Tip for Portrait Shooters:
Get them in the studio as inexpensively as possible!
The Big Picture and the Business Thinking Behind it:
Portrait photographers should get customers in their studios at the lowest possible price. Reality: Even if you’re not making a dime, it’s worth getting the client (and certainly family portraits or groups) into the studio…
(let’s talk about this group thing in my next column…)
Back to the philosophy above: Here’s the reason: 1) Even if the customer doesn’t like the images – which, of course, is a consequence of the photographer’s ability and the number of changes produced by the photographer (!) – at least the shooter gets practice and gets samples that another future client may like—so the shoot is never a waste of time—plus it’s not like the old days when you had to spend for film, processing and proofs ;).
No, I have never had anyone not like their photographs – probably because I shoot so many variations and so many images (I showed you one of the ways I direct a session in the last column, and you can read more about that in my books as well).
ANOTHER TIP AND A SHOOT EXAMPLE BEFORE WE GET BACK TO MORE MONEY TALK –
The publisher, Bantom, Dell, Doubleday, hired me to shoot the cover of baseball slugger Darryl Strawberry’s first book. Here is the finished cover (below) which is exactly the way the publisher wanted it (call it the “hero” shot) and which I scanned directly from Amazon.com. FYI - Darryl is an amazing guy - and after the shoot, he and I played basketball on my studio court – yes, he won – he’s 6’ – 6” tall and a killer athlete ;)):
PHOTOGRAPH AND TEXT © GARY BERNSTEIN . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
But I also made shots like this during the session (which I like much better):
PHOTOGRAPH AND TEXT © GARY BERNSTEIN . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
…And here is another variation – a “Derivative” which I am selling – not only to Darryl but to collectors as well:
EDITOR’S NOTE: If you want to see the entire story of the shoot with Darryl Strawberryfrom lighting diagrams, props, and distances, to exposure details to working with the art director, etc., check out Page 128 of Gary’s book The Glamorous World of People Photography – available for purchase soon through Denny Mfg.
REGARDING THE ADDITIONAL IMAGES OF DARRYL (AND EVERYBODY ELSE YOU PHOTOGRAPH) - REMEMBER – YOU CAN’T SELL IT IF YOU DON’T SHOOT IT!
AND JUST FOR THE RECORD, THEY WON’T BUY IT IF THEY DON’T SEE IT!
PHOTOGRAPH AND TEXT © GARY BERNSTEIN . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
YES…I DID KEEP THE BATS. YES, I DID HAVE HIM SIGN THE BATS! ;)
PHOTOGRAPH AND TEXT © GARY BERNSTEIN . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
LET’S GET BACK TO WHAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT…
Here’s the big picture MONEYWISE:
2) Until the client is photographed by you, you are no different than any other photographer out there (we’re all the same – we’re just photographers—there’s a ton of us—always have been and now more than ever before!). But once the subject is in front of your camera and he or she has expended their own tremendous energy and emotion during the session (yes, work your subjects—make them give to you!) to help create very special images—and now only you have those images! Only you can give (rather sell) those images—images that are now so very desired by your client). Now,you ARE different from all the other shooters! You’ve got your clients just where you want them, and those photographs (so desired by your subjects) become a commodity that they can’t BUY anywhere else, and you put a big price tag on those images!
A Rule: They always pay up front – for the shoot and for the prints! That way when they get their images—be it digital or a physical print—they walk out appreciatingthe work. If they don’t pay up front—they walk out scrutinizing the work. Count on it!
SO, GET ‘EM IN FRONT OF YOUR CAMERA!
Some anecdotes from my forthcoming book (of anecdotes ;)):
Anecdote 1:
Did I ever do a shoot for free? Yes, sometimes for charity – but I’m not talking about that. I did a HUGE, big-time client – celebrity shoot for free (maybe THE biggest celebrity ever)! Here’s the situation:
Legendary actor, Robert Wagner (the husband of equally-legendary Natalie Wood) called me one morning (more on this in my book of anecdotes) and asked me to meet him for lunch in Malibu on the set of a movie he was producing with Columbia Pictures and ABC. That’s when he introduced me to his co-star Elizabeth Taylor (a great story goes along with this). He wanted me to make the advertising photographs to market the film—for which I was paid handsomely. The shoot was a success; and Elizabeth’s management loved the shots as well; and her manager asks me if I would agree to come to New York and photograph Elizabeth for the launch of her new perfume Elizabeth Taylor’s Passion FOR FREE* – because the ad agency had already picked a legendary photographer to do the shoot, but ET and her manager liked my work better. The manager said to me “Gary, if you shoot this session like you shot your first session with Elizabeth—you will never regret it for the rest of your life.” I did it. She was right. She continues to be right ;).
*Note – they did not get the right to USE the images for free. So, I did precisely what I am suggesting to you. Capiche? You should be doing precisely the same thing with local commercial clients in your area even if you do it for FREE!
BY THE WAY…ANOTHER TIP…
Getting back to the point of getting them in the studio on the cheap.
My psychology of working with a commercial client is just the opposite (despite the anecdote I just told you):
With a commercial shoot for any client – be it Cartier or the local dog catcher - bill ‘em through the roof right from the gate, and never give up your ownership of the images. I insist they pay estimated expenses up front as well. Further, I do not take a booking (meaning confirm a booking) until the check clears the bank.
If you want to see contracts and the terms and conditions that have always allowed me to control my images (both portrait and commercial), you can find them in my books.
See ya next time. Let me know if there’s anything special you want to talk about.
Best,
