Are You Really Looking For A Professional Photographer Or A Button Pusher?
I’ll try vent in a way that is not going to make me look unprofessional. However, interpretation is up to the reader and no matter how hard I try, I’m likely going to rub someone the wrong way.
Photography is like anything else in the market place. If you are shopping for low prices, you’ll likely get what you pay for.
Professional photographers are consistent in their work which is just one of the many differences from a button pusher photographer. It’s not just the quality of the work that someone is paying for but quality, service, experience, results and much more that all make up the definition of a true professional.
It amazes me that a company would put up a new website and want a consistent, professional look for 10 plus employee’s and expect to pay a professional photographer to come on site for far less than than what JcPenney Portrait Studio charges. That’s an insult to any professional photographer in the market that makes his or her living off photography. Photographers deserve to make a comfortable living from their profession just like anyone else (FYI, I do. I’m just venting in this post.)
So what is the answer?
If the potential client budget is far below a fair market value for professional photography services, the professional photographer should just move on to the next potential client rather than waste time on someone who doesn’t value a fair market rate. Let the potential client hire a button pushing photographer that is working part-time out of his or her spare bedroom with no overhead, no liability insurance, no real world experience, no proven results, no backup equipment, no real expertise with editing and so on to come out and push a button, provide an image and move on. OK, that doesn’t describe every part-time photographer but there are quite a few trying to fake it until they make it.
“But the end to that last the paragraph above is cold David and you are insulting other photographers just because they are part-time and home based.” I think it’s about time that some photographers get called out in charging rates that are far below market value in an attempt to build their business based on being the low price leader which is NOT a sustainable business model. However, at the end of the day, these photographers are not hurting my business and my target market. Why? Because I refuse to compete on low prices, I know what is competitive in the market that I target and the clients that I work with appreciate a true professional that charges a fair market rate: VENT OVER – THANKS FOR READING.
David Williams
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