Competition

How to deal with other photographers that compete with you

I Copy Everything

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 23. January 2012 - 6:33

The photography business is all about copying what the other does. The current “fad” is HDR. In the “good old days”, every landscape was taken with 2 to 3 color polarizer. Now, all the weddings are “documentary style”… Photographers often get a friend or a family member to call their competition and ask for the prices… then copy it almost exactly.

The best that happened to me was: when people shoot from over my shoulder, literally, which not too difficult since I'm often on my knees. The worst was just a week ago, when a “turkey” instead of going behind me, just went straight in front when I had to shame him to get him to move. There are magazines, conferences… that show you how copy other successful photographers.

What the duck has captured it very well, except the most important, what makes me unique and that nobody can copy.

I Copy EverythingThe photography business is all about copying what the other does. The current “fad” is HDR. In the good old days, every landscape was taken with 2 to 3 color polarizer. Now, all the weddings are documentary style… Photographers often get a friend or a family member to call their competition and ask for the prices… then copy it almost exactly.The best that happened to me was: when people shoot from over my shoulder, literally which not too difficult since I'm often on my knees.What the duck from www.whattheduck.net has captured it very well, except the most important, that makes me unique and nobody can copy.My name lists. My name lists with an “S”. I have a list of:* Prospects* Occasional customers* Regular customersI just spent the last month updating, refining my lists. Even if you got hold of my lists, it wouldn't help you, it's me that they know, they receive my mail (yes, I still use a lot of first class mail.)what-the-duck-getting-new-customers.jpg — ©2012 Syv Ritch -- foto-biz.com: http://www.foto-biz.com/usageterms

Kodak: the Debacle and the BS

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 20. January 2012 - 6:20

By now, you must have heard that Kodak has filed for bankruptcy. All the noise from the web is that Kodak is a bankrupt company because, although they invented many of the digital technology, they were not nimble enough… Those are mostly people that repeat what everybody else copied from the web. The problem is that these people don't have a “long enough” memory. Kodak's problems started long, long before the digital area.

What The Duck has this great cartoon about “Kodak's death”

Kodak filing for bankruptcy Kodak filing for bankruptcy according to What The Duck of www.whattheduck.netwhat-the-duck-kodak.jpg — ©2012 Syv Ritch -- foto-biz.com: http://www.foto-biz.com/usageterms

Here are the 3 main events that caused “Kodak's death”:

How to Specialize

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 3. November 2011 - 5:33

With some many photographers, everybody screams at the top of their lungs that you should specialize. Notice that this is often coming from a generalist that specializes in pressing the shutter button.

Here's a guy that takes specializing to the nth degree: Martin Waugh of Liquid Sculpture. He lives in Oregon and makes a very good living making photos of water/liquid drop. Very nice, very profitable.

If you are looking for water drop photos or videos, he's your man.

Customer Requesting All RAW Files

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 25. October 2011 - 17:39

I've had this customer for a few years. Peter used to phone, but over the last couple of years, it's been all via email. The jobs were not big, half a day here, a day there… Last spring he told me that he was leaving. I took him out for coffee and a nice cake.

Last month, September, I got a request from Hank, who took over Peter's job, to photograph…

$149 Wedding

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 23. October 2011 - 19:10

The problem with a race to the bottom is that you might win

— Famous saying that too many people attributed to themselves

Wedding Photos: $149* Up to 2 hours* Up to 2 Gb of photos, if you want to buy more…* JPEGs only, ready for pickup on a DVD*

Wedding Photos: $149   click on image for gallery

The Next Wave for Photography

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 5. October 2011 - 5:27

I was in Seattle at the Pike Street Market. It's a tourist magnet, hundreds and hundreds of tourists, including me. Here's the next wave for photography.

