVEN: Albums

I know many photographers like albums. I am not a huge fan. You either have to take the time to do the layout or pay someone to do it (my choice). I know you can get big numbers from them but make sure you cover all your bases, including time, when deciding the pricing.

I prefer Album boxes. Make a few 5×7’s for peanuts, slide into 8×10 mats and put into the box. Pretty simple plus if you make an error in any image you just change out one print.



EIGHT: ALWAYS list most expensive product first

I’m firm on this one; this is pretty much an unbreakable rule. People read from the top down, left to right. Start out with that 40×60 for half a million bucks (you wish) and by the time they get down to that 16×20 for $800 it’s going to look pretty inexpensive. The mind works this way, at first they think ‘Oh my God, I can’t afford this’ to ‘Well, that’s more in my budget’. Start small to large and it’s an uphill battle.

It works the same way with your good/better/best pricing, always list the most expensive product first or right to left.



NINE: Session fees

OK, there’s a lot of wiggle room in this one. I know some VERY successful (Bradford) photographers who have no session fees. I know others who have very high session fees. Which is better for you?

Well, Bradford has a brilliant system where he has one background and I’d guess not much changing in the lighting. In my semi-retirement, I am doing everything from the consultation to the shoot to print delivery on location. That’s a significant chunk of time to be doing everything for free so I have a session fee of $300. That works for me, you may be different.

But there is another good reason to have that session fee. You don’t want to discount your products but the session fee can be used as a bargaining chip. You can do 50% off session fee promotions, free sessions for returning/good clients, etc. and not be hurting your sales average.



TEN: Payments

When we tally up the order we ask ‘How would you like to pay for that’. Most people either give you a check or a credit card and that’s the end of it. If they ask if they have to pay it all up front, we tell them they can pay 50% now, the balance when they pick up. 90% pay in full right off. I don’t offer payment plans, that’s what credit cards are for.



ELEVEN: Minimum orders

I’ve never had minimum orders. Why? I feel like they act as a barrier. Job one is to get people in front of your camera. People may not like the idea of having to spend a certain amount of money before even seeing the end result.
Have I ever been burned on this? Of course, but not that often. We are very comfortable with our photography and sales skills so we’ll put that risk on us.



TWELVE: Wall Groupings

You sell wall groupings by showing wall groupings. That is one of the big benefits of Proselect, Swift Galleries and others. Most can even let you show them on their own walls. If you go to the house during or before the shoot, you can take pics of the walls ahead of time. You can also ask them to do, some will, some won’t.

I price my wall groupings at a slight discount to buying the images individually. Why? I’d rather sell 3-5 images than just one. Most of the wall groupings I sell are Gallery Wraps.

Big tip: Use the templates from your lab. ACI has over 25 different templates and when you order them as a grouping the price is about 15% less than if you ordered them individually. Design your wall groupings ahead of time using these templates and you’ll be even more profitable.



THIRTEEN: Don’t use dollar signs or odd number pricing.

If you’re a low end studio, go ahead and price your work using dollar signs and odd number pricing. Example: 8×10 for $34.95. If you are trying to convey that you are a luxury product, use 20×24 for 1100. An Hermes bag is not priced at $4997, it is priced at 5000.
”

Steve Bedell has been a professional photographer for over 35 years. He has done weddings, portrait andsteve bedell head shot commercial work but now restricts his business to portraits only.

 Steve holds the Master of Photography and Photographic Craftsman degrees from the Professional Photographers of America and is a PPA Approved Print Juror.

He has been named the New Hampshire Photographer of the Year a record 8 times and in 2011 was awarded the New England Photographer of the Year title. His specialty is natural light portraiture.

He has written hundreds of articles for photo publications, taught classes and workshops nationwide and produced several lighting DVDs. His private newsletter, EPhoto, reaches over 2000 photographers. Steve was a regular contributor to Shutterbug magazine.

imaging USA 2019 – atlanta, ga part two

imaging USA 2019 – atlanta, ga part two

Imaging USA 2019 – Atlanta, GA Part Two

Find Part 1 here

I mentioned networking in my last post as a reason for attending Professional Photographers of America’s Imaging USA. Let me add that it is a great time to recognize the achievements of your fellow photographers.

