Refusing to Conform

Browncoat

Browncoat

Senior Member
I've put my photography business on the back burner for now until I can re-tool.

Even in my small area, I'm overwhelmed by Facebook Fauxtographers. These are all amateurs who have crap technical skills, but trendy effects on their photos. Never mind that none of them can take a photo without cutting off hands and feet. Never mind that none of them have a studio or lighting equipment. It doesn't matter. They're booking sessions left and right.

Me? I was doing okay, but could've been doing much better in my market to be honest. I was just lazy. And pissed off. Mostly pissed off.

I refuse to be trendy. I absolutely HATE following what everyone else is doing. But the truth is, it hurt my business. I was trying to sell a product that I wanted to sell, not what most customers wanted. My pride got in the way, ultimately. So I've closed the doors to rethink my position. This is a business, and businesses have to make money. Amazon did the same thing. They were once a book retailer that sold books, which people didn't buy anymore. So they went digital, and the rest is history. Now they're the largest retailer on the planet.

Learn from my mistake. You have to sell a product that people are willing to pay for, regardless of how you feel about it. Women are the ones making most of the buying decisions when it comes to portrait photography, and this is the stuff they want. They can't get enough of it apparently.

My website has been redesigned, and is now mobile-friendly. I removed my business from Facebook and just about every site that I could think of in an effort to start over with a brand new plan for 2014. Time to kick some ass.
 
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D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
Browncoat said:
I've put my photography business on the back burner for now until I can re-tool.

Even in my small area, I've overwhelmed by Facebook Fauxtographers. These are all amateurs who have crap technical skills, but trendy effects on their photos. Never mind that none of them can take a photo without cutting off hands and feet. Never mind that none of them have a studio or lighting equipment. It doesn't matter. They're booking sessions left and right.

Me? I was doing okay, but could've been doing much better in my market to be honest. I was just lazy. And pissed off. Mostly pissed off.

I refuse to be trendy. I absolutely HATE following what everyone else is doing. But the truth is, it hurt my business. I was trying to sell a product that I wanted to sell, not what most customers wanted. My pride got in the way, ultimately. So I've closed the doors to rethink my position. This is a business, and businesses have to make money. Amazon did the same thing. They were once a book retailer that sold books, which people didn't buy anymore. So they went digital, and the rest is history. Now they're the largest retailer on the planet.

Learn from my mistake. You have to sell a product that people are willing to pay for, regardless of how you feel about it. Women are the ones making most of the buying decisions when it comes to portrait photography, and this is the stuff they want. They can't get enough of it apparently.

My website has been redesigned, and is now mobile-friendly. I removed my business from Facebook and just about every site that I could think of in an effort to start over with a brand new plan for 2014. Time to kick some ass.
Click to expand...

That is why I made the decision to only shoot what I wanted to shoot. Luckily I do not need to shoot for a living anymore so I have a bit of freedom. I decided to only shoot weddings for young couples that do not have the big bucks to hire a high priced photographer who probably is not that good anyway. When my son got married the bride picked the photographer and the photographer was crap. Outdoor wedding and she was shooting with flash pointing straight up and not she did not have a diffuser or any type of reflector on the flash. In a quite moment I went over to her and asked her why she had the flash pointing up. She said to me that that was the way all professional did it. Bounce light was so much better. I looked at her then looked up and asked her "What are you bouncing it off of?" I got a blank look and she walked off. Never did she change the flash the rest of the evening. I never saw the pictures but was can all guess what they looked like.
But yes I think if we plan on making any money with our photography we either have to conform as much as we can without selling our souls or do as I do and shoot what we want but just not plan or earning a living.

By the way I will only shoot couples where the minister has told me they really need the help.
 
P

PapaST

Senior Member
Go get'em Browncoat.

I think you've touched on something that many photographers may be facing nowadays. It kind of reminds me of the music business. There are artists that make songs that endure that are timeless and there are artists that make songs to market and top the charts. It's a crossroad that I'm sure many face. I hope you come to a decision that works for you and still keeps the passion for photography alive.
 
M

Moab Man

Senior Member
You've touched on the keystone of any business... if you want to be a business you need to be selling what people want regardless of how much you disagree with it. Kudos to you and I believe you will come back much stronger from this clarity of self-evaluation.
 
Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Sorry it had to come to this Anthony, but I applaud your courage to get out and recuperate before you've had gone too far. I wish you all the best.
 
