"....radiant blur

There's scars in the country

the summer & her

Always the summers are slipping away

find me a way of making it stay..."

-Mike Wilson/ Porcupine Tree/In Absentia: Trains

A Day In A Week In A Life

                    
                                                                     Arrive On Time

                                                                Distant Destination

                                                          Channel Crossing Chariot

Harbor Departure

                                                                         Aloha Maui

                                                                         Under Way

                                                                     Safety Shadow

                                                                  Destination Approach

                                                              Welcoming Committee 

Destination Port

                                                                    Land Chariot

                                                                      Stop For Directions

                                                                       Location Scout

                                                                       Breakfast Stop

                                                                    Breakfast Bowl

                                                                          Top View

                                                                        Off Road

                                                                      Boat Carcass

                                                                      Bigger Boat Carcass

                                                               Limbs Reaching Skyward

                                                                        Sculpture Garden

                                                                             Marine Worms

                                                                               Flotsam

                                                                          Whole Lotta Rocks

                                                                          New Garden

                                                                              Blue Window

                                                                  Back At The Docks

Another Pricing Rant

I was having a discussion with a colleague a week or so ago. We were discussing fees, day rates, licensing issues... At some point during the conversation, I was asked what my basic production fee/day was.  When I explained to  her that it wasn't as easy as that, that many factors go into preparing an estimate to produce photography and went on to explain how I calculate such things, she responded "I wish I could get that. I'm tired of being broke. I think I deserve to be able to afford a new camera.. blah, blah, blah"


My next question to her was "Well, have you tried?"


She responded with a "No".


And there lies the crux of the biscuit, so to speak. if you're not getting what you think you need, deserve, or what the job is worth, it's no one's fault but yours. No one is going to hand you reasonable fee unless you learn to ask for it. Sure, times are tough at the moment all around. We're all taking a hit on the financial end of things. Does that mean we still work, produce our best efforts and then hand them over to a client for amounts that ensure that our mortgages & health care doesn't get paid next month? I admit that it's a problem I face & struggle with daily. We've got to eat, we've got to pay our expenses. To that end, we sometimes find ourselves forced to make deals with the devil to keep on keeping on.


I've said this before & I'll say it again... no one... repeat... no one is going to place a proper value on your work. That's your job. There are many factors that go into placing a proper value on any given assignment. Is the job editorial or is it advertising? How will it be used? Will it appear in print, e-publishing, both? How long does the client feel they need to use the work. Will it be distributed locally, regionally, nationally, internationally. What languages will it appear? What sort of circulation numbers will distribution of the work have? These are all points to consider when figuring out what an assignment is worth in fees & expenses.


So many of the young, up and coming photographer that I meet these days seem to base their pricing on what they think their peers are charging... and then they price themselves slightly lower. That's Walmart pricing strategy... not a sustainable model for a career in photography (or any other creative business).


A case in point is a publication right here on the Valley Isle. I won't name any names here, but the magazine is slick, well-designed, decent editorial content.... yet their standard editorial rate for photography starts around $200/day including web publishing use in perpetuity. Many of the young bucks in our creative community will jump at that chance to get published for paltry fees citing the "exposure" of being published in the mag as payment enough. On one hand, I don't completely disagree with them. On the other, one has to ask oneself at what point does one begin suffering "economic frostbite" from such exposure. I won't work for the standard editorial rates that this publication offers, yet they still hand me assignments on a consistent basis. Have you asked for more? Word... they will pay if your work is something they want or need. Recently, this very publication wanted to run a feature on astro-photography from atop the volcanos. The photographer was paid handsomely for his stellar photographs. Why? because they wanted the story and because the photographer demanded reasonable use fees to allow them to publish his work.


So... the point in all this is: hone your skills. Focus on areas of work where your image making excells. Instead of trying to shoot everything and producing mediocre and diluted bodies of work, hone in on what you do best and try to do it better with each new opportunity. Stand your ground when it comes to negotiating fees for both advertising assignments and editorial work. You simply have no power in the negotiating arena until you are prepared to say "NO". And always keep in mind that, and this applies especially to editorial publications, these business are content driven. They need text & images or they have no product to sell to advertisers or subscribers. If we all kept that simple fact forefront in our heads, the industry would not be in the shambles we find ourselves in today.


And drop the Walmart pricing model. Cheaper is not better. I'll bet that you're willing to pay more for organic produce at your local supermarket because you perceive it to have a higher value than the non-organic produce. You know that the farmer put in the extra effort to bring you better, safer and tastier veggies. He prices his produce based on his annual cost of business for running his farm, not by what ACME vegetables is charging. remember, once you get yourself pegged as the photographer willing to work for little, it's very hard, if not impossible to ever cut a better deal in the future.


