My look back at the photo biz, 2008
I don’t spend a lot of time looking in the rear view mirror but this time of year presents a good opportunity to reflect. Whether it’s the end of the calendar year or the free time created by the holidays, this is the time I sit and ponder what’s been learned this past year. I’d like to touch on some of the things witnessed and overhead in 2008, including our commercial photography business (Daylight Photo), photojournalism, video, camera gear and wedding / portrait photography.
Commercial Photography
As you may know, commercial photography is what pays my way. The year started with promise: verbal agreements with a number of clients this past January had us very optimistic. In February we began receiving product for a large catalog photography job and our studio was converted into a forest floor…fun stuff. Well, the fun lasted about two weeks before our contact was let go from the company and the job was pulled due to budget cutbacks. After being paid for the sets and the work done to date, the company took the photography in-house. From the start of the year it seemed obvious that retail product companies looked set to have a tougher go of it in ‘08.
The best piece of advice I ever received was “expect the best but prepare for the worst”. I’ve seen many such occurrences over a long career and when tens of thousands of dollars slip through your fingers you just immediately focus on putting your fingers on a new job.
Overall, though, our regular clients really came through for us, across a wide range of industries. All except for the aforementioned consumer products category and, also, one of our most dependable categories: manufacturing. From 2004 to 2007 we were kept busy by companies that built components for manufacturing plants and facilities. 2008 turned eerily quiet, a sudden pullback in the manufacturing sector, it seemed. Now, looking back, some of those companies were closely connected to the auto industry. While headlines didn’t proclaim a problem for the automotive industry until fairly recently, it seems obvious now that cutbacks began a long time ago.
Our studio has managed to finish 2008 strong, though. Really strong. How is this possible in a tanking economy? Well, people seem much more deliberate with their purchases and this applies to photography, also. Where once we heard cries of “cheaper and faster”, now clients are focusing on quality service again, not just inexpensive prices. They recognize that our experience and professional practices are bringing them greater value than much of our competition and they’re thanking us for everything we do. Just when it seemed like the bottom could fall out of the value of photography, the economic downturn has restored a genuine appreciation for quality, at least for the time being. Go figure.
Video Services
After introducing video services to our clients in 2007, we’ve had the opportunity to expand our services in 2008. In the coming year I fully expect that our income will be a 50/50 split between still photography and video.
What prompted the addition of video services? A look at the visual direction of newspapers and online media. Still photographers at newspapers were being given video cameras and told to shoot streaming media. As we’ve watched media migrate from the printed page to the web, video has become more and more accessible to all. By shooting both stills and video our studio has solidified our position with our clients and created another income stream.
Photojournalism
Speaking of newspapers, we’ve seen over 15,000 jobs lost at newspapers in the past year and some of the biggest names in publishing may not make it through another year. So where does this leave photojournalism? Well, we’ve looked at some great photojournalism links here on prophotolife and there are photographers doing wonderful documentary work out there. At one time there were many newspaper internships available to students that could eventually lead to a staff position. Now, I honestly don’t know where graduating photo-j students go to fill out a job application.
Camera Gear
Wow, think about the photo equipment we’ve seen emerge in 2008. There are a handful of 20+ mega pixel DSLRs available now and the least expensive of them, the Canon 5D Mark II, also shoots hi-def 1080i video. All for around $2800.
In 2000 I was shooting with a Nikon D1 that probably sold for $5000 and was 2.7 mega pixels. How would I describe the D1? It was simultaneously amazing and crappy. If you had one you know what I mean. There were focus and color issues, the sensor was a dirt magnet and the batteries lasted about 100 shots. But, wow, it was a DSLR that took all of our Nikon lenses!