American Society of Photographers – Fellowship

One of these events is the American Society of Photographers Banquet. There is more networking, of course, but so much more. ASP has worked very hard over the past couple years to become more inclusive and make the awards banquet something to really look forward to. There were two new ASP Fellows Ella Carlson and Kristi Elias. While their images and papers have not been posted as yet on the ASP site you can get an idea by checking out other ASP Fellow papers (ASP Fellows)

Kristi Elias photo One of twenty-five images submitted by Kristi for the Fellowship. See the rest of her images and read her paper for more of her fascinating photographic journey! Image © Kristi Elias – 2019 All Rights Reserved.

ella carlson imageHere’s a link into Ella’s exquisite world of Aliens used in attaining her Fellowship.
Image © Ella Carlson 2019 All Rights Reserved.

Eligibility to apply for the ASP Fellowship requires that an individual hold at least one of the PPA Master degrees, be a current ASP member in good standing, AND have acquired 15 additional print merits AFTER receiving their degree during contiguous years of ASP membership.

The applicant must complete a minimum of three consecutive years membership in ASP prior to application. A thesis/personal paper of at least 2000 words providing insight into their photographic or artistic journey, influences, philosophies and passion that make them the photographer or artist they are today.

The applicant must also submit a portfolio of 25 exquisite images characteristic of his or her finest work that is a visual representation of their written paper.

Recipients of the Fellowship must maintain membership in ASP and PPA.

American Society of Photographers – Educational Associate

Steve Clark earned his Education Associate. (read Steve’s paper here) The ASP Educational Associate is conferred on those special individuals who actively participate and promote the ideals and philosophies of the organization beyond the initial recognition given with their acceptance into the Society. It is available to all active, life, honorary life and international members of the Society that hold a PPA Craftsman degree.

The ASP Educational Associate requires that an individual hold the PPA Photographic Craftsman degree, be a current ASP member in good standing, AND have acquired 30 additional speaking, teaching, or writing merits AFTER receiving their degree during contiguous years of ASP membership.

The applicant must write a paper of at least 4000 words of individual research and thought that demonstrates the applicant’s mastery of the field and supports a position for a new idea, development or trend. (read other ASP Associate papers here)

Hmmm. This post has gone on for a while guess I’ll be adding a part three to these Imaging USA posts.

Yours in creative Photography,      Bob

imaging usa 2019

imaging usa 2019

Imaging USA 2019 – Atlanta, GA

Professional Photographers of America held it’s ** sesquicentennial anniversary convention in the headquarters city of Atlanta, GA. It was a great convention!

imaging usa logosouthwest wing over cloudsWinging toward Imaging USA Atlanta

The programs were well thought out and helpful I particularly enjoyed the Pre-Convention class with Michelle Parsley on Clone Painting with Adobe Photoshop. This is a technique to create more painterly looking images with a brush-like feel to them. Learning how to set up the brushes in Photoshop to mimic the feel and application of paint was incredible. This is one of the things on which I am working to further the artistic feel of my work as a Lens Based Artist.

scott stratton keynote ppa 2019

Opening Keynote with Scott Stratton – Great start to the convention!!

The other program that caught extra from me attention was from Chris Knight. I already had his book The Dramatic Portrait which I thought was well written and informative.

PPA Council

It was also time for PPA Council to meet. I am a member of Council and have been for a number of years. This is where the rules and By-laws are adjusted when necessary. Sometimes there are issues of which members are divided. This was one of those years with a few issues needing some discussion. Passions were shared and the vote was taken. This led to the creation of a new degree based on wedding images. The designation is M.Wedding.Photog. I look forward to the time that members will be able to earn this degree and use it to help promote themselves to clients showing that they have extra dedication to improving their work.

Friends Like Family

PPA’s convention is also a time to renew friendships and network with fellow photographers. People often ask why I still go to conventions instead of learning what I need to online. I’ve found you learn almost as much, if not more, in the hallways and over a beer in the bar as in the classes. In addition, you can not pick up the phone and ask a video a question!!

Yours in Creative Photography,        Bob

More from the convention in the next post.
** means 150 years!

 

 

 

good photos from the zoo – part two

good photos from the zoo – part two

Creating Good Animal Photos from a Captive Environment – Part Two

Last zoo post I was sharing some ideas on learning wildlife photography skills while photographing captive animals. See Part One here

great white egret photoI followed this Great White Egret until the reflection was completed from beak to tail. The black and white treatment brings the bird to the highest contrast attention

One of the essential skills is to learn to queue on behavior. This means learning to see when the behavior will change. What will happen when you look at the feathers shaking in a certain way or excrement fall from a bird. These are indicators that signal flight or a change of wing position and either of those can lead to a more interesting photograph.

tiger from the phoenix zoo photoProcessed this image to BW also. Slight sharpening of the tiger using Skylum software as an Adobe Photoshop plug-in. I also softened the foreground and background with a gaussian blur as well as a darkening Curves layer  Significant help for me that increased my ‘keepers’ in photographing images of animals in zoos, parks and in the wild was a lens that has a long reach. The micro 4/3rds Panasonic Lumix system has been an enormous help. Being able to handhold an 800mm equivalent lens makes a huge difference because of the mobility and distance from the animals. The less you disturb your prey and having the ability to still fill the frame is golden.

tree trunk photoDon’t lose sight of other opportunities when photographing wildlife. This split tree trunk was good for an abstract look of colors and tones.

