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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Staying Fresh in a Changing Market
Jamey Price, Photographer, Assistant
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Charlotte | NC | USA | Posted: 8:22 AM on 08.13.10 |
->> Well there is a lot more to do than shoot video. And stills aren't dead. Im not a dinosaur but there is absolutely a market for stills and there always will be. That from the mouths of two of the NYTimes and SI editors.
Im still shocked at how few photographers don't utilize social media in all its glory. There is so much you can do and so much free advertising to be had its not even funny.
Whats even more unbelievable is how many people Ive worked with that dont have a website. And they wonder why their business is dying! Get on the boat or drown next to it, people. Twitter. Facebook. Myspace. Wordress. Websites. They are your friends. |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 9:16 AM on 08.13.10 |
->> Almost 25 years ago as I was getting into wedding photography I was told more than once by 'established' photographers around me that wedding photography would be totally dead in 10 years as video made the wedding album obsolete. Needless to say that the wedding industry didn't die and neither did the need for portraits, engagement sessions, family portraits etc.
Video certainly has a place in telling stories and conveying messages. What it lacks (for now anyway) is convince and portability. Moving video from one person to another requires that each person have compatible hardware and data piping. The advancement of smartphones MAY someday address that but for now it isn't there yet. With rumors of the major carriers dumping all you can eat data.... will customers be willing to to pay for those bits and bytes to see Sally marry Sam versus the bandwidth of a photo or two of the couple at the happy event? And will the casual friend really want to dedicate 30 seconds to WATCH a video over glancing 2 or three photos? Video certainly DID take a significant place in weddings but it DIDN'T eliminate the photographer. In a lot of cases both professionals work side by side. To the determent of neither.
As for corporate or business video. Again I'm sure that there are plenty of opportunities for advancing the new medium. But that doesn't mean that the need for stills are going away anytime soon. While I'm sure that they may exist, I am yet to get a DVD annual report, I do however recycle or compost several from the companies that I holds stocks in. All printed, all contain great still photos of their officers and their products or services.
Until such time as paper is replaced by some sort "E-paper" any enjoys large (REALLY LARGE; Global even) the static page and therefore the still image, will have a firm hold in how messages and information is passed.
The exception would be a hybrid where video can be shot at a quality high enough that a video grab would be suitable for a print campaign. We may get there although that opens a whole second set of questions. Will companies be willing to pay for video production when a major portion of the message will be put out via a frame grab?
The bottom line is that we can all put our shovels down and wait to dig our DSLR's graves. |
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Randy Janoski, Photographer
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Washington DC & Nashville | TN | USA | Posted: 9:21 AM on 08.13.10 |
->> Or find a niche by going in the opposite direction. What I mean is when I retired I went back to film and a darkroom for my own pleasure. Now I shoot one, sometimes two portraits (individuals, families, even a few horses)a month and I'm charging in the low-mid four digit price range to shoot and deliver one large (B&W) print. It started by word of mouth and after a year and a half tracking the fact all of these jobs were word of mouth and no one ever looked at my website, I dropped my website this year.
I still get calls for commercial assignments but usually turn them down. Doing what is enjoyable and making a heck of allot of money doing it is just too much fun...for a "retired" guy! |
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Jamey Price, Photographer, Assistant
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Charlotte | NC | USA | Posted: 10:53 AM on 08.13.10 |
->> Randy, that works for now but to be quite frank with you, that is the "older" generation spreading your talent by word of mouth. Im willing to bet your cients are 35 and older. Correct?
Generation X's word of mouth is a facebook share or text message. Hate to say it but I think that your word of mouth advertising will work for a little while but once the baby boomers are gone, if you dont have a website. Facebook page or twitter account, youre not going to make serious money...enough to live on anyway.
But were beating a very well beaten dead horse on this. Im not trying to be mean or blunt in my words but I know for a fact, because I can look at myself in what I want and the way I share things on the net that the future is not in word of mouth but written word on social media. |
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Randy Janoski, Photographer
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Washington DC & Nashville | TN | USA | Posted: 11:29 AM on 08.13.10 |
->> "Randy, that works for now but to be quite frank with you, that is the "older" generation spreading your talent by word of mouth. Im willing to bet your cients are 35 and older. Correct?"
Jamey,
That's exactly correct and the client age is more into the 45-50 range and up. And that age group does not use "Facebook page or twitter account" you're also wrong in thinking that it would dry up once the "baby boomers are gone". The fact is as people age (and more importantly) mature they are leaving the "Facebook page or twitter account" group, and especially so if they are part of the "upward mobility" crowd. My "word of mouth" clients are company presidents, higher executives, politicians etc., the better country club crowd. and that group is continually renewing it's self, it will never dry up.