The Next Wave for Photography I was in Seattle at the Pike Street Market. It's a tourist magnet, hundreds and hundreds of tourists, including me. Here's the next wave for photography.He's using a iPhone 4 for making a small movie. He's using an app that also take some photos with the “mini-movie”. He had a team with him, a producer/script manager, a photographer and an assistant. He's from Brazil (he smokes!) They spent most of the morning making mini movies.At the Pike Street Market, half of the people used a small point and shoot, a third of the people used their smart phones (more on that later) and the rest of the people had lower-end dSLRs like Canon Rebels and Nikon D3000/D5000. I saw only one Leica M9 and a couple of Nikon D3s.This is very good news for professional photographers. It's very easy to see the difference between a “real” camera and a smart phone even at 8 megapixels like the new iPhone 4s. Also, it's much more difficult to make the transition from a smart phone to a “real” camera.seattle-20111002-5576.jpg — Copyright © 2009 Syv Ritch: http://http://www.foto-biz.com/usageterms

The Next Wave of Photographers   click on image for gallery

Sony NEX-5N

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 31. August 2011 - 6:07

The Sony NEX-5n is one of the new mirrorless cameras from Sony. I was able to play with it for about 15 minutes! Yeap, that's ¼ of an hour. I'm not allowed to show the photos, “he” kept the sd card. I wasn't really allowed to try it, but some Starbucks, some “slick” talking and I spend 15 minutes with it.

The camera is nice, the focus is fast, almost as fast as a regular dSLR. It's not as fast as a Canon 7D but it's still darn fast. It feels lot faster than a Canon T3i or a Nikon 3100. The images on the back of camera looked very good, but it was JPEGs.

The Incompetents

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 19. July 2011 - 16:24

The standard line is that the Internet is killing “old media.” Almost every idiot argues that Google by showing the title and 1 and ¾ line of the start of the article with a link is infringing their copyright and killing their business.

It all started by the AFP, the Agence France Press, who didn't want Google to link to their news without Google paying for the privilege of linking to their websites.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 11. July 2011 - 8:32

In its post of the 8-Jul-2011, PetaPixel reported that CNBC has declared the end of the point and shoot cameras. This has been reported many times by many business analysts.

Point and shoot camera sales are down, significantly. The top 2 point and shoot camera manufacturers are:

  1. Canon
  2. Sony

And they represent 65% of the worldwide market. This year, Canon has introduced only 1 new camera, and Sony only 2 new cameras.

The Fools: Jay Maisel vs Andy Baio

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 3. July 2011 - 14:08

In the last week of June 2011, Thomas Hawk wrote an article about the copyright lawsuit between Jay Maisel and Andy Baio. It was the first time I heard about it. Thomas Hawk took the point of view that Jay Maisel's lawyers “extorted” $32,500 from Andy Baio and he could do it because Jay had deeper pockets and bigger lawyers than Andy's.

132 comments later:

  1. Most of the comments were in favor of Jay Maisel
  2. The comments became a discussion between a ½ dozen people

Should I Accept To Do My First Wedding?

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 15. June 2011 - 16:18

I have been asked to do a wedding. I have ranted and raved about never doing weddings. It's not my cup of tea. Here are some the dozens posts of my swearing that I will never do weddings: http://www.foto-biz.com/search/node/wedding

I will get paid a big fat 0, zero, zip, nada, zilch, nothing. I already hear the screams:

  • He doesn't know what he's doing
  • He's stealing the job of real wedding photographers
  • He's devaluating the profession

Now may be you need the information:

  • Who? 2 people that are penniless.

I Am A Purist

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 2. June 2011 - 23:50

The other day, I met this photographer who shall remain anonymous because… He makes very nice black and white panoramic landscapes and he makes a good living selling the prints. Within 2 minutes of our conversation:

I am a purist, I only use black and white films. When I take the photo, that's it, that's how it's printed.

So, I asked him a few questions:

The Pirates

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 3. May 2011 - 20:06

Producing a foto-biz.com post is hard. It takes imagination, time and hard work. It takes me usually an hour to an hour and half every daily. It's tough:

  1. What to write about?
  2. What's the material? Research and verify.
  3. Write the post.
  4. Post the post.
  5. And finally publish the post.

