Category: FAQ
Go big, or go home!! | Wall Portrait Sizing Guide
Chelee May 15, 2012 4:22 pm
I have a 20×30 canvas of my kids displayed in my home studio. It’s the largest print I have so far (bad, bad me…don’t worry, a 30×40 is incoming!) and the funny thing is that no one thinks it’s all that big when they see it. People have guessed it at 16×20! But it’s almost twice that size. And it barely looks large enough in my house.
But when I’m advising someone on what size wall portrait to purchase, the general response that I get is that an 11×14 or 16×20 is the “right” size for a wall portrait. The truth is that it may be the “right”size if you’re putting it on a wall with a lot of other small prints, but it certainly is NOT the “right” size to go over your couch, your bed, your fireplace or any other position that would allow you to “anchor” a wall in your home. My 20×30 looks teeny below the 20 foot ceiling in that part of my home. If you look at the below comparison, you’ll see why. Next time you go through the effort to have beautiful artwork created of your family, take a moment to consider investing in a print larger than you’re used to; I promise you won’t regret it! No one ever complains their images are too big! These are your memories; the bigger the better!!
Template courtesy of Tina Boyd | Photographer.
Top Ten Reasons Digital Photography Isn’t Really Cheaper…
Chelee July 21, 2010 12:17 am
Doesn’t it cost less to be a professional photographer in the digital age?
This is a question I’ve heard frequently the past several years. Some acquaintances and potential clients have commented that they feel profressional photogaphers charge too much because we’re digital…and therefore have no expenses. As someone who’s been working in this business for over six years now, these comments and conversations often leave me perplexed and shaking my head in disbelief. I will admit I’m not the world’s best business person but I can honestly say that after taxes, insurance, licensing, professional services and expenses, I’m not rolling in photography money. Quite the contrary, actually….I’ve always had to reinvest eery penny back into the business to cover one of the many overwhelming expenses. I’ve refused to go into debt for the business, so I’ve had to accumulate equipment and items extremely slowly, sometimes even borrowing from our personal funds when I need equipment.
I can understand where the misconception originated though. I know that when I bought my first digital camera back in 1999 (a 1mp Fuji point-and-shoot with fixed focus) I felt this amazing freedom from the expense of film. Instead of worrying about dollars and cents every time I snapped a shot of one of my kids, I just clicked away with reckless abandon! I only had to worry about filling up the card (which was re-usable of course) and no longer had to consider paying $4+ per roll of film, or $4+ to develop said roll. In fact, our budget was so tight at the time I often saved most of my used rolls all year so I could have them printed at Walmart on Black Friday for $1 per roll! I never actually did the math but I am pretty sure that little $300 camera paid for itself within a few years. When I replaced it with a $750 camera in 2002, and began getting into software and studio lighting, I seriously began to question how much cheaper this all really was going to be long-term.
It turns out I was right to question. As a fully digital professional photographer I can say with certainty that it isn’t cheaper to be a digital photographer than a film photographer. I am sure I could make a good argument that it actually costs more to be a digital photographer. Here are my thoughts:
10. The legal costs of running a business still exist and are the same. Business licensing, legal advice, insurance premiums (which have become quite pricey) and self-employment taxes (30-40% off the top!) don’t change with the media used.
9. The cost of operating and maintaining a vehicle to travel to meetings, sessions and weddings/events is the same as before (and the price of gas can be quite ouch-y in recent years!).
8. Training and education is a considerable expense today, perhaps even moreso in years past. College programs in photography are more difficult to find and can be prohibitively expensive. Workshops have seen an increase in cost in recent years as well. Conventions and professional organization memberships are still great way to learn and grow and membership or attendance fees are still required. The internet has opened up a large supply of free or inexpensive training, however, the accompanying information overload (and weeding the good from the bad) can be daunting. When I graduated high school in 1991, several California State University campuses offered degrees in photography, or at least minors or concentrations. At last check, none do.
7. Digital photographers need computer equipment. As Photoshop requires more and more resources, the cost of keeping up with computer equipment that can handle it increases. Then we have to add in the cost of good displays that will allow us control over how our prints look, external hard drives for back ups, file storage and back ups of file storage. Color calibration hardware (yes, there is hardware for this and yes, it’s pretty important) is another “new” photography expense.
6. Digital photographers need software. Photoshop, Lightroom, Aperture, etc. are pricey and it’s easy to find oneself needing to upgrade every year or two (sometimes we end up upgrading solely to accomodate a camera or computer upgrade when we otherwise wouldn’t have needed to). Then there are plugins for everything from retouching acne to properly upsizing for good large prints. A lot of these we can live without but they are time-savers and allow us to be more productive and keep up with our competition, so we often need them to stay competitive.
5. The costs of lighting equipment is the same. Strobes, reflectors, softboxes, backdrop support systems, wireless triggers…the list goes on. These are fun items to have and use but as with everything else worth having, they come with a price tag and equipment prices are the same for digital photographers.
4. The cost of props and other studio accessories is the same.
3. Studio space…for those who have a studio. Real estate, leases, property taxes, insurance, electricity and more….these costs will remain the same.
2. Camera equipment. Back in the day, camera bodies typically were not as expensive comparatively as they are today and much more technically advanced models weren’t constantly coming out, requiring photographers to upgrade frequently to stay competitive. Good lenses are actually becoming more expensive–we have some amazing lenses available to us today but they come with equally awe-inspiring pricetags!
1. Time. This is a biggie. Digital is faster, right? Maybe not…
a. Many digital photographers spend more time on the digital process than film photographers typically did or do, especially since for a great many digital converts, there is a huge learning curve in the transition (sometimes requiring months or years of practice and training).
b. Digital images from professional grade digital cameras do not come off the camera print-ready but rather require time-consuming processing that must occur in order to have a professionally presentable image.
c. We now not only meet with clients and take phone calls, but we text and e-mail with them as well as spending time setting up online galleries and images for blog, website and Facebook and this often requires resizing the image into multiple crops and formats.
d. Digital photographers quite often also spend quite a bit of time assisting their less-technologically advanced clients, and guiding them through accessing galleries, ordering, etc.
e. In the old days, we’d send off film and proofs would be mailed back. We’d label them and the client would pick them up and we’d get their order a week or so later. We didn’t have to worry that they’d scan the proofs and print them at home on their inkjet printer instead of oredring. These days, it’s common to spend a considerable amount of time working with a client for an order, only to never have it come in and later find out the client somehow printed their proofs instead. This lost time is lost income and the lost order is lost income as well
Sources:
PPA Benchmark Surveys
PPA Profit Center
Starting a Photography Business
Why Does Custom Photography Cost More?
B&H Photo and Video
Amazon.com
