I’m so excited to be partnering up with some incredible professional portrait photographers in what we’re calling a  ”blog carnival”. The goal is to provide our readers with information about all aspects of working with a custom photographer. So here’s the skinny…. read my article below on the advantages of purchasing actual fine art, archival portraits vs. a disc of files, and at the end I’ll provide some info about the next photographer featured and a link to her blog and article. At the end of her article on her blog you’ll see a link to another photographer’s blog and their article and the fun goes on and on… kinda like a carnival without the feeling of motion sickness from being on the tilt-a-whirl for too long after too many candy apples:-)….  Seriously, you will love what you learn, and the photographers… well, they’re just amazing.

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It’s 2011… and it’s definitely a digital age, right?  Our society has infinite capabilities at our fingertips …and the combination of cutting edge technology with todays do-it-yourself attitude has many photographers leaning more towards offering digital collections in addition to custom printed portrait options. I’ll readily admit that I’m one of them.  As a business-owner I’d be foolish not to offer such an option. But… it comes at a price….I’ll share more on that later… First, let me offer  some insight into the whole digital file issue if I may….

So, let me start by asking you wonderful readers a few questions…. raise  your hands in response:-)…..How many of you have photographs from the past 6 months on your computer that you have yet to do anything with? How many of you have photographs from the past year that are on your computer that you haven’t done anything with? How many of you have “planned” on finishing up that cute scrapbook of the kids photos but just haven’t found the time to take them somewhere and get them printed? Or have “planned” on getting the files enlarged somewhere but a.) don’t  know where to get them printed at a decent quality and b.) can’t decide how/where/in what orientation to hang them? Do you see where I’m going here???   Take it from both personal and professional experience… the digital files have a greater likelihood of taking up space on your hard-drive than actually beautifying the space in your home.   And seriously people, why spend your money and time getting ready for a custom portrait session with your family to invest only in digital files that you hope to “get to” someday?!!  Sure, having the files is a good insurance policy but it shouldn’t be the whole she-bang if you know what I mean:-).

Your portraits deserve to be hung on your wall… in your hallway, your living room, your children’s rooms… They deserve to be handed down to your children when they start families of their own- beautifully protected, with proper handling and lots of love…. They deserve to be SEEN… so that when your children grow up they remember seeing those pictures on your wall and they can share those memories with the next generation.  Think back for a minute- can you think of certain photos that were displayed in your house as a kid??    I can- some of them grace the walls of my hallway and every time I walk past them I get a smidgen of nostalgia…

Ok…. onto pricing(cringing in my seat)… this is a topic that brings professional photographers a great deal of angst currently for a couple of reasons. First, there are a great deal of photographers who are fairly new to the business who are more than happy to offer a “shoot and burn” business model of photography- meaning they do your session and then charge a very minimal fee for all the files from your session. Now I cannot speak for those types of businesses at all…. however I will say that the truly professional photographers that I know, the ones who have been in business the longest, the ones who belong to professional organizations, that pay their taxes and have a business license to practice, who invest yearly in workshops/conferences/seminars to become even better than they already are….well.. let’s just say the old shoot and burn isn’t their style. Why you ask? First, and I’m going to be brutally honest here, because shooting a session and burning a cd for say… $250… would more than likely put us out of business. Let me explain… one of the benefits of hiring a custom photographer is that you are able to have a CUSTOM photography experience from start to finish. Should we all start charging $250, for example, for all your files from your session we would need to substantially increase the # of sessions we take on each week to cover the expenses necessary for maintaining a successful custom photography business (quality equipment, lenses, taxes, studio rent/mortgage, advertising, marketing, displays). Increasing our sessions each week means less individual client time, which in turn increases the likelihood of errors, and changes our business model from that of a custom photography studio to one mirroring many department/mall store studios.  Does that make sense?

Reputable custom portrait photographers charge a hefty amount for their digital files because they understand the amount of work that goes into editing each file from that session. When you add up the amount of time it takes to book the client, prepare for the session, shoot the actual session, edit, and process the order, the photographer has spent an average of 12-19 hours on a session. For a more complete breakdown check out this link .  Charging a substantial amount for digital files is not because custom photographers are greedy- its because they understand that to run an actual business requires an actual profit. For most custom photographers the income they bring in is what puts food on the table- its not a fun “hobby” that they do while their kids are napping to make some extra spending money. (Geez, that sounds harsh…. )

They also understand that once the client leaves with files the printing process is out of their control, so should that client opt to go to Walmart to print a photo that ends up looking green and fades in a year its the photographer reputation that stands on the line.  In a business where word of mouth is so important a poorly printed photo can do some serious damage.

I hope this doesn’t come across as defensive or cynical at all…. I’m sure there are some photographers who do offer the shoot and burn style of photography and do decent work. But before you jump on the “really good deal”, I ask that you consider what you are getting…. sometimes you really do get what you pay for.

Lastly, and this is just a little food for thought…. with all the advances in technology we make on a seemingly daily basis, how long do you think CD/DVDs will be around in the future? I would bet a significant amount of money that in 15 years we will have moved way past the days of the DVD. Much like when we made the move from VHS to DVDs we will likely have a new form of data storage- meaning that those files are going to need to be converted to the next best thing.  Maybe it’s just me but I have quite a few home videos on VHS tapes that are still on VHS tapes… just saying….

The digital age comes with many advantages but there’s something to be said about a photograph- an actual, tangible, feel-it-in-your-hands, photograph that will never be outdated, that will never be out of style.  When your son or daughter gets married what would you rather give them on their wedding day- a beautiful canvas print from when they were one years old, or a DVD in a case?

Next up… the lovely and talented Joy Vertz at Shoot the Moon Photography will talk about how to prepare for your viewing and ordering session. Joy is an wonderful photographer with multiple studios in the  Milwaukee area! Take a look at her blog and leave her some blog loving!