I get ideas from everywhere, I have a text file that is 28,560 lines long of text and ideas with most of them half baked or not baked at all. I do follow a few websites. And that's where the pirates comes in.

$15,000 Promo

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 1. May 2011 - 15:05

The competition is so fierce that art directors and editors receive daily emails, postcards, business cards by the hundreds. Art directors, editors… need to discover new photographers but they still have work to do. So the hundreds and hundreds of emails, cards… mostly end up in the spam folder, in the physical garbage, in the…

Some photographers manage to cut through the wall of indifference, the garbage… Casey Templeton did. He sent 300 promo pieces and at least 30 have replied! A 10+% is huge! It's a fantastic success.

Turning Pro: The Experiment

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 30. March 2011 - 20:42

Ever thought of become a professional photographer, earning a living from photography? The “Dreaming of Turning Pro” will tell everything you need to know to start. The difference between the “Dreaming of Turning Pro” and the other e-books is that the “Dreaming of Turning Pro” deals with:

  • How to start?
  • How to get your first customer?
  • Which equipment to choose? (Actually the choice has already been done for you)
  • Where to promote your website? (And no, it's not Google)
  • How to contact the buyers?
  • What are the secrets (hint: lot of hard work and no real shortcut)
  • …

Dreaming of Turning Pro, How to Earn a Living Being a Professional Photographer

The End of the Glut

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 29. March 2011 - 5:28

This morning, it's a Friday, I was downtown on the waterfront, the touristy area. I was walking by, to go from one place to another. It's late March, officially it's spring and the weather's not too bad.

Prices of Prints

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 9. March 2011 - 18:15

If you look at almost all photographers, there's a session fee that ranges from $100 to $$$$. It's either the session fee + the prints or the rights or the session fee is applied toward the cost of the prints.

Then we get to the price list:

  • 4” by 6”
  • 5” by 7”
  • 8” by 10”
  • 11” by 14”
  • 16” by 20”
  • …

Now charging $20, $35 or $50 for a 4” by 6” is ridiculous!

Closing Shop?

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 4. March 2011 - 18:56

Over the last week, on a few photography forums, people have been talking the demise of the professional photographers and the photo studios. It's not just one forum posting, but a whole bunch of them. Is the same person seeding the forum or the mood? I don't know.

The summary is that everybody complains:

  • Digital has killed the professional photographer business.
  • The economy “stinks” and people stopped buying photos.
  • Uncle Harry and the GWC aka the Girl With a Camera have killed the market by working for free…

Let's review the facts:

1.

How Do You Check On The Competition?

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 27. January 2011 - 6:09

Last week I had two phone calls and one email asking for very similar questions. The first one sounded like a younger woman and she asked for my price list. She was mostly interested in special prints and their prices:

  • Metallic prints
  • Canvas/gallery wraps

Yes, I can provide my customers with this type of prints. The problem is that my prices are not separate, they are part of an overall package. I don't just sell these prints as stand-alone. Where do I get them? …

A couple of days later, I get a phone call for a woman She sounded like an older woman.

Free as a Business Model

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 22. December 2010 - 6:31

Often What The Duck as good cartoons. Here's a excellent one:

What The Duck: Free as a business model

What The Duck: Free as a Business Model

I disagree with it when he goes to the sarcasm. The customer claims that the professional photographer that did the previous job for free is out of business. He's not out of business.

The Big Guns

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 20. December 2010 - 6:58

I was “hunting” for an Northern Hawk Owl. It's a non-migrating bird. It usually stays in its range, the boreal forest. That's close to the arctic. I live in Vancouver, British Columbia of Canada. It's on the Pacific Coast, 50° North but nothing close to the boreal forest. We never have those. Somehow, a Northern Hawk Owl came. Somebody saw him, reported it on the Bird Line, mayhem ensued!

