Well, a lot depends upon what market area you are in. Back then (and we
are talking about in the middle of the worse recession since the great
depression of the 1930's, and one of the areas hardest hit by it) in the
market I was in, the norm was you delivered about 100 proofs, for a
contracted album of 12, hoping that you might get that upped another
dozen which would provide you with a nice profit. The base album was
priced to get the job and you pretty much broke even on it. Of course, I
was not in the upscale market like TV is, you needed to be one of them
yourself or own a brick and mortar studio to break into that. Nowadays
it seems like you contract to deliver a couple hundred images for a big
price, and shoot a thousand or so to get them; but that is only heresay
I have no experience in the current wedding market.
However, most of my commercial work was such that one roll of film and a
half dozen prints was all that was involved. New York ad agencies were
not knocking on my door. On the other hand my policy was the client was
happy, or it got reshot free. Since I could not afford to reshoot a job
for nothing, I worked real hard to make him happy the first time around.
Then the economy improved and I could make a lot more money doing
something else with a lot less effort and minimal worrys. Besides, I do
not have a bullet proof ego, and the need for relentless self promotion
wearied me relentlessly. I do like to think I have a good eye for an image.
One of the things I want to say is that 12 for 12 I mentioned, was for
routine work. Experimental stuff or learning a new technique was more
like 1 for 100, but you did that on your own not for a client. With my
free reshoot policy I was not about to take a job I did not already know
I could do properly. I guess that is what bothers me about those posts
that read something like, "I just took a job shooting a jewery catalog.
Will someone tell me how to shoot jewery. I need the information real
quick".
graywolf
http://www.graywolfphoto.com
"Idiot Proof" <==> "Expert Proof"
-----------------------------------
Rob Studdert wrote:
On 29 Oct 2005 at 0:38, graywolf wrote:
Back in the 80's when I was trying to make a living with my cameras, I
expected to get 1 great shot out of 12 and that all 12 would be salable
(Which is why I hated weddings there were always duds that were not the
photographer's fault, often of critical shots. However, I think
successful wedding photographers were far more controlling than I was
comfortable with). I wonder what the ratio out there is now in this
digital age.
I guess you should also consider how many shots were expected in an average
wedding portfolio back then vs what's expected for the average wedding these
days?
Rob Studdert
HURSTVILLE AUSTRALIA
Tel +61-2-9554-4110
UTC(GMT) +10 Hours
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~distudio/publications/
Pentax user since 1986, PDMLer since 1998