As far as "serious money" your wrong again, the majority of the people you're courting to do not have serious money. What is serious money to you? To me it starts in the 500K range, I never made serious money during my career but 25+ years of my 35+ years I averaged a 100 to 175K net income a year, and have retired comfortably. My retirement "additional" income from doing this B&W work gives me around 40K a year for "pocket" money.
I don't know how old you are or how much real world experience you have but you views show naivety. |
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PF Bentley, Photographer
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Planet Earth | HI | USA | Posted: 12:03 PM on 08.13.10 |
->> Thank you all for your comments. As I stating in the blog, there are people making money these days shooting photographs of any type. They may have found their "niche" and have tapped into something good.
Expanding your talents is always a good thing as our industry continues to change. It's nice to have income paths not only from photographs, but shooting films and editing too.
We would all love to be a famous sports photographer, working for a famous magazine shooting famous event after event, getting big spreads and making nice money. But you know, those jobs are getting harder to find.
The Web beast and now maybe the iPad beast needs content of all types. Feed the beast and utilize all your talents.
Whatever happens - keep shooting and have fun! |
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Jamey Price, Photographer, Assistant
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Charlotte | NC | USA | Posted: 12:14 PM on 08.13.10 |
->> I am naive. I am young. So what?
Shouldn't my age group be your target market if not now, in the next few years? That means you need to be on social media! That goes for photographers, Videographers, Journalists, Newspapers and TV stations. Anyone with something to sell needs to be aiming at the way of life of today's 'youth' if you want to ride the proverbial wave. |
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Randy Janoski, Photographer
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Washington DC & Nashville | TN | USA | Posted: 12:41 PM on 08.13.10 |
->> "Shouldn't my age group be your target market if not now, in the next few years?"...In a word, no.
But you keep riding your "wave", and best of luck!
Bon Route! |
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Clark Brooks, Photo Editor, Photographer
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Urbana | IL | USA | Posted: 3:01 PM on 08.13.10 |
->> Randy J wrote: "Shouldn't my age group be your target market if not now, in the next few years?"...In a word, no." and "The fact is as people age (and more importantly) mature they are leaving the "Facebook page or twitter account" group, and especially so if they are part of the "upward mobility" crowd."
Jamey - It is a little hard to see now, but in 10 years when 'your' age group starts marrying, having rugrats, pick up a new hobby and finally become entrenched in a career path they will have little time to tweet, facebook and check myspace. There will simply be too many other priorities to warrant being 'connected' 24/7. Your group won't be ripened, matured and ready to harvest by Randy for about 20 years :-)
Randy, IMHO, is succeeding because he has developed a market for his services built on the archaic idea of building personal relationships and servicing his clients. Even today, in the wave of social networking, the 'old fashion'/'analog' networking has always proven to be far more effective.
Now if I were you, I'd cozy up to Randy and learn the secrets of his trade, how he establish his contacts and what he does that earns him well-qualified word of mouth referrals from his target market. You are not going to learn that with any social network other than email or a telephone. In 20 years, Randy might want to 'retire' again and you could be the one sliding gracefully into his shoes earning four figure portrait fees ;-) |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 4:43 PM on 08.13.10 |
->> Gee if the makers of gooey stinky and moldy cheeses had to rely on 'young' people they'd have been out of business ages ago.
BTW Jamie says "I'm willing to bet your clients are 35 and older. Correct?"
Seriously THIRTY-FIVE is the new cutoff?!?!?!? Allow me to respond to that in YOUR generations' language.....
OMG WTF? ROTFLMAO
:) |
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Garrett Hubbard, Photographer
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Washington | D.C. | USA | Posted: 4:59 PM on 08.13.10 |
| ->> PF, thanks for sharing. I always enjoy being inspired by your work and learning from you has always been a pleasure. I will never forget who taught me how to shoot someone "cutting carrots" : ) |
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Jamey Price, Photographer, Assistant
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Charlotte | NC | USA | Posted: 6:22 PM on 08.13.10 |
->> Oh dont be offended :) I meant no disrespect by any of it. Realistically though >35 is the generation before Facebook exploded. You may use it, but not in the same ways as some of my classmates would.
Clearly my point is not quite understood. Each to his own and whatever works for you. More than anything, Im just trying to help! ESPECIALLY if youre in the wedding business. Its 'my' generation that will be the new wedding market now and guess where they share photos stories and things they like... |
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