If You Are A Pro Photographer, Have Consumer Quality Digital Cameras and Amateur

Question:There may too many amateur photographers who are low balling and taking a lot of business away from seasoned pros. Clients are doing more work themselves because of the high quality consumer digital cameras on the market. Just good enough rather than best quality work is getting more prevalent.

Has your photography studio gotten more or less work in the last few years. Because consumer and prosumer digital cameras have gotten up to 10-12 MP, more people than ever are becoming photographers and doing more of the work themselves rather than hiring pros to do weddings, head shots, product/tabletop work.

If you have seen a trend here, let us know of your experience. When just good enough is good enough and the margin between pro photographer sand amateurs is a narrowing gap.

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: There may too many amateur photographers who are low balling and taking a lot of business away from seasoned pros. Clients are doing more work themselves because of the high quality consumer digital cameras on the market. Just good enough rather than best quality work is getting more prevalent.

Has your photography studio gotten more or less work in the last few years. Because consumer and prosumer digital cameras have gotten up to 10-12 MP, more people than ever are becoming photographers and doing more of the work themselves rather than hiring pros to do weddings, head shots, product/tabletop work.

If you have seen a trend here, let us know of your experience. When just good enough is good enough and the margin between pro photographer sand amateurs is a narrowing gap.

The answer by "Mixed" above is right on the money. Yes, my business has gone down... BUT... I blame no one but myself. I am not, and never have been, a really good business man. I am very good with a camera, but when it comes to successfully running a business, that is a different story. I hate marketing, I hate selling, I just generally hate all that a successful business requires.

It kills me to see a never ending stream of people on here with their fancy new cameras that say they take "pretty good photos" and are going to go into business. Your skill with the camera has very little to do with it.

A person who is a GOOD business person will be successful no matter if it is photography or a restaurant or a golf course. Years ago when I began doing paid assignments, weddings, and portraits, there were much less quality cameras available to the public, so work just kind of easily came to me. So sure, the glut of better cameras in the public's hands, (not taking into account that many of them are poorly used), has hurt MY business, but there are PLENTY of other photographers who have prospered by it. Again, I blame no one but myself. I know what my strengths and weaknesses are, and being a good business person is not one of my strengths.

In the last couple of years I have quit renting my studio space and the wedding business is very slow also. But I find I am actually happier. I now concentrate on what *I* love doing. Photos of what I want... when I want, and submissions to local and distant art galleries. The money is not as good, but fortunately I am in a position that I do not have to rely on my photography as my sole income.

steve

Bitter are we? This is nothing new, friend. Technology is meant to aid the photographer, the best of which have the ability to keep up with demand as well as have the skill needed to find more work. The camera has nothing to do with keeping and maintaining a successful business. What good is the best camera if you know nothing about business, or how to even use it? A business in photography is 90% sales, marketing, and finance; 10% what you actually do behind the camera. Quit whining already. If you are a "pro" photographer feeling the pressure, and your business is suffering as a result of what you have claimed here, perhaps it's time for you to find another living, friend.

In today's economic climate, plenty of people are finding ways to do things themselves, rather than paying someone to do it for them. That's life.

I don't think it's primarily due to the "high quality consumer digital cameras"- Digital SLRS have only recently begun to match the quality of film- and many pros still swear by Velvia over any CCD. Even then we're still talking 35mm; no current DSLR offers better image quality than a 20-year old medium-format camera.

From the prospective client side, I think the plummeting COST of digital photography is what's resulted in more people taking a do-it-yourself approach. But I doubt those jobs would have gone to pros anyway- they would have hired a friend or colleague who's an amateur photographer and does wedding on weekends, etc.

Certainly the proliferation of high-quality DSLRs along with improved photo-editing tools, more prevalent broadband Internet access, ready availability of CD and DVD burners and portfolio hosting sites, cost of digital media etc has allowed more amateur photographers to compete for business. But it's all of these factors, not just one.

It's no different in photography than computer help desks- "good enough is good enough" means support lines are answered by staff in the Phillipines or India. But COST is the driving force behind this, too.

I think historically, for every pro who operated a studio there were dozens of semi-pros who were skilled enough (let alone serious amateurs of varying skill) but simply didn't have the financial resources to pursue photography full-time. Advances in technology have eliminated many of those barriers.

