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Buying new equipment or waiting to see what happens
rcrjphotos
Registered Users Posts: 20 Big grins
I have been contemplating buying the Canon Mark II for portraits. What's stopping me? It's the slowdown of our photography business. Not sure what's happening here. I can't believe that cell phone cameras are the real culprit. Is my work totally outdated? Do I have too many indoor studio samples on my website? My guess it's the over abundance of photographers coming out of the woodwork. I have done my best to remain positive. Am I the only one with these concerns.
San Antonio Portraits
http://www.richardsphotography.com
Photography San Antonio
http://photographysanantonio.weebly.com
http://www.richardsphotography.com
Photography San Antonio
http://photographysanantonio.weebly.com
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What have you tried to stir up and drive new business your way?
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
Well, not a whole lot except create articles and submit them to directories. I'm trying to get my site back up in the higher ranking of Google. I post Facebook and Twitter. Not sure this is effective or not. Do you have any suggestions?
http://www.richardsphotography.com
Photography San Antonio
http://photographysanantonio.weebly.com
Is that the 5DMk2 or 1DMk2? What are you using now? Body, lenses, lights.
Probably not.
Honestly, yes.
No. But your site is difficult to read, difficult to navigate, the presented photos are very small so it's hard to get a real sense of them, and the first photo that popped up when I visited was horribly out of focus. If I were in a major market, these things would likely cause me to move on and look for someone else.
Over abundance? Probably not. Competitive photographers doing good work... likely. It's a competitive environment out there. Standing someone 3ft in front of a blue background and shooting F11 just isn't going to cut it these days. Obviously fake backgrounds are not what is selling. Outdoor portraits that aren't clean and well retouched aren't going to sell. People have way too many choices these days to accept that kind of work.
You are certainly not the only one with these kinds of concerns. The question is, what are you doing to stay competitve? What has your investment been in your gear and your skills? What workshops are you attending? What skills are you honing week to week or month to month? Are you doing composites? Are you staying current on Photoshop or other retouching tools? Offering a variety of muslins and props for the indoor shoots? How are you pushing your creativity?
If you are shooting the same shots you were 10 years, 5 years, or even 1 year ago, you need to update and push on. If you solely do portraits, then I would suggest the following in your portfoliuo at a minu=imum:
1. Solid high key shot
2. Solid low key shot
3. Shot with a built up set
4. Outdoor shot in a serene setting
5. Outdoor shot in an urban setting
6. Couples
7. Seniors
8. Baby
9. Athlete
10. Composite
11. Complex couple pose
12. Corporate portrait
Every one of these should be well lit, well composed, sharp, colorful, and well presented. They need to be large enough to show details such as makeup and retouching. The need to be presented in such a way as to let the viewer dictate when the image advances, not the site.
Please understand that I say all this only to try to offer real advice and not as harsh critique. I hope you take it in the spirit intended.
perroneford@ptfphoto.com
I checked your dgrin profile to see your gear and the crack about high school girls is outdated too. As is your gear. So are CDROMs.
Sorry to be blunt but like Perroneford above I mean to be helpful. I agree with every word he says.
My advice is to spend a few hours browsing smugmug to see what other photographers are doing in the markets you address. Spend a few more hours thinking about your customers and how they are changing too. It looks like you operate in a very traditional Texan demographic but they are changing too. Can you adapt? I sure hope so. There is a place for professional photographers in your chosen markets for many years yet.
Wow, I just saw that. Unreal. Hopefully the customers NEVER see that or anything like it.
perroneford@ptfphoto.com
Um, yeah.
http://nikonic1.smugmug.com/
An "accurate" reproduction of a scene and a good photograph are often two different things.
Will a new camera improver your work or bottom line?
Answer: No.
Involved answer:
Your problems to me appear to stem from approach and style. This isn't something a new camera will fix.
You could be shooting a 1DX or a 10D and the client wouldn't know the difference nor would the pics look any different to them.
We don't do seniors work in OZ but when I look at a lot of what is done in the US, I am usually blown away with it. Unfortunately That wasn't the case with what I saw on your Vids and I was too bored to watch to the end. Perhaps your potential clients might be too and if that is the case, then you have a lot of things to work on before you go worrying about a new camera.
You website needs a major refresh, did you do the HTML yourself? And you do need to keep an open mind about new styles of photography. Spending some time contributing and following the "people" forum here would be a great start, it has helped me a lot and continue to see fresh ideas.
If you are losing the business, then who is gaining it? You should check around to your competition, look at their sites, pricing, and body of work and see how you compare.
