PPA Charities' #CelebrationofSmilesDay is a Win/Win for your studio!

Ok, photography friends . . . now that I'm back from another awesome ImagingUSA, I've got something really cool to share with all of you PPA Members!

What if I told you that I learned of a simple promotion that will drive clients to your door, old and new? Would you be interested?

What if I told you this same promotion will put you in a positive light with all of your clients, because you're doing something that benefits something dear to all of us - children? Have your ears perked up yet?

Finally, what if said promotion is practically turn-key; all you have to do is put your name and phone number on the materials and send them out in order to get started? Are you with me?

Good!

Coming April 21st, PPA Charities will kick off our first-ever "Celebration of Smiles Day". As a PPA Member, you can join with PPA Charities (the philanthropic arm of Professional Photographers of America) to promote “Celebration of Smiles Day.” This national fundraising effort will benefit Operation Smile, which treats children around the world who suffer with cleft lips, cleft palates and other facial deformities.

On that day, participating photographers will offer the gift of an individual portrait session and a desk-size portrait in exchange for a $24 donation to Operation Smile. This donation represents one tenth of $240, the amount needed to help fund a single surgery.

The time to get involved is RIGHT NOW.

• For your donation of $25, PPA Charities will send you a Celebration of Smiles Day Marketing Kit, complete with a 36 page marketing guide that takes you through the entire promotion in a step-by-step process to help you plan, market and execute this promotion in your studio. You will also receive a disk containing promotional elements and materials to help you prepare marketing pieces as you contact your clients and prospects.
  
  
• Your studio name and website link will be placed on the www.CelebrationofSmiles.com consumer website.
  
  
• You will also receive weekly "timeline" emails you you'll be able to stay on track with your marketing and promotional efforts.

So . . . what do you need to do to get involved?

It's all pretty simple. CLICK HERE to register and you'll receive the marketing kit in the mail! 

Still need more details? Find them at PPACharities.com

Not a PPA Member? (You need to be one to participate . . . ) It's easy - join now! www.PPA.com/join

Even if you don't have a studio, you can partner with a location for some great traffic.

Register for Celebration of Smiles Day today!

- David Grupa

Don't You Love Craigslist?

Yesterday morning, a colleague messaged me regarding a Craigslist ad in which the writer railed professional photographers for being ridiculously expensive and making "ridiculous amounts of money." 

I took the opportunity to respond to her and educate her on why professional photographers charge what we do.

---------------------

Attn: Wedding Photographers :) (Puget Sound)

---

Date: 2012-01-17, 8:57AM PST
Reply to: serv-zwumx-2804332414@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}

---

WHY is finding an amazing wedding photographer so difficult? :/

I am a Bride who is getting married this summer and have yet to find a decently priced, exceptional, amazingly talented, fun photographer.

WHY because the word "WEDDING" is involved photographers think they can change you $ 3,000.00 for wedding photos? Oh, because no bride is going to go without so they are going to pay it, because they HAVE to. They are ripping people off for all they have! Why when you want to get married it costs you AT LEAST 15 grand after all is said-and-done? Its such CRAP!! I love all you $ 3,000.00 photographers out there but i think your prices are WACK. All your doing is hanging out at a wedding taking tons of photos and editing them.. and thats owrth 3 GRAND!!! You're making so much money its crazy. I just wish people would be more realistic. I mean the "average" persons salary for 1 freaking month is somewhere around 3 grand. (Thats making 19$ an hour) So you're going to take someones WHOLE MONTH paycheck for one flippen day of photos? Just because you CAN!!?????? So that maybe they will not be able to feed themselves or pay any other bills they have, right? It makes me SICK!

I know im speaking for more than just myself right now. Alot of brides out there think the same thing. & I bet all you fancy photographers wont even read this. oh-well.
Maybe there are cheaper photographers that will read this and LOVE to take my photos :)

---------------------

Dear "Pissed Off in Puget Sound",

A colleague shared your Craigslist ad with me a bit earlier today. I wish I could say that "hanging out at a wedding and taking tons of photos" is "easy money" as you seem to think, but it's really not. While I agree that professional photography is not inexpensive, try working with a "weekend warrior with a camera" and see the difference. Sure, you may pay less money, but the resulting images will be of such poor quality, you'll be certain to feel "ripped off."