My main camera these days is the Lumix G9. The stabilization system gives an extra six and one-half to seven stops of hand-holdability. This means that hand holding a lens of 800mm equivalent at 1/60th of a second is very possible with sharp results. My favorite lens is a zoom lens – Leica 100-400mm f4.0-6.3

 

Yours in Creative Photography,    Bob

handwritten note marketing monday

handwritten note marketing monday

The Power of a Handwritten Note

Marketing Monday with Skip Cohen

One of the easiest ways to separate yourself from the competition is also one of the most forgotten, a handwritten note. Most of us can barely write a check without making a mistake, simply because we’re so used to typing and texting everything we write.

Over the years I’ve sent hand-written notes and received some great ones. Each one has stood out in a different way and brought me closer to people, even some who I’ve known for many years. There are new friends and old ones, but receiving a handwritten note is such a nice touch to building a stronger network and relationship.

thank you card imageUse one of your images on the face of the card. Could be the family or subject photographed.
(I put my contact info and logo on the back of the card) Graphic by Bob Coates Photography

Here are a few ingredients to make your notecards that much more effective

1) Use one of your own images on the front! NEVER use a store-bought card.

2) On the back of the card share your personal contact information. Centered at the bottom, it should look like the label on a Hallmark card, but your studio or name and contact information, including social media addresses and phone number.

3) Use a nice stock of paper. And, if you make it an odd size, it’ll stand out even more.

4) Take the time to write something personal in appreciation for whatever the person you’re sending it to, did to help you.

So, the next time somebody does something nice for you, or maybe it’s a vendor who takes a little extra time to help you at a convention, remember the power of a hand-written note. There’s little that can top this age-old method of communicating!

skip cohen headshotSkip Cohen has been involved in the photographic industry his entire career and previously served as President of Rangefinder/WPPI and earlier, Hasselblad USA. He founded SkipCohenUniversity.com in 2013. Skip is a co-host for “Mind Your Own Business” and “Beyond Technique,” webcasts through Photofocus.com, writes for several publications including Shutter Magazine and is actively involved in several advisory boards for non-profit organizations.

commitment in photography marketing monday

commitment in photography marketing monday

Commitment in Photography – Marketing Monday
by Skip Cohen

I’ve written a few posts in the past based on excerpts from the Walk the Talk series.  They’re just short thoughts that get me thinking about this amazing industry we’re all a part of.

I found this from Abraham Lincoln…abe lincoln art“Commitment is what transforms a promise into reality.  It is the words that speak boldly of your intentions.  And the actions which speak louder than the words.

It is making the time when there is none.  Coming through time after time after time, year after year after year.  Commitment is the stuff character is made of; the power to change the face of things.  It is the daily triumph of integrity over skepticism.” – Abraham Lincoln

As photographers, whether you’re shooting a wedding, a portrait or a commercial shoot, think about your commitment.  Are you committed to your clients, to the quality of the final image and most important of all, that little voice inside your heart that represents the passion for the craft you need to succeed?

People trust you to capture some of the most important moments in their lives. There is no room for compromise and there are no shortcuts. You owe them the very best your creative skill set will allow and your commitment isn’t just to your clients, but to yourself.

There is no place for a been-there-done-that attitude. It’s all about your clients and to give them the very best your education is the key. It simply can never stop. New techniques, skill sets, pushing the edge of the envelope as if every client was your very first one has to be your mantra.  Shoot as if the images you’re about to take are the only photographs people will ever see of your work.

My buddy, Scott Bourne, talks about all of us being the high priests of memory protection. That’s a big commitment and responsibility. Think about what that really means…then take a few deep breaths and smile every time you’re working with a client, because nobody can capture memories like you can!

skip cohen headshot

Skip Cohen has been involved in the photographic industry his entire career and previously served as President of Rangefinder/WPPI and earlier, Hasselblad USA. He founded SkipCohenUniversity.com in 2013. Skip is a co-host for “Mind Your Own Business” and “Beyond Technique,” webcasts through Photofocus.com, writes for several publications including Shutter Magazine and is actively involved in several advisory boards for non-profit organizations.