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Custom commercial pics for $20 a shot

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So the photographer does the shoot and doesn't get paid the $19 if the client doesn't like the images for whatever reason? Sounds like the company is going to rely on amateurs.
 
Pieter12 said:
So the person actually taking the photo gets $5.00 if they're lucky? And has to cover their overhead to boot.
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yes its $5 but its paid to them as a consultant so ...
they get a 1099-MISC which really means after taxes ...
they might have gotten $2.50.
its a fine time to be a product photographer !
 
jnanian said:
yes its $5 but its paid to them as a consultant so ...
they get a 1099-MISC which really means after taxes ...
they might have gotten $2.50.
its a fine time to be a product photographer !
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Now there's post-production where you have to sort out the outtakes on an expensive computer with software. How about the constant upgrading of your camera and computer gear. Having a studio opens up a whole can of worms with other overhead. Maybe it's just easier to drive for Uber?
 
jnanian said:
yes its $5 but its paid to them as a consultant so ...
they get a 1099-MISC which really means after taxes ...
they might have gotten $2.50.
its a fine time to be a product photographer !
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Plus you have to deduct postage to return the product sample you photographed.
 
OP, the world is overloaded with people and with cameras. Things change and we have to adapt to it or die.

IR flash



If you are short on cash and young, try busking...

 
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IDK about uber .. you could pick up a bad person and end up in the morgue
or bella, pepper and freckles could hijack your ride after they make a bank heist... seems a bit risky ...

faberryman said:
Plus you have to deduct postage to return the product sample you photographed.
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i forgot about that, sounds like unless it is a corp account for "catalog" allows for delivery of product the photographer would owe money instead of make money after every shoot..
sounds like the perfect bankrupcy scheme .. sounds like bialystock and bloom part 2 !
 
slackercrurster said:
OP, the world is overloaded with people and with cameras. Things change and we have to adapt to it or die.

IR flash

View attachment 210462

If you are short on cash and young, try busking...

View attachment 210463
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Yep. You gotta adapt. I don't commercial work anymore. Don't expect a living from product work. I don't think the world is overloaded with people with cameras. We need more! Increases the chance of seeing more interesting work and phone cameras helps record bad people doing bad deeds.
 
Mainecoonmaniac said:
Is this part of the new gig economy shooting photos for $20 each?

https://petapixel.com/2018/11/02/ca...offer-pro-ad-photos-for-as-little-as-19-each/
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As a small business owner, we have had need of pictures of our products from time to time. Because, in our area, most/all of the "commercial" photographers have retired, or died. Professional Photographer, today, means "weddings and portraits" in that order, sometimes shot with a handy little cell phone. "Commercial" photographers are very rare and the last time we needed product photos, we shot them :"in house". As to the above ad, I would advise: "look out for hidden costs". As they say, if it is too good to be true, etc., etc. I should add, in photography, as in everything else, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR. And in my life, I too, have found that:"There Ain't No Free Lunch". Someone always pays for it. Most of the time it has been ME.........Regards!
 
Oh, by the way, I am not computer literate; someone please explain what "gig" economy is....Thank You.....
 
Arklatexian said:
Oh, by the way, I am not computer literate; someone please explain what "gig" economy is....Thank You.....
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gig: a job usually for a specified time; especially: an entertainer's engagement
 
Arklatexian said:
Oh, by the way, I am not computer literate; someone please explain what "gig" economy is....Thank You.....
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More generally, how more and more people are being "employed" now - short term contract work, no benefits, no vacation pay, no pensions, no seniority, no right to notice ....
An "eat what you kill" employment market.
 
It appears to be the opposite of 'gig' economy. A gig is if you bring in a photographer, that photographer sets up everything, takes some shots, discusses results, delivers, gets paid and disappears. This appears to be a different business model: set up your studio for a specific subclass of shots, get fed a never ending stream of client requests, produce these shots like on a conveyor belt at minimal cost, clients get to pick shots they want and pay for those. This sounds a lot more like a long term job than typical photographic jobs.

I see the worries of commercial photographers just as I understand the commercial worries of traditional car makers when Henry Ford realized his visions. In case people haven't noticed yet: commercial photography hasn't been "carefully adjust and focus a bellows camera, set and measure lights, expose, develop, enlarge proof sheets" in a long time now. David Hobby, who disrupted professional studio lighting more than anyone else suddenly complains about someone trying to make this process yet more efficient.