However, rather than tell you about award-winning photography, explain my credentials and attempt to convince you why a talented photographer is worth $3000 or more, I'm going to do some basic math instead.

First, let's talk about taxes. Don't you just hate opening up your paycheck at the end of the week and finding that Uncle Sam and friends have taken about 30% of your hard-earned dollars for federal, state and other taxes? Well, photographers have to pay them, too. That's $900 straight off the top of that $3000, leaving $2100. (You may think that 30% seems like a high number, but remember that since I'm self-employed, there's nobody else kicking in a percentage; the entire tax burden is borne by me.) Since there's no withholding, it's up to me to put this amount away so that I can make my quarterly tax payments on time.

Another huge chunk of the pie is a rather surprising expense to many people. We call it "Overhead" and "Cost of Goods Sold". In this category are visible items like albums, prints, frames and those items you take home. You don't want cheap things that will fall apart or fade, so I'm willing to pay a bit more in the search for a quality product. Remember, "good things aren't usually cheap, and cheap things aren't usually good." The photography industry is a showcase for that motto; really, ask around. (The pages of that "Snapfish" album will fade and discolor before your first anniversary.)

However, there are also other things in this group as well; things that we need to deliver our best to you, but are somewhat "invisible" to people other than business owners. They include our studio rent or monthly location payment, phone, computer, website and hosting, equipment and liability insurances (because we realize that we live in a litigious society), and local business and other licenses. Add in the membership dues to professional associations where we go for new techniques and to stay current so that we can deliver those amazing images you seek, and this Overhead category takes another 30% bite out of that $3000 so that just $1200 remains.

Then there's the equipment we use. Digital has brought some awesome advantages to photographers, but it comes at a price. New cameras and lenses are not inexpensive; we don't photograph with $500 Canon Rebels from WalMart. Since it takes a while to save enough money for this, I put away 10% of each job toward new equipment, equipment repairs, cleaning and maintenance. (Yes, I carry at least 2 working professional cameras to your wedding in the event something happens. A professional will simply pick up a new camera and continue photographing as if nothing happened. Your bargain photographer may panic or worse yet, not even realize that something is wrong. Not sounding like such a bargain anymore, is it?) Subtracting that $300 brings me down to $900.

Since I realize I won't be able to do this for the rest of my life (and I haven't found a sugar momma to support me) I'd better save something for retirement. Financial planners say that should be 10%, so there goes another $300. I'm down to $600 of the original price.

Being self-employed, I have to buy my own health insurance for me and my family. For an individual who's not getting it through their employer, this is NOT cheap. (I'm not going to use the term "WACK", but I think you get where I'm heading.) Another 10%, another $300 and I'm down to $300 "profit" from your wedding.

While I'd like to say that I take the remaining $300 and spend it on me, it's only partially true. As you do, I have responsibilities such as monthly bills, gas for the car, car payment, food, clothing . . . the kind of stuff you were mentioning.

Let's say I spend 6 hours at your wedding, another 8 hours editing your images, not to mention the meetings we've had that last an hour each. When you come back to select the images for your album, we'll spend another 2 hours going through choices and then I'll invest another 4 hours (minimum) designing the perfect album for you, prepping it for printing and sending it to the manufacturer. When it comes back, I'll inspect it and make sure it's perfect, then spend another 45 mins going through it with you when you pick it up. Almost a full 24 hours . . . divided by the $300 I got to keep . . . and I've just made $12.50 an hour. (Which totally blows the "You're making so much money it's crazy" theory.)

On a side note, over the past 36 years I have been photographing weddings, I can't even begin to count the number of ball games and other events I've missed. My kids got used to it; "You know that Daddy works on Saturday", but over the years it took its toll on my relationships as well. I refuse to make those mistakes again; those who refuse to learn from the past are destined to repeat it.

I'm sure you're probably tired of reading, but I hope you understand what I'm saying. Producing a quality product at a fair price IS what professional photographers do; it's always your choice to work with us or someone else. The problem is, what will you give up when you "get what you paid for?"

