photo:photo_careers
professional photography as a career
Introduction
what sets a successful professional photographer apart from the rest is generally their dependability - that even on their worst day they can create a superior image to the average person and then to combine this with business acumen
most people with a camera can get a great shot every now and then, but a professional is expected to do this on EVERY occasion and this is how they create their own value
the icing on the cake for the pro is their access to top talent and resources
the biggest mistake for professionals is to lower their pricing - they need to increase their value instead
Creating demand for your work
much of the success in photography comes from hard work at creating a business and a brand that potential clients can recognize as one that will be of value to them
if your brand reaches a certain critical mass (sometimes called the Tipping Point) of potential clients then it may be that demand for your work becomes self-perpetuating and will provide more work than you can cater for and as long as you maintain your brand, you should be able to maintain the demand for your work.
this branding usually requires consistency in style and professional dependability
Running a professional business
avoid creating pricing limits
document everything in a project
if you accept a project, make sure you maintain your standard
even if you really are not enthused or you feel exploited, it will still reflect the quality of your work, and photographers are judged on their worst quality - not their best - don't lower the worst quality!
manage your finances and gear purchases
every time you buy something this has an opportunity cost
consider how this purchase will you get your money back - if not, consider renting it for the project
Selling your works
can you legally and ethically sell your images?
most photographers cannot afford to go through a lengthy legal challenge
ensure you have property or model releases for all works you wish to sell
the release should include what the remuneration was AND preferably take a photo of the person signing the release holding the signed release
ensure you are not in breach of copyright or trademark laws
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sales mediums
online sales:
un-editioned prints
art fares
corporate buyers (but must be work-safe and thus not be political, religious or have nudity)
interior designers
hotels (but usually poor remuneration unless large prints for their lobbies or restaurants)
editioned prints
art galleries - these usually charge 50% commission so avoid expensive frames
shops, cafes - but ensure these do not charge more than 10% commission
grants
working with art galleries
understand that each art gallery has its own:
place in the hierarchy of art galleries, the higher this is the more risk averse they need to be to protect their reputation
consistent type of art works (genre, concept, material type eg. some only use silver prints and not ink jet prints)
consistent price range
consistent clientele of buyers who will generally not buy the same artist's work within 18 months of an earlier purchase
an art gallery has to sell a certain amount in an exhibition to break even (this may be $10,000) and would hope to sell at least double this to make income
failure to make sales repeatedly adversely impacts a galleries credibility and thus gallery directors need to be careful which exhibits they run
consider a group exhibit vs solo
finding a gallery
to frame or not to frame
consider edition size
the aim is to give buyers a financial reason to buy the image and create a perception that their purchase will go up in value over time
generally use edition sizes of 7-15 as it is hard to sell more than this at high prices
the 1st print is sold at the cheapest price as the buyer is taking the most financial risk (eg. $700)
as the edition number increases, the price is increased so that the latter edition numbers might be priced at 3x the initial price
the art world trusts the creator will not exceed the edition number - and this usually applies to different size prints - you can say there will be an edition size of 10 and then release another edition of 10 prints at a different size unless you first indicated that this will occur.
in generally, making the image available to the mass media devalues the image in these buyers perception
the photographer should hold at least two “artist proofs” which they can sell later if by chance their works go up in value substantially
each print should be labelled on the rear
gallery contract
needs to outline who will pay for what (eg. advertising)
needs to outline the gallery commission and their sales rights - this should be restricted to regional sales only for the duration of the exhibition and a roll off period (eg. 6 months) after the exhibit
signed copy of the delivery memo
photo/photo_careers.txt · Last modified: 2019/12/30 08:28 by gary1