Month: December 2010

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Pricing Your Photography…

Because some people can say it better than I can, I’ll just redirect to to their super posts on the what, why and how of pricing your services…

and
Just remember, if the client wants rock bottom prices, rock bottom customer service and rock bottom quality, they can easily go to a Wal-Mart photo studio. You are a specialty business with a special skill. You can offer personal customer service and high end products. Don’t price yourself to compete with Wal-Mart, because you aren’t competing with Wal-Mart. When your client looks at your photo fifty years from now, they won’t regret the money they spent on it… assuming they are still together fifty years from now, but that’s another story!
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Sometimes Stock Sucks…

I just checked my current sales log to see what images I’ve sold through a stock agency. My most recent sale was a photo of ZZ Top… for $6.10, of which I get 60% of the sale. Yup, I made $3.66 from the sale?!? I need to find out the where/when/who/why of the sale, because that is terrible.

My guess is it sold for some little web banner or some other low-paying usage. Even small printed pics in magazines and newspapers at least sell for a hundred bucks or more. Anyway, not all stock image sales are going to bring in big bucks, but three bucks?!? That sucks!
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The Magaziner?!?

Local photo editor and layout pro Alex Flores turned me on to an interesting blog:

Anytime I find a blog about layout and design, I’m always interested, especially ones that deal with magazines. Since many of my photos ultimately wind up in magazines and newspapers, I know that a good layout can really make my pictures sing! Of course, the flip side of that coin is the fact that a bad layout can make one of my images look pretty blah – even though the photo looked great by itself.
If you plan to shoot for magazines, like I do, you need to understand the importance of layout/design. You need to know how to talk with your editor, art director and layout person. If you are all in sync, the end result will be spectacular! So, start studying up on everything layout-related, like blogs, books, etc…