Browncoat

Browncoat

Senior Member
Tracsoft - Don Kuykendall said:
That is why I made the decision to only shoot what I wanted to shoot. Luckily I do not need to shoot for a living anymore so I have a bit of freedom.
Click to expand...

This is the crossroad I am at.

This is a very rural area, and there aren't many "real" pros around here. I can only think of a handful (maybe 3-5 at most) who have a studio and a full-blown setup. Of those, there's only 2 who are a bit more progressive and aren't locked into that old school Olan Mills style of portraiture. Then there's the ever growing number of push button wannabe pros who rule the Facebook airwaves. Of those, there's only 2 who are really good enough to be competitive. And by competitive, I mean their photos are largely crap.

Therein lies the problem. My standards, frankly, are too high. My own wife likes their work. She doesn't see the flaws that I see. Judging from the responses, neither does anyone else. It's not really about the overall quality anymore. It's about being hip and trendy. That's what's selling.

In a way, I'm glad all of this happened. Getting a full-time job has allowed me to take a breather and reevaluate. I thought about giving it all up. Was ready to put my gear up on eBay and just be done with it completely.
 
G

gqtuazon

Gear Head
I have invested quite a lot with my photography hobby but I never rely on doing this as my main source of income. I only accept request when my schedule permits and if the project is too big for me to handle, I sometimes decline the request.

I live in a military base overseas and the PROs who does this for big events are well staffed and have been doing this for a while. My rates are a lot lower than what they charge since I don't need to drive far. There was an opportunity before when I was asked to shoot for a fraternity toga party. Since the event required an assistant to handle the orders, payments, etc, I had to decline and told them that the other company will be able to provide a better service for their needs.

Anyway, hope that business will get better in the near future for you.
 
F

fotojack

Senior Member
Give it all up? Nah...you're not a quitter, Tony. You never quit anything in your life. I think you're doing the right thing, re-evaluating your business, your standards....impossibly high as they are....but you'll come out ahead in the end. You always do.
Stay focused, Tony. You have an awesome talent....but don't let your ego get the better of you.
 
R

Rick M

Senior Member
Glad to see you are re-grouping Anthony. I'm sure the market for a full time pro is very hard, with so many customers not knowing what quality is. 99% don't notice the background blur from a 2.8 in an excellent shot vs an Iphone shot. Photography is a very under appreciated Art that most do not understand. Hang in there, I'm sure you'll come up with an angle to seize the market in your area. Quality should be enough, but the uneducated consumer shops blindly on price and fluff.
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
The Art of Juggling

It's the age old conundrum for artists...

What we are passionate about may not sell, and what sells we may not be passionate about. We want the passion but need the money because the money supports the passion.


.....
 
Browncoat

Browncoat

Senior Member
2013 has been a real eye-opener.

Now that the big box retailers are out of the way (with Life Touch going under) there's not much competition for the low ball price points in the turn-key studios like Wal Mart and Sears. That was big news for people like us. And it was real, I definitely saw more traffic.

It's definitely NOT about price. I price competitively with others in my area, and am usually on the lower end of the spectrum. I trimmed some of the fat and don't offer the fluff: fancy packaging and what-not. But the customers are willing to pay MORE for that stuff, a lot more.

As it turns out, the women folk just love getting a cool package in the mail. I offer prints, but 99% of my customers opt for the DVD. I was burning a custom label on each one with Lightscribe and using a generic DVD jewel case to keep costs down. But, they'd rather have something fancy, even if it costs more. I can't tell you how many times I'd see pics in my Facebook feed of competitors' customers posting a pic of their mail and how excited they were about it. Another lesson learned.

The niche is there. I have a lot more male customers because, well...I'm a guy. Senior boys get photos done too, and they like a more edgy style that I produce. I just need to get in touch with my feminine side and ratchet up the trendy crap with artificial sun flares to get the wemmins too.

I agree completely, Horoscope Fish. It feels like I'm selling out. But, even the Sistine Chapel was a paid gig. Mike didn't paint that shit for free.
 
Nero

Nero

Senior Member
Browncoat said:
It's not really about the overall quality anymore. It's about being hip and trendy. That's what's selling.
Click to expand...
This is why I don't bother checking out Facebook photography pages anymore. Most images are worse than mine and I'm still an amateur.
 
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