Every birder, within hundreds of miles, came to see him. Every photographer with a nuclear power lens came to photograph him.

Leaving Money On The Table

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 14. December 2010 - 6:41

I was talking to Bob. He's a pro, a real pro, 25+ years in the photography. There was something I didn't like with our conversation. I knew something was wrong, something was rubbing me the wrong way but I couldn't point it out. What it something he did? How he looked? What he said?

I thought about it and finally I understood. He used an expression at least 3 times I hate it:

You're leaving a lot of money on the table!

I have my prices, they are set. I make a profit at these prices. I'm trying not to gouge my customers. I have a specific market segment.

Loosing a job to someone that is willing to do it for free...

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 7. December 2010 - 6:46

Sunday Morning, 8:05am, I got a phone call from Dany. It's Sunday “early” morning. I fed and walked the dog and went back to bed. Usually, I don't answer the phone that early. That's why there's voice mail. But...

Dany asked:

What do you say to a client that said that she's thinking of using someone that will do the photos for free.

I'm awake, but it still take a few seconds to connect the various brain cells. I wasn't expecting this type of question.

  1. She's not a client yet. She hasn't paid for the photos.
  2. You can't haggle on price against free.

Rupert Murdock & Photography

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 19. November 2010 - 6:34

Rupert Murdoch is the founder, chairman of News Corp. He owns the Times/Sunday Times, the New York Post, Direct TV, the Fox Channel (TV), the Wall Street Journal and dozens of others news organizations. You don't have to agree with his point of view to accept his extraordinary business acumen.

You’ve got to look for a gap, where competitors in a market have grown lazy and lost contact with the readers or the viewers.

Whether your competitors have grown lazy or just frustrated with a lack of new ideas, there’s an opportunity in every community.

Amateur vs Pro

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 1. November 2010 - 9:50

Everywhere on the Internet, you and I hear about how the amateurs are buying a Canon T2i, the EOS 550D or a Nikon D5000 and grab the customers of the pros. First, we need some clarifications. Let's look at the dictionary definitions.

Photojournalist Trade Secrets

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 24. October 2010 - 11:11

Here are CNN's "trade secrets" for you to become a photojournalist so you can take great photos and be published by CNN. The full document is available as a PDF at: CNN Photojournalists Trade Secrets. Here's the summary.

Who Can You Trust?

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 13. October 2010 - 6:18

The New York Times is the journal of record. It's the definitive record. They have the highest standard of journalism. They have often quoted and the source of many other news organizations.

White Balance

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 2. October 2010 - 16:45

I do have a mean streak. Most of the times, it's well hidden, but it comes out when some people really rub me the wrong way, especially the "holier than thou" people. That's when my mean streak comes out.

One of the great benefit of switching from film to digital is that we don't have to deal with the white balance.

Hypocrite

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 17. August 2010 - 15:34

This morning, I was talking with Jon. Jon has been doing photography in one way or another for more than 20 years. Lately, Jon has been complaining about how much competition he gets from the “new kids on the block”. They buy a Nikon D300 and they are in business.

They've driven down both the prices and the quality…

Then later, Jon explained to me that he just spent over four thousand dollars upgrading his so he can start shooting videos. He's doing exactly the same thing to video people as he's complaining about.

BTW, he's not the only one that complain about all these unemployed, under-employed people becoming “professional photographers”.

Hypocrisy is the failure to apply what I call:

  • What's good goose for the goose is good for the gander.
  • Do as I say and not as I do.

Staff Photographers

Submitted by Syv Ritch on 5. September 2009 - 23:00

I live in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Vancouver is fairly large city with 2 million people including the suburbs, It's called the Lower Mainland. In 2010, Vancouver will be hosting the Winter Olympics. Over 1200 photography businesses are registered in the Lower Mainland. I am sure that there are many more photographers, but they are not registered as businesses with the tax people. It's legal if they earn less that $30,000 per year, they still have to declare their income, but they don't have to register.

I only know of 2 staff photographers.

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