Some good advice in there. And he's right.
I get so tired of old school studio photographers looking down their noses and offering business advice on a broken business model. They refer to us as "turn and burn" photographers, because in their eyes, we're just turning out burned DVDs.
My pricing structure is simple:
1) I charge for my time. I have a "regular" session fee and a "mini" session fee. I don't care about outfit changes, location or studio, or any of that stuff. A mini session lasts up to an hour, anything beyond is a full session.
2) I charge separately for prints and DVD. A mini session is going to have less photos, so the cost of the DVD is lower. If someone wants actual prints, I have prices listed for those. My DVD price is close to double my session fees, so people know that the DVD has value. It's not just something thrown in for free.
I include 3 versions of all photos on my DVD.
- Full sized TIFF (for professional printing)
- Full sized JPEG (in case their printer of choice can't do TIFF)
- 600x800 sized JPEG for sharing via Facebook, email, etc. (these have my watermark)
I include a full set of instructions on my DVD, including pro print shop recommendations. I also include a photo release PDF with the client's information. To date, I have NEVER had a client order actual prints. I offer a full run of products too: albums, key rings, special foils, the works. And, they're competitively priced. People just don't want prints anymore. I direct all of my clients to Bay Photo, and that's where most of them end up getting prints from. They just handle it all themselves.