Just out of curiosity, I had to compare the professional Nikon D1 against the semi-professional Canon 5D Mark II in terms of cost per megapixel:
In 2000, approximately $1,852 per megapixel
In 2008, approximately $133 per mega pixel
Wedding Photography
My only real connection with wedding photography is as an observer. When friends ask me if I’ll shoot their wedding I always say, “I’ll do it if you ask me…but please don’t ask me”. Plus, I don’t want a qualified wedding shooter to lose a payday. I like to keep an eye on the business of wedding photography, though, because it’s been the fastest growing sector of professional photography for a couple of years now. There’s a new guard replacing the old guard, it seems, and from conversations with friends it seems to me that wedding photography is currently a Tale of Two Cities: it can either be the best of times or the worst of times.
Many of the more established professionals are seeing their businesses slow, either due to the economy or increased competition. And some of the up and comers, shooting at lower prices, are flourishing.
The market ultimately decides what it is willing to pay and if the established professionals are too high then the market will adjust. I do have some concerns with some of what I‘ve seen, though.
Unfortunately, some of the up and comers are highly talented photographers who think a logo and a website constitutes having a business. They may be skirting around income taxes (all such income is taxable, whether it‘s from a business or a hobby), sales taxes and business insurance. That’s not sustainable for the long haul and it artificially deflates the pricing of professional photography. By the time these issues eventually catch up with them there’s another hot new up and comer to take their place. As I always say, if you truly want to make it for the long haul, your best bet is to join a professional photo organization and learn from the shared wisdom of others. We’re all in this together.
In Conclusion
Photography seems to reflect the general trends we’re seeing in the overall economy and business environment. It’s competitive and money is tight so purchases are being made more deliberately. Yes, advertising is sometimes referred to as “selling the sizzle and not the steak”. At the moment our particular clients aren’t saying that, though, instead they’re asking: “where’s the beef?”.
Hey, that’s it for what I’ve seen in 2008. Are there any interesting personal experiences or obvious trends you’ve witnessed this year?
Next Monday I’d like to share what I expect and hope to see in the year ahead.
Jim,
I have spent the last five years running my small studio in addition to a full time occupation in marketing with a large Cleveland, OH based company (think paint). One area that has seen a dramatic shift is in the consumer demand market. As this applies to many segments of photography i.e., Portrait, Wedding, etc., I thought I would share this observation. Trying to be competitive in price, quality and consumer confidence for many years now has really been the driving factor. In 2008 I saw a huge shift to a high volume low margin type of atmosphere where profit on each sale was greatly decreased in order to stay fluid in a strained market relying on volume to sustain us. I think the next few years is going to see a lot more of this especially in the home based studio market. I think in order for many shooters to survive the turmoil I think is still yet to come they are going to have to adapt a little more dynamic business model. A Wedding Photographer may also have to add Senior Portrait work as well as perhaps some local Commercial or even some Photo-J work to their portfolio. While I still believe that quality and reliability will still be the determining factor in those who survive, flexibility will be a key ingredient as well.
Much success in 2009.
Always,
David
Circleville, OH
David, I think your point is right on. What you’re saying has similarities to investing and the value of having a diversified portfolio of holdings (clients), too.
I really like the way Warren Buffett (I think it was him) describes investing with a baseball analogy: you need to hit a mix of singles, doubles and triples in addition to trying to hit the occasional home run. We’re thankful for all of those singles and bunts that help us stay on base. Those little jobs might not generate big numbers but they keep the cash flowing!
This market is definitely changing.
One that I would add to your list is stock photography. It has gone from a market where there were many options, to a market where you either have to make every image for $5 production cost in microstock, or sign on with the last dominant player.
I believe ultimately the market will work itself out, just like the .com stock did a few years ago, and the housing market right now. It’s a painful process. As you said the ones who stay on top are the those that stay flexible, have a positive attitude about this, and see it as an opportunity.
I think the market will sort out along the dimension where production value, availability, dependability matter. That means it will depend on the customer and how educated the customer is. The part of the market that is mostly consumer driven, lacks repeat business, and where the result isn’t used to drive business of its own will remain susceptible to the amateurs who undercut without insurance, taxes, etc. The consumer doesn’t tell the difference in production value, and often we don’t get to educate them, even if they cared. I believe the same will be true for a while in the wedding business, though I think the pendulum will re-center over time. I’m hearing more and more stories where couples get burned because their cheap photographer didn’t deliver any images or had other serious issues. Couples may care enough to add this type of work to an Angie’s list equivalent.
