We don't need prints, just your CF images

[DierkHaasis]

1. Charge them accordingly. Even with hard copies the money they have to spend is not for the material or the hours you put in ATM but the competence and knowledge you acquired over the years.

2. Unless the client pays a real fortune you should hold on to the copyright and make that clear by annotating the files [IPTC]. Never give out your images straight from the camera, always go through the keywording phase.

3. Usually we take several photos if only one picture is expected - and for good reasons. Whatever the client wants, [s]he shouldn't get all the [possible] dreck we took before or after getting to the money shot.

As Doug experienced, asking a good price usually distracts them without really being annoyed at you. Look at it like this: You charge for a portrait session [or event or whatever] and the prints are thrown in as a free goodie. Anybody wants the photos without the prints loses out - same price, less service.

Wrap that in sweet marketing talk and your clients won't be miffed at all but find you highly reasonable and grand.

[ChrisPerry]

This isn't so complicated, it's your business, your images, your art.
What do YOU want to sell? Sell that, and at a price that gives you a profit.

I've shot events for non-profits with the deal being they get the hi-res and I get credit, and they're limited on what they can use the files for. Guess what? They do as they damn well please once they get the get the hi-res files. I make lots of mistakes, but never the same mistake twice.

If you feel comfortable selling the hi-res (retouched or not) then fine - as was suggested you should price them accordingly. If they want it that way, they'll pay. I do that with weddings (hi-res disk alone is the cost of an average album, less the materials cost of an album), event portraiture (reunions, schools, etc - $35/file) I was at $20 but when they told me what they wanted the files for I upped my price.

[DougAxford]

Yup, in our area good plumbers are very expensive and worth it! Don't forget that they charge just like a builder. It's $X per hour, plus X% markup on the materials they use. My accountant still doesn't charge for the ink from his pen. My plumber, mechanic and some others also have a 'shop' charge for misc. materials used. Some people find it PIA, others seem not to care.

My mileage charge sure went up in the past year too. I've had a few complaints and I simply say, "it's $60 to fill my tank now".

To get back to the point: we had another discussion in our office this morning on selling CDs and I feel it's still important to include a proof to make sure that the customer knows what the color & density should look like. I have real concerns that many people are printing these themselves and if they look awful, our reputation is at stake. Any comments??

Doug

[KevinStecyk]

Doug,

I am surprised that in Ontario plumbers are so expensive. In Fort McMurray, I could understand. In Ontario, less so.

With regard to billing for materials, every plumber that I know charges for his direct costs plus markup, as you mention. Similarly, every accountant and lawyer charges for photocopying and the like. But their real value comes from their value added. That is, their skill, experience, equipment and other resources. The plumber doesn't charge you for how many times you use the john. The accountant doesn't charge you if YOU make copies of your returns. And the lawyer doesn't charge you for how many contract copies YOU make. They all charge for their direct costs plus reasonable mark-up, plus their time, experience, skill, and other required resources.

To get back to the main point about customers making copies, do you allow customers to print their own copies?

One partial solution is to keep your direct costs low. Then you encourage customers to simply have you make the prints. You just charge appropriately for your services as outlined above. If a customer takes the electronic image and has it printed at her favorite local printer or at home, then there is not much that can be done.

But more troublesome is when the customer alters the image. If you allow your customers to alter your photos, then you should transfer the copyright to the customer.

In short, there's no easy answer. The digital age has changed the photography business.

Regards,
Kevin

[Alan_Ackoff]

Image files seems to be the standard deliverable these days. Especially for young clients who are computer savvy. There seems to be no point in struggling against it. I say go with the flow.

However, I do shoot raw and I explain that I process all images "by hand". The clients understand that their images are color corrected, sharpened, and cropped. It's included in the pricing.

It pays to educate the clients as much as possible. When my mechanic fixes my car he shows me the parts and explains the work involved--same idea. I often send clients Michael Reichman's Adobe White Paper on transitioning from film to digital. It's available HERE. The paper explains about shooting raw vs. JPEG and much more.

Finally, if you can provide sample prints of sufficient quality, you will probably sell a few prints anyway. It's not unusual for me to sell image files and also receive a print order from the same client.

"...don't criticize what you can't understand,
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command,
Your old road is rapidly aging..." --Bob Dylan

-Alan

[Mike Keller]

I agree with the others about deciding what it's worth financially and coming up with a price. They either pay it or they don't.

One question is "what's high res?" To folks in our business, that's usually 8x10@300, which of course is a lie as well. But to the average consumer, it's probably anything that looks good. So question whether you want to sell them anything bigger than 8x10@300, or perhaps even just 5x7@300. That'll probably look OK on their inkjet printer, and for email etc, but limit them from taking the files and getting great wall art.

[dkphoto1]

I agree with Kevin. The situation differs by locality and aver sophistication of the customer base. here in the National Capital Region, we have a very sophisticated client base and on many of my weddings, there are 3-4 prosumer cameras and dozens of p+s in the hands of the guests. These people are use to handling images. That said, I do run and gun work. BUT, I take the images, back to the studio, batch post process with dxo, edit blinks, and deliver to the customer. I use PANDO to send files up to 5GB over the net.

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