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Questions received via email: >>>How does one cross the bridge from taking free pics and giving everybody the negs to charging them? After taking pics of somebody is there some kind of proof holder you can get to create a more professional appeal when first displaying your proofs to potential customer? How does one go about finding a lab to do routine business with, how do you know what to price your work at. Example if the lab is charging you 15 dollars for an 8x10 what do you then charge? Must you join PPA when turning pro to find out these answers? Also, when ordering enlargements, do you order full frame and let the customer deal with custom frames and matting or do you have them crop to regular sizing? Eddie, any answers you can give me would be extremely helpful. This is the stuff I cant find in a book!!<<< Response: << how does one cross the bridge from taking free pics and giving everybody the negs to charging them? <<< In my view, the objective here is to inform everyone you know, and everyone who knows you, that you have finally decided to turn your love of photography into something that you do for a living, i.e., a business. And this can be easy to do, as long as you take care not to revert to doing your photography free after you declare yourself a money making venture. My advice begins with something you've probably heard before: Make up a simple and attractive business card. Think long and hard about what you want to call yourself, your business. For me, it was easy: I simply used my name, Eddie Bonfigli. Choose something simple and direct that will lend an artistic feel to your business. Make a hard copy sample book of your absolute best photographs, somewhere in the 8x10 size. It could be a book of 12 to 20 8x10s for example. If you go to a good camera shop, you should be able to find a simple, elegant portfolio book where you can just slip the photos in. Pick an understated design. No writing is better than the word "Photographs" imprinted on the cover. Make up a price sheet. This is something that is going to change a lot in the near future, so choose prices that you feel will allow you to make money, but that are appropriate to your current level of experience. If you pay the lab $5 to $10 for an 8x10, you might charge your customer between $20 and $30 just for starters. If you're producing really good work, charge higher. I make my own enlargements, so it costs me very little (not counting time and effort, of course) to produce an 8x10, for example, and I charge my customer a price in line with my reputation in my area. Getting a website up would really, really, really be helpful. You could refer people to it, and it would give you an extra dose of credibility. Not to mention the fact that it would make it so easy to show your portfolio to anyone without even meeting with them. I really advise getting one together. There are tons of ways to get a free website. Let me know if you need ideas. Once you have the above together, you can declare yourself
"in business". I don't personally like the word business,
but you know what I mean. I call it my livelihood. One side note: You may still need to do a FEW free shoots to build your portfolio or to spread the word around. BUT, always tell the free customer NOT to let anyone know that they are getting free shoots. Keep this a secret, otherwise it will backfire on you. Tell your free customers to quote their friends your current prices, or to refer them to you. Give out a lot of those business cards. >>>After taking pics of somebody is there some kind of proof holder you can get to create a more professional appeal when first displaying your proofs to potential customer? <<< I keep this very, very simple. You could choose to do differently, but here is what I do: I buy $2 white or gray three ring binders at Office Depot, the rigid ones that allow you to slip a sheet of paper into the front cover. From Light Impressions or Twentieth Century Plastics Inc. I buy three ringed 4x6 photo sheets, and then put them into the binder. These will hold the proof selection. I carefully glue my business card to a precisely cut piece of watercolor paper and place this piece into the front window on the binder. All together, this provides a simple, clean, attractive, and inexpensive way to show proofs. I have about twenty of these books made up -- that is why I try not to spend too much on them. >>>Also, when ordering enlargements, do you order full frame and let the customer deal with custom frames and matting or do you have them crop to regular sizing? <<< I always try get the optimum cropping in-camera -- that is,
I try to get my final composition at the moment of exposure.
If I fail to do this, then I usually show the proof cropped as
I think it should be cropped, or I tell the customer that all
images shown in the proof book will be cropped, by me, to the
most pleasing composition if/when they order the print. I only
offer standard sizes: 5x7, 8x10, 11x14, etc. Cropping is left
to my decision, not the customer's -- if you give a customer
artistic license, then you are asking for a never ending road
of complication. You must, as a professional, make all the small
decisions for your customer. Do this confidently and they will
trust you. >>>How does one go about finding a lab to do routine business with<<< Hopefully in your area you can find a good mini lab that also
caters to professionals. If there are several in your area (I
hope there are!), then make the rounds and find one with people
who are friendly, who listen to you, and who's work seems acceptable.
I have found mini labs staffed with caring employees (preferably
family owned businesses), to be a really good alternative to
custom professional labs, at least for print work. >>>Must you join PPA when turning pro to find out these answers? <<< No, you do not have to ever join any photography organization to obtain information, unless you have a genuine desire to do so. I personally am not attracted to organized photography groups because I don't like the way they tend to promote uniformity in the photography they practice. But this is just my opinion. You may choose to benefit from such groups. I have found professional photographers on the whole to be very giving of the knowledge they've gained in this business. If you bump into a seasoned pro photographer, let them know you're just starting out, and I bet they'll be glad to advise. Basically, you are a professional when you declare yourself
professional. (Of course, related issues like whether you need
permits to photograph in public places, taxes on the money you
make, etc., are things I can't go into here, but you might want
to investigate such yourself or ask follow up questions.) Let me know if you have any other questions about "going pro". It can be an intimidating leap into the unknown, especially if one is quitting their old, reliable (possibly boring) job, and turning to photography for a new start in life. But on the whole, I think the jump is worth the risk. After all, unless we do what we love and satisfy our creative and artistic urges, we might find ourselves hopelessly unfulfilled. Horrors! So go for it, and may the photo angels be with you! --Eddie. |