But when it comes to production values, knowing how to shoot in an environment that is increasingly regulated (location permits) and other factors – I think there is still a market and it won’t become a commodity as quickly because just having a DSLR is a much smaller piece of the puzzle.
Similarly on the PJ front, with fewer in-house sources the demand has to be filled from freelancers. But w/ CNN getting burned by citizen reports who are not trained in PJ ethics, I think this is another market that will support people who know what they’re doing. It may not be a full time job, but part of a portfolio.
Jan
Good Day,
I know what you mean about the photo-j student thing, being one myself. I am a photo-illustration and photojournalism double major at KSU in ohio. Working for the stater (daily news paper) is fun, got me involved and made me many friends. But… one needs to realize opportunities. There’s a couple secrets i won’t share, but here’s one i will: Parents will pay for pictures of their children on the football/volleyball/gymnastics meets/games. Just hand out business cards. It usually works.
This is also a reason i decided to take on both — PhotoJ is a real fun thing. you know, get out see the sky, meet new people and so on. But, on one side, you have joe-blow with his iphone uploading things as they happen, on the other side, some news-sources wont take those pictures because of professional ethics.
Also, something i have been doing recently, is shooting bands on site for their facebook/myspace profiles, as well as shots for album booklets on other misc. things. It pays, more in some than other cases, and it is fun.
With the cyberspace growing and growing, i believe there is opportunity everywhere. People need pictures for their myspace. I old pictures from high school sporting events to the respective teams, and those remaining unsold, parents could buy. One just needs to get out of his niche and expand.
Photography will survive. If not in print, in cyberspace. and Nissan will always needs the fancy brochures of their cars with the nice shots. So will dodge and making a dodge look good… well masterpiece.
Kevin Stone
You bring up an interesting point about how educated the customer is, Jan, and how it applies to the consumer market.
Last year we saw small advertising / p.r. agencies springing up left and right. Some of them didn’t understand working with professional photographers and other creatives at all. The ones that are paying attention will have a much better shot at survival, I’d think.
Hey, what happened with CNN and citizen reporters? I’m not familiar with that one.
The specific story I was referring to is from back in October when someone posted on CNN’s iReport that Steve Jobs was rushed to the ER with a heart attack. Apple stock took a big hit. Story turns out to be entirely false. There was talk about an SEC investigation.
Here’s a link to a summary: CNN Citizen.
Now this particular case could be an outright attempt of fraud to manipulate the stock price of a company, rather than just poor judgment.
Either way CNN claims that it has filters that are supposed to weed out poor reporting. But I think it illustrates what can happen when major news outlets try to get content on the cheap by relying on citizen reports rather than trained professionals who adhere to a code of ethics.
Have a few news outlets burn themselves like this, and they may become more careful. Doesn’t mean we’ll go back to the old days, but a more balanced approach, or a new model alltogether.
Because of this incident I’ve pretty much ignored all iReport content since on CNN. Of course I could read it with a big grain of salt, but is it worth the trouble?
Jan
You mentioned video, Jim, and that certainly seems to have gotten a big push this year from Canon, Nikon, and Red. It’ll be interesting to see how it converges with still imagery, particularly from photo/video houses like yours and Vincent Laforet’s.
Another trend I’ve found interesting is things becoming more open as they become more competitive. A lot of folks like yourself are pulling back the curtain, and in the process showing that the real value of a photographer is not being an amateur with a recipe and a frying pan, but a professional who can truly handle anything in the kitchen.
I love this one. A lot of people with a lot of good things to say, as always. The analogy between the value of a photographer and cooking is really great, Matthew; I think it’s very true.
2009, here we come.
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