Fortunately, major clients still tend to hire established pros.

I have not lost much business.

* There is a HUGE difference between the tiny sensor (pixel count aside) and the sensor sizes found in DSLR camera (over 15x the size of the P&S cameras), so even it the technical aspects were even close, attempting to look professional with the "family" point and shoot in your hands, is problematic.

* While there may be a few advanced amateurs who could do a workman like job shooting commercial assignments, in the end it takes three things to guarantee quality images … on every assignment. 1) complete control of the camera and lenses under any lighting conditions (formal education is the surest way to attain this, 2) a creative mind and the ability to combine the cold, hard technical aspects of using the camera and blend it with the photographers interpretation (style) of the ideas presented in the outline of the assignment checklist and 3) Experience to know when to shoot film vs. digitally, choosing the right format and knowing which lens is called for when shooting various subjects.

* Tear sheets speak volumes; samples of published works say a lot about the success of the photographer and shows samples of their work.

* I have many new clients who used to shoot their own headshots, events and products (not so much, most are smart enough to know good lighting when they see it and don't have a clue on how to produce it or even know what equipment they need)

In my most recent experience, the gap is widening. The image quality produced by most amateurs is getting worse not better. The whole digital explosion has removed the slow pace necessary to really learn how to compose, expose, process and print an image. Most of the top photo schools slow the learning process even more by requiring the students to use 4x5 view cameras for at least the six classes. Like any other skill, learning to perform the task correctly over and over again is that makes the difference ... with the fast paced shooting using a digital camera, making mistakes, time and time again, one can never hone the basic skills necessary to be successful.

Perhaps the most difficult obstacle is the concept that digital images are cheaper to produce. They are not.
? A professional 35mm SLR costs under $2,500 and will last for decades as do the lenses for the system … a DSLR for the same system costs over $5,000, but only will last for about three to four years (due to technology changes).
? With film, the photographer shoot s the assignment, process the film (at the clients cost), does a quick edit (sort) and turns in the images agreed upon with the client … all other pre-press is the responsibility of the client. With digital images the photographer must have a notebook and desktop computer (replaced every three to four years) and are expected to own the latest version of Photoshop and even at times expect pre-press work to be done by the shooter … at no extra cost to the client.
As you can see, the overhead has increases, yet the rates have not gone up substantially. Something may give … either the clients will have to pay for the value of photographic work or be content with using inferior photography.

I really think you should read this article:

"Legal And Business Practices For Digital Photography: On Guidelines, Licensing, And More From ASMP's Judy Hermann" by Maria Piscopo in the Feb. 2008 issue of Shutterbug Magazine. Available on-line at shutterbug.com.

my business is tanking...

I don't feel like I have lost business at all. The people who are hiring an amateur or having a friend do it would not have hired me in the first place. The people who have a friend shoot their wedding probably could not afford to pay a pro. That said no corporation is going to have the data entry clerk with a good camera shoot their new products. Newspapers aren't about to send the paper boy to cover a football game.
Some people trying to get into modelling or acting might have a friend do their head shots but if the person was ever accepted by an agency they would be sent out to get proper head shots done.
When my father was young photographers were complaining about the same thing except the cameras were 35mm. If a technology becomes affordable to the public then you will have amateurs using it and the need for a professional will be diminished somewhat but never replaced. Your business needs to change with the economy and technology

I have good business, I know some tricks that alot of amateurs do not know, and in addition to being a photographer I am a photoshop expert, so even if I am not doing photos I can still get money by correcting pictures, and changing things around .... and some people request me to use film I do that too

The answer is if your not getting the work its because you dont want it
Photography is not just about taking pictures its about marketing your self as better than the rest

Lifestyle photography is going fine at the moment get away from the studio and boring white back drops

For instance at a wedding fair last year there were three thousand photographers advertising

with rotuine regular bride and groom pictures

I gave my model a shopping trolley sent her into the supermarket in her wedding dressed snapped a few a shots got thrown out of supermarket

used my picture of my bride bending over in the frozen food department with the slogan your wedding day dare to be different
I was over run with work in fact i turned down 100 weddings

so get out there sell your self dont go with the flow dare to be different