Respectfully,

David L. Grupa

Certified Professional Photographer

M.Photog.Cr., AFS-MNPPA

Resolve to Be Better to Your Clients in 2012

If you're one of the many professionals who are tired of seeing overworked images that make portrait look artificial, then you'll enjoy this video by Jesse Rosten. While it's a total spoof on the professional tool we all know and love, it makes a strong statement about how we view beauty in today's society.

More importantly, it should cause every professional photographer (and "faux-tographer", as well) to pause a minute and think about the amount of "editing" and post-production work we do on our images. Are we enhancing the beauty of our clients, or hiding it behind a myriad of actions and effects?


Make 2012 the year to be true to both your clients and your art.



Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Resolve to Be a Better Businessperson in 2012!

First off, I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful holiday with the people they love the most. After all, that is really what it's all about.

Florida photographer Kevin Newsome has posted a series of YouTube videos with his opinions on different issues within the industry. They're relevant, thought-provoking and mildly entertaining. When a link to one of his videos on "Shoot and Burn" photographers was recently posted in another forum in which I participate, it opened the ever-popular discussion of "should I sell print or files?" While I don't want to get into that one one more time, I do think there were a few important points to be made.

One relatively young and opinionated member chose to point out that selling image files was the only way to make money and that Mr. Newsome was a "relic" and and "artifact" in the industry. This group member continued by stating "This dude is just afraid of losing his rip off of a business that needs to die and I'll be happy to be one of the ones to help make that happen."

Is he right? The fact is, we should all be concerned about losing our businesses, but not because we are "rip offs" or aren't embracing technology and selling files. We should be concerned about the fact that we are underpricing our products and services in an effort to compete with the MWACS and DWACS who enter this field daily. (Just think, there are probably hundreds of new "professional" photographers right now who are still trying to decide what to name their Facebook business page as they caress the shiny new Rebel they found under the tree!)

While I definitely have my own opinion, I'm not going to fuel the files vs prints debate here. What I am going to do is ask you to take a serious look at the amount of profit your studio needs in order to survive.

Photographer and educator Charles Lewis (another "relic" or "artifact") still talks about starting his studio and the number of hats one must wear to own their own photography business. He'd say "all I want to do is take pictures!" Of course, we'd all love that.

However, it takes more than just pushing a button. Those photographers who fail to do the sales, marketing and most importantly, pay attention to the numbers and bookkeeping are doomed to fail. You MUST find a way to make a viable living in this industry by pricing your product (whether image files or physical images) to make a profit.

Those who shoot and burn for cheap rates will be forced to find another source of income to supplement their photography. Those who sell prints for cheap prices will die for the same reason. 

It's not about the technology. It's not image files vs prints. It's not "relics vs young guns". It's each and every one of us vs ourselves and our own reluctance and hesitation to sell our products and services at professional rates that allow us to make a decent living while still doing something we enjoy.

Everything old is not necessarily bad, just as everything new is not necessarily better. Some things got to be old because they stood the test of time and have not crumbled under the pressure of change. Yet, embracing the "out with the old, in with the new" mentality can be a good thing in many ways. Perhaps the New Year is the right time to take the plunge with a new pricing structure. Maybe this New Year will be one in which you eclipse your old sales numbers. What if I told you 2012 would be your breakout year, simply by making a few positive changes in the way you look at your studio; not the photography itself, but the business of photography.

My suggestion for a great resolution for 2012 is to take a serious look at your own business model. Crunch your own numbers (or if that's not your strong suit, talk to a bookkeeper or accountant who can help decipher them with you!) We obviously love what we do and have a deep passion for the art. Make 2012 the year you get passionate about the business side of photography and start making it truly profitable!

Happy New Year!

- David Grupa

Louis Daguerre 224th birthday marked by Google Doodle

A Google Doodle has been created to honor Louis Daguerre, who devised the daguerreotype, the first successful form of permanent photography.

The French physicist developed the process for transferring photographs onto silver-coated copper plates.  Photo: GOOGLE

The search engine's home page honors the French physicist, who developed the process for transferring photographs onto silver-coated copper plates.

In the mid-1820s, Daguerre was looking for a way to capture permanent images that he saw in his camera – a large box with a lens on one end that shined an image on a frosted sheet of glass at the other. But nailing the chemistry took a lot of work.

First, he invented the Diorama in 1822, which was used to showcase theatrical painting and lighting effects.

In 1826, fellow Frenchman Joseph Nicéphore Niépce took a photograph of a barn, but the process took an eight-hour exposure. Daguerre formed a partnership with Niépce, according to the Franklin Institute, and ten years later learned how to permanently reproduce the same image in only twenty minutes.

His discovery was made by an accident, according to the writer Robert Leggat, who said Daguerre put an exposed plate in a chemical cupboard in 1835 only to later find it have developed a latent image.

Daguerreotype photography was born. (The name, of course, refers to Daguerre himself.) Each unique photographic image was made on a silver-coated sheet of copper exposed to iodine, developed in heated mercury fumes, and fixed with salt water.

Using Daguerre's photography method, naturally-moving subjects needed to remain completely still because the long exposure would take several minutes to allow the slower process to be able to capture – and focus on – the image.

The new process was unveiled at the French Academy of Sciences in Paris in 1839.

It became the first commercially successful was of getting permanent images from a camera.

The Google Doodle, marking Daguerre's birthday of November 18, 1787, features a traditional image of an early family photograph with the heads of the figures in the image replaced with the letters that spell out Google.

Sources: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/google/google-doodle/8898339/Louis-Daguerre-224th-birthday-marked-by-Google-Doodle.html
http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Horizons/2011/1118/Louis-Daguerre-photography-pioneer-honored-with-Google-doodle



 

Make a Difference with PPA Charities on 11.11.11

Every day, thousands of children suffer with facial deformities. Make 11.11.11 the day you help such children smile again!

You can when you help PPA Charities meet its Operation Smile fundraising goal this year by 11.11.11. A unique date like this comes around only every 100 years. So, make it count by designating it your fundraising day—your day to save smiles! If every PPA member donated just $11.11 on that day, we would raise enough money for over 1,000 children to receive the facial surgeries performed by Operation Smile’s medical volunteers (doubling our previous donations)!

Every little bit can help save a smile. Plus, donations of $111.11 and above will receive a PPA Charities t-shirt AND the chance to meet and greet Dr. William Magee, founder of Operation Smile, at the PPA Charities Celebration at Imaging USA! Donate $1111.11 and you’ll receive the above, be recognized as a 2012 Operation Smile Studio and a gift from one of our vendor supporters. The more you donate, the more smiles you’ll help save (and gifts you’ll earn). Go to www.PPAcharities.com for details.

Donate now to save smiles on 11.11.11!

Who Really Sees Your Facebooks Posts? What Message Are You Really Sending?

It's a funny thing. A few years ago, many folks were very leery of signing up for an account on the new thing called "Facebook" because they didn't want the world to see what they were doing or be able to pry into their personal lives. Yet a few years later, it seems as if the best possible app that could be developed would be one that warns social media users when their personal filters are completely off.

For example, this post appeared in my feed over the weekend.

It took me by surprise that quite clearly the photographer posting this update failed to remember that the client for whom they had photographed the wedding is one of their friends on Facebook. Yes, the client saw the feed (as evidenced by the comment.)

So . . . what message did the photographer send to the client? Was it a warm fuzzy "wow, I had an awesome time photographing a wedding this weekend" or was it more along the line of "I'm driving home from my stupid out of town wedding and now I'm going to be inconvenienced because I'm running into traffic"? While the photographer did not specifically state either thought, the tone of the message is one that could easily give the client the wrong impression.

Of course, I make it a habit to not use profanity around my clients or on my Facebook page. To me, it sounds unprofessional.

When making Facebook updates, it's a great idea to ask yourself this: if the person was standing right there, would the same words that you're typing on your keyboard be coming out of your mouth?

Of course there's another rule that may even fit much better. Sometimes, when you're angry or frustrated, the best and safest status update is none at all.

- David Grupa