I almost fell off my seat when I got my deal-of-the-day email from one of those companies sending you deals on products, services, destinations, etc. Today’s deal was from someone who claimed to be a photographer and has offered a 50% off on his/her services (I am trying to be vague about that so-called photographer’s identity). The final deal price was 149aed or around $40 for 2 hours with prints!!! Which meant that his/her hourly rate was only 149aed and his/her regular price for 2 hours was just 300aed. Are you kidding me?!
I felt sad when I saw this email. That person has made photography so cheap and is also dragging all good photographers down. For me, photography is an art and like any other artwork, it involves time, talent and passion. Owning a camera doesn’t mean you are already a photographer. This is now a common misconception nowadays since SLR cameras has become so affordable. People think if they have one and they can shoot, they can classify themselves as photographers. What they do not know yet is that to be a real photographer, like any other artists, your talent is either inborn or developed by constant practice, determination to improve and education through trainings, workshops or proper courses.
I have nothing against those deal websites because we have also dealt through one of them a few months ago. They are really an effective way to advertise yourself. They bring traffic to your website and you get more likes on Facebook. But they also have pros and cons. If you do not plan your deal wisely, you might end up losing more money more than you think. If you sell a lot of your deals, try and calculate the total amount of money you have spent on marketing. Then you have all these bookings that you are committed to. The assurance also that it will give you more business at a full price is also 50/50. In most of these deal websites, they will indicate how much your original price is and how much the customers will save. We don’t mind if you cut back 75% off your original rate. At least, the viewers will see that your original price was the regular price for good photography and they are really getting a good deal. But if you have indicated a very cheap original price on your photography service, and then cut back more…you have classified yourself cheap and that is also a blow on the photography business.
But the real victims here are the people who will buy the deal. They are people looking for quality at a lower price. What they do not know is that they will not be getting what they want. They will wasting their time and money. The worst part will be if they have bought the deal for an event. If you do not produce good photos during wedding, parties and other events, you do not have another chance to recreate that moment again. Moments past are moments lost. I feel sorry for these people when I hear them say “I should have hired a better photographer” or “wish we met you before”
My plea to all aspiring photographers out there (I am one too, we are on a constant road to progress), do not treat photography as a cheap trick. If you want to have more practice on shooting people and events, then maybe do it for free and tell them if they can be your subjects instead of deceiving people you are already a “pro” and waste their time. Also, join photography groups and forums and find out what is average fee photographers should charge. There are a lot of online materials to help you figure out how much should you charge. Don’t make photography look cheap because it is a form of art…and art will never be cheap!