Jarboe Doggart Photography - jarboedoggart.com
Jarboe Doggart Photography - jarboedoggart.com
Sorry to say but the copy is some of the worst I have ever read. Every single piece was negative and dwelled on what other photographers do wrong.
One section repeatedly talks about what the studio does " If people are a little heavy" The boudoir section is a a textbook example of how to turn customers away screaming. Telling the reader there are photographers out there with not so good intentions and not to shoot at a hotel. Then the readers is told to look up other Boudoir photographers for ideas of styles and poses!
Seriously??? Telling your customers to go look at other sites and peoples work, sending them away from your own? Wow.
Then the blurb goes on about the possibility of Humiliating and unpleasant experiences with other shooters. This does nothing to inspire confidence in you or build trust and rapport! It just adds to their nervousness.
Looking at the sample shots and having done this work for 20 odd years, I can say that what is shown would fall far short of impressing any client I have ever had.
To me its clear the shots were selected by a male and a male that has no idea what women really want in this type of work. A female would have a fit at most of those shots and would never pay to own them. Might pay for them never to see daylight again but.....
There are a lot of gramatical errors in the different chapters which is off putting to anyone and severely undermines a businesses credibility. I saw things like a "prise" ( surprise) and " Shots taken from the "waste" up" Then there was this Gem " Look online or through some photography websites for the most creative engagement images you can find and the contact the photographer whose work appeals to you."
I had to look if I was viewing a photographers business web site or a bridal directory where I suspect this line was lifted from. Don't go telling people to go look at other shooters work, they will of course do that, but constantly telling them only creates the impression you are not confident in your own, maybe don't even want their business. It does not give the client any rapport with you or make them want to go with you because they thing you are honest. It's just amateur and counter productive.
I tell clients to go look at other peoples work all the time because I'm a cocky SOB and know how to make it work for me but that said, I would never tell them to do it on my web site where I can't get a feel for their emotions or vary the timing for best effect.
A website has one purpose and one purpose only.
To make the phone ring.
Telling people on the site to go look at someone elses work is counter productive to that outcome and goal.
Every part of the site talks about "we" and "us" with barely a passing mention of the client other than to concede they might be still reading. Emotional involvement is a 1 out of 10 but only in how the copy works to scare them away them rather than positively involve them at all.
Sorry if this seems harsh but blowing sunshine up your nether regions isn't going to help with the problem of downturn in business that obviously is concerning you enough to write about. A friend m and I have a saying about being too close to the fire which basically means we often overlook the blindingly obvious in our own business which is screamingly apparent to anyone else.
He's a chef and has a restaurant and it's amazing what I as a photographer can point out to him that he misses and what he points out to me that leaves me embarrassed that I didn't pick up on.
Sometimes ( often in my case) a person needs someone to give it to them straight in order to wake themselves up to what they become blinded to.
Whatever you do DON'T buy a new camera, spend the money on having your site re done at least in the copy by someone that knows how to write sales copy. That's probably not a web designer, they are great at making pretty websites but if they happen to sell anything, that's a bonus.
Go to someone that specialises in writing Sales copy. Even if your pictures are not cutting edge, if you can convince the client they are and get them emotionally involved and build a rapport with them, your sales will go through the roof to what they are now.
Better still, take the money you were going to spend on a camera and go enrol yourself in some business, sales, advertising or marketing courses so you know what you are doing with every part of your business. I strongly suspect that your personal sales pitch when talking to people could be as off as your website blurb so if you can fix that, the positive impact on your business will be a million times better than buying a new camera to use with clients you haven't got.
Going to the original question, no, the downturn in your business is not because of phone cams or weekend warriors, it's because your site has virtually zero marketing value and possibly is a detriment at this time. I think the status of your pics has been well covered but combining that with what is honestly terrible copywriting, There would be something wrong if your business wasn't falling off.
You need to get your website in order but as that is ( should) only be a part of your marketing, get a marketing person/ copy writer to make over everything else as far as brochures, advertisements, offers.... everything you put out for the public to see.
I think with that done you won't be asking about new cameras, You'll be buying them out of necessity because the old one has been worn out!
I pulled the EXIF data from a couple of the photos. One read:
ISO 125
f/7.1
ss. 1/40 (that is not a typo)
Most have soft glow. All look pretty bad when viewed in full screen, and those slide shows...
So better... but a ways to go yet.
perroneford@ptfphoto.com
The copy is pretty bad, as others have said.
Also "Richard's Photography" does not sound like a business. It sounds like somebody's hobby site. Want to see Richard's photography? Go here: .... It should be "Richard Rive Photography".
"Boudoir photography – what is boudoir photography? It is type of portrait or photography that involves women or ladies that want to price husbands or boyfriends with sexy type poses wearing lingerie"
