Not only have I been a victim of someone editing out my watermark and not paying for the package but I’ve been seeing people ask for Santa photos for cheaper than $20?
Why is this normal ? I don’t understand how someone can want a professional photographer with exspensive equipment and high quality skill to take time out their schedule to not only shoot the photos but edit and proof them. If that’s not worth at least $50 then why not just get creative with that iPhone you dropped $1k on ?
Just saw a girl on a Facebook photo group that wants a photoshoot for her 30th bday. She wants pics of her getting ready, out to dinner, and shots of her and her girlfriends out at bars. Wants it done TFP 🤦
because people no longer value photography. It really died when the iPhone came out.
That’s why I don’t understand why they don’t just use their iPhone since it’s “basically the same thing”
People will ask for anything… this will never stop. Prepare yourself with either a canned denial response, or a block & forget.
You also have to remember that there are a limitless number of people who have a camera and some skill who will do it as a favour or for the cudos of being published etc that either don’t charge or only charge a token amount. This drives overall prices down because even when someone is prepared to pay a photographer the rates they can charge are forced down. You charge what? well theres this guy who’s nearly but not quite as good or experienced than you doing it for half. He’s doing it for half because his competition is the brides niece who did a photography course as school and is really artistic. Not to mention that if its an event and one person lucks out and takes a great photo with their phone, suddenly they are better than the pro who churned out several hundred photos and missed the one because they had to shoot something else.
Slap your watermark as a pattern all over the photo like they do with school photos
In the late 1990’s, I worked for a stock photography house doing Photoshop editing work. Average sale per licensed image = $800. This was before the age of Royalty Free images and Microstock. Yes, $800 was a premium amount of money to spend on an image, but the images were top notch, and everybody was happy including the buyers. A few things happened since then. Royalty free imagery (very cheap) came about. Film went away in favor of digital capture (more shots available, more photographers in the market). And the web became the primary vehicle. Cultural expectations (for cheap photography, or cheap anything) naturally followed.
You pay peanuts, you get monkeys, as they say.
It would be fun to troll them back.
“Thank you for your enquiry. As you intend to get married at a church, the weather (sunny, cloudy, rainy,) will determine the equipment to be used, as well as the use or not of off-camera flash; similarly, it may be necessary to use a high ISO, necessitating the correct use of noise reduction later. Depending on various other factors, a wide angle zoom lens may be suitable, or, for other shots, a moderate tele lens. However, as you just offered an insulting amount of money for this service, I suggest you get your phone out and do it yourself. Sincerely…”
Because so many people feel entitled to lots of things they didn’t earn or pay for. It’s not just photos.
“it’s just like a button press for you, just do it for me”
A lot of photographers suck. suck at everything. It is an oversaturated market. photography isn’t viewed as a very professional or skilled profession by people like me, with disposable income and who have paid premiums, seen their friends pay premiums, and have coworkers and acquaintances pay premiums because it’s basically a major roll of the dice if you’ll get someone competent, someone available when you need them, and someone who is great but isn’t leaving the field between now and the event.
As shallow as that all sounds, the reality at least for me and my circle is that the hobbiests in the group are way better. Period. By no measure or exception has a professional ever out done them. If you are thinking of a reason, I don’t know what you’re thinking because it’s a period. This causes all of us to push people to never hire out and turn to people who are their social circle and basically trust and reward.
I now put 2 watermarks
1 that’s slightly obvious in the corner and then another really faint across foliage or something so it can’t easily be removed without screwing with the photo
in my opinion if i pay for photos, why should i have a watermark on them??
We send proof galleries so that customers can select which photos they are purchasing. We don’t get paid until they get their final product, so to avoid paying at all people will take the photos that were only meant for proofing
Because everyone has a phone, and people can’t understand the difference between taking a phone picture and a professional picture. If phones could do simple plumbing, no one would want to pay plumbers for advanced work either.
My phone can help me do plumbing, I go on YouTube spend time learning how to do it, then figure out where and what material to source, and go into DIY mode, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t… A seasoned pro doesn’t have to muck around as much.
If they can’t tell the difference then… do it yourself?
They don’t understand what a professional photographer does. Everyone has the ability to take photos now.
If they don’t understand then why are seeking photographers in the first place? Because photographers are offering something you can’t do yourself!!!
“I have a smart phone. I take photos. No one pays me to take a photo. Why should I pay you just cause you have a fancy camera?”
That’s basically why… everyone thinks they’re a photographer and it’s just the camera that makes the photo, all the photos they’ve ever taken have just required holding the camera and pressing the button… they don’t know what goes into a good photo.
So then why don’t they just take the photos themselves :/// the hell you even talking to me forrrr
But you’ve got the nice camera…
A real professional won’t charge that low and anyone wanting photos for that cheap won’t receive professional images is the reality…