The attitude of this "Brad Trent" guy speaks legends, too:
photographers didn't get into THEIR business to help out other new businesses to get off the ground!
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These folks are all in for a major dose of attitude adjustment.
 
it is like a sweat shop scenario ... not a gig scenario.
the gig thing is somethng
that websites like guru.com take care of.
you have a skill and a price and people
who can afford
your services hire you and you do jobs one after another
... and you get paid what is a fair wage.. or
maybe what you want to be paid...
this situation is a guy
who might pay
photographers almost nothing
and then marks it up
to 19$ and then!
(no doubt)
ends up owning the copyrighted images.
in the end he has a
library of stock images he can re-sell
and make back the $5 or 6$
paid to the photographer in no time ...

there is a art consulting group nearby
and they advertise like mad
for photographers and artists
( who scan their paintings and drawings )
to upload their giant scans to their website ..
they have designers and sales agents
selling and printing and hanging giant
canvas and matted and framed beautyprints
to their subscribed clients (who get them changed out
every few months ) .......
they charge the clients thousands
and their artists get royalties of like
10¢/image
same model ...
the consulting company has a beautifully appointed office.
barcelona chairs,
polished granite viewing tables,
million dollar views ...
oh i forgot the artists get paid via 1099-MISC
so taxes aren't removed ahead of time...
 
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First, the article says the photos are $19 to $99. As usual, these articles emphasize the extreme. Maybe $19 if you want 20 shots of some amateur model holding your product, using the same lighting and background. But, even at $99, there will be a lot of compromises. Semi-professional photographers, production line process, models willing to work for TFP, stylists willing to work cheap for the experience and references. These things exist today.
 
John, this does not look like yet another stock photo agency. It is a standardized photo production agency, which feeds a stream of ever similar requests to photographers to do the same picture ad nausea with slightly different subject matter, depending on client. From what I read you get to keep the images you buy without further strings attached.

We have a similar portrait factory here in my place, a friend of mine works there. They offer portraits for ridiculously low amounts, and then try to overcharge customers on extras ("oh, that pic of yours would be nice as 8x10, yes ?"). Since they use standard lighting and streamlined procedures, they can provide product within less than an hour, and if you stick to your original intention to just buy one portrait, pricing pretty much matches what these catalog guys are claiming. It works and they are reaping wads of cash.
 
whew !

thank you for clearing that up for me
i sometimes get lost in petapixel and
am afraid to actually go there
and read .. so i rely on the kindness of strangers
to feed me regurgitated tidbids from the
articles i never read.
makes me feel better that they give the photos
to the client and there is a higher tier of service..
factory portraits/assembly line technique is good
10$ a sheet ! its a total bargain. i worked for a mall portrait studio
years ago and it was like get them in and get them out and
wash rinse repeat ...
i'm glad that the conclusions i came to were unfounded because
i keep thinking of the farmgirls in china getting paid 1$/day
the corporate art people still market me ... im hungry but i eat more than 1 m&m for lunch !
 
When digital photography entered the professional sector, many photographers expected to buy a decent camera and just continue business as usual - at much reduced cost for themselves. It took some years before it became clear, that the reward for increased efficiency could not be reaped only by equipment makers and photographers. The writing was on the wall, that end customer prices would plummet, and I am quite surprised it even lasted that long.

BTW I still remember a forum post I stumbled upon many years ago, which basically went "I just came back from an assignment and all my pics are blurry. I used my 50mm F/1.8 wide open, and now the kid is barely recognizable. Please tell me which time&aperture to set, because my next assignment will be tomorrow!". This is the kind of business which will suffer most from stream lined factory photographers, and I say "good riddance" to that. From looking at his gallery, I don't think one can replace John's work with a factory line, though.
 
My wife owns an optometry practice. She needed some generic photos of people wearing glasses. I was frank with her and I told her that those shots are available for under $10 at a stock website. I still do headshots of employees, interiors and exteriors of the building because they're not available as stock photos. Though I do it to help the bottom line of the practice, I'm not going to take a day off from my paying day job to do the assignment. I was on strike that day so I had time to do it on a weekday. Again, the economics dictate how and when I shoot the job.
 
All of that is irrelevant to photographers who have introduced themselves proactively to appropriate potential clients.

If the client is involved in a real business or a person he/she would like photographed, he/she will work with a photographer he/she has personally met and whose work he/she has seen in person (not just online) and appreciated.

The real world is not coming to an end. That some "photographers" fear and avoid personal contacts is their genetic problem.

The herd is being thinned....a very good thing.
 
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