I am in a mood again today after some confusion about what we do, and how we do it. There is still this growing thought process that just because you pay someone to photograph something, those negatives/digital files should automatically become the property of the people photographed or the people commissioning the work.
That thought process has really been perpetuated by part time or super low budget shoot and burn photographers that are purely out to make a quick buck off of the people they work with.
In what world does this seem a normal thing to expect?
Here is something to think about.
Commercial photographers:
A commercial photographer has the same job as I do (pretty much). They are hired by a client to photograph a specific event, item, person, location etc. The client pays them a daily or half day rate, depending on the job. This fee, as with a photographer commissioned to shoot a wedding, is for the work involved in and with the actual photographing of a job; the hours of prep, assistant fees, equipment rental fees, image storage, backup, culling, editing, proofing, etc.. In addition to that, they have a usage/rights fee, generally negotiated in advance with the client and based on a single image or a collection of images. At no point does any reputable business assume that they are going to get the entire body of the photographers work free and clear. They know and expect to have to pay for the rights to use the actual images, in addition to the fee paid for the creation of the images.
For a commercial photographer of the same skill and ability of Desiree and I a daily rate would be somewhere in the $3000.00 to $5000.00 range, then to give unlimited rights for the image would be anywhere from a few hundred to to a few thousand per image. Lets just take a super low, undercutting low ball fee of $100.00 per image. If we were to take this fee structure for a commercial photographer and apply it to weddings, on average with 1000 images, for a couple to walk away with 100% usage rights, it would be $103,000.00. That puts a whole new perspective on what we do and it's value doesn't it.
Yes, I understand that in commercial photography the client is using the images to market and increase their revenue. So, the fee should be more that a non commercial client wanting to print images to give out to people. I get that...
The wedding/portrait photography business is kind of it's own monster and there is not a lot I can compare it to. But lets put it into these terms:
(This might be a stretch but maybe some of you will understand it this way)
You go to a fine restaurant, walk in and order a dessert, it turns out to be the best dessert you have had a little pricey but worth every penny. Then, upon leaving you tell the waiter to go and retrieve the recipe from the chef so that you can take it home and make it. That way you never have to come back to the restaurant again, you can make it as often and as much as you want. You can make it for your family give it to all your friends so they never have to go to that restaurant for dessert. Sure it won't taste the same. It won't be presented the same. The atmosphere while eating it won't be the same. But, after all, you did pay him to create it for you. So, you should be able to enjoy it when, where, and how you please. Do you think in ANY fine restaurant this would go over well? The fact is that you would be chased out and likely banned from the restaurant for having the nerve to assume this was an ok thing for you to do.
With our photography, you are commissioning us to photograph your wedding. You are paying for our ability, education, talent, and the time away from our kids on those valuable Saturdays. You are paying for our dedication. You are paying us for our editing. All this is not free. As much as I love our couples, I can't give them 40-60 hours of my life including a full Saturday away from my children for absolutely nothing. Our wedding commission is for all that work that goes into our weddings. We only shoot around 20 weddings per year. That should be an example of the type of dedication each wedding receives. After all that, if you want to rights to your images that is awesome. And you don't even have to spend $103,000. We will actually let you have a copy of your images to keep and store, etc, when you purchase a wedding album. Yes, that is right. All you have to do is have us create a wedding album for you so that you have the best possible way to present your images and the with the best quality, and you will receive a digital copy of your images. Pretty simple, right.
Does that sound unfair, unjust, or not right to anyone?
If it does, there are dozens of shoot and burn photographers that don't care enough about you or their craft, who will provide you with a disc full of images. Whether or not you like those images is a completely different subject but you will nonetheless have them to do whatever you want with.
I hope this is not offending you as a person wanting to know what we do, a client confused about what we do or another photographer reading our blog as a guide on how guide their own business. This is just my (seth's) thoughts and beliefs on the whole topic.
If you have thoughts, questions, comments about this please voice them. I want to here others thoughts on this because maybe it's not the worlds paradigm that is shifting on this maybe its my own...
One more thought, Desiree and I are not unreasonable heartless people. People who have worked with us know this, so if you have special needs to consider or special requests for things, let us know. We try to accommodate everyone we can within reason.
Thanks for taking time out of the day to read my rant!
'Seth
4 comments:
I get it Seth! You and Desiree are amazing and you're worth every penny you charge and then some.
For reals. I hear you friend!
Recently, I came upon a person who was marketing their photography images by putting on their site something along the lines of: 'I give you all images on disc so you can print them wherever you want. I can't believe that other photographers take advantage of people by doing this. I refuse to do this to my customers. After all, the images are YOURS!'
After I read it, I said out loud, 'Are you kidding me?!' Obviously the photographer either doesn't value their work or is uneducated in the subject of copyrights. Probably both.
Sometimes it's hard for some people to understand that just because an image is OF you doesn't mean that you own it. The person who created the image is the owner. It has helped me in the past (trying to explain this to people having a hard time understanding) to look at a painter. If a painter were to hand stroke your portrait, would you try to claim that you own that piece of art?
You are spot on about commercial photographers. I'd change what I document if buildings talked back....
This is an important topic. We hired you and Desiree go provide an artistic/photographic memory of our day. It would be ridiculous to ask for anything more than the photos and time that you gave. I didn't create the images - you did. My wedding was simply the subject of the photographs. I wouldn't even know where to start on lighting, composition, or any of the other million technical and creative aspects that go into beautiful pictures.
Your prices are very reasonable. You and Des are amazing artists.
You and Desiree photographed my wedding almost 8 years ago... Those photos are not just pictures. You turned my special day into art. It's obvious when looking at them how much time was put into them. My pictures still amaze me 8 years later. The wedding album you put together is breath taking. I still get compliments on it. It is truely one of a kind. I completely understand that I do not own the rights to these pictures, to YOUR works of art. I think some people think that they are paying for the end result -the pictures- and not for the work that goes into creating them.
I think you both are so talented, and I continue to love looking at your work!
~Shawna (Passey) Jennings
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