Here's a little of the thought process that goes into each and every assignment estimate I submit. it's based on my cost of doing business on an annual basis, not on what my fellow photographers are charging for their work. My basic day rate is determined by my annnual overhead. here are some of the things I have to consider:

1. Studio Rent
2. Payroll
3. Retirement Plan
4. Liability Insurance
5. Inland Marine Insurance (equipment coverage)
6. Annual Projected Equipment Purchase/Repair Expenditure Needs
7. Office Supplies
8. Health Insurance
9. Automobile Expenses (car payment, gas, insurance, wear & tear)
10. Postage, Shipping, Delivery
11. Utilities for Office or Studio

Once you've added up these annual expenditures and  any other projected projected annual costs of doing business, then the next step is to calculate the average number of days you expect to work during the year. When I say work, I mean days shooting on site, days or partial days in pre and post production for each assignment, time spent processing images, scouting, etc. Now divide that projected annual overhead expenses by the projected number of working days and you end up with a rough idea of what you need to make on each assignment just to break even. 

Quite frankly, I'd rather spend my time producing work for myself to better build my portfolio to attract better paying assignments that to run around working just as hard for very little payoff. In the end, I know that there will always be another photographer that will knuckle under and take those low-paying assignments. I comfort myself knowing that they have to work five assignments to earn the fee that I will earn in one. And, at the same time, I also know that the assignments I do land are because the client valued my work and was willing to pay for it and not because I was like Walmart and applying the "Beat Any Price" model to my business.

Workin' Week

                                     New Private Banquet Room

                                            Tomato Ginger Bisque

                                     Fresh Prawns from New Caledonia

Here we are again, the start of a new week. The week past ended on a high note with good assignments shooting portfolios for a private/personal trainer and a day spent at the always fabulous Mamas Fish House here on Maui's North Shore. Mamas has added a new private dining/banquet room as well as expanding their regular seating areas. In keeping with the spirit of the place, designer Bill Kohl has salvaged unique machine parts and scraps from the old Paia Sugar Mill to incorporate into both the structural and interior design of the place. Eye-candy everywhere you look! Chef Perry Bateman kept the food to be photographed coming, beautiful as always. He kept my assistant and I well fed too.. one of the more unique offerings I had the chance to sample was was a dish of steamed clams topped with kalua pig & the spicy Korean pickled cabbage dish known as kim chee. Sounds a little weird but let me tell you, this stuff rocked! An unbelievable mix of very compatible flavors & textures... simply delicious!

Now, we begin the week with booking travel... The Island of Lanai on Wednesday for a shoot, travel to & from via the ferry out of Lahaina Harbor. Friday we return to the Big Island for an early morning shoot in Hilo on the east side, then a mad dash across the island, through the volcanoes and over the Saddle Road (deja vu?) to South Kona on the southwest side and a three hour or so drive from Hilo for a shoot at the City of Refuge. Then, another mad dash to the airport to return to Maui on friday evening. Next monday, another ferry excursion to the Island of Molokai for a shoot  which I have received precious few details so far. All in good time, I suppose... and hopefully a little time to shoot stock images on each island between assigned sessions. 

Annie Shoots Keith Richards For Louis Vitton

A great subject, inexpensive portable light with soft umbrella and lots of sumptuous ambient light. God she makes it look easy. It's not.

Artist? Annoyance? Star-Maker? Stalker?

He's been called all of those names and much worse. Ron Galella, legendary American paparazzo, has suffered two highly-publicized legal battles with the late Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis, a broken jaw at the hands of the late Marlon Brando, Mexican jails and a serious ass-whopping by bodyguards of the late Richard Burton.


Love him or hate him, Galella always gets his shot. He's driven, unflinching and still working after nearly fifty years of a career filled with controversy and amazing image making. His celebrity "photojournalism" has appeared over the years in the pages of Time, Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, Vanity Fair, People, Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, New York Times & Life. 


Galella is also a master in the darkroom, producing his own prints in a home lab that have been exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, London's Tate Modern and the Helmut Newton Foundation to name just a few. With six books to his credit, Ron shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon


Tonight, HBO will air the documentary Smash His Camera at 9pm EST/8Pm Central (check your local listings for exact air times in your area). 


You can find a couple of clips from the film included below.


It was only last month that Galella was the victim of his own pioneering "example" when New York based Photographer/Blogger Andrew Hetherington of What's the Jackanory blog fame was assigned by AARP to turn-the-tables on Ron for a feature profile in their membership magazine. Andrew was sent out to capture paparazzi style photos of the legendary Galella to illustrate the story. You can read about the adventure at WTJ? found here.


Tune in tonight to catch Ron in action and decide for yourself... artist or pariah?. In the meantime, here's a trailer & a clip from the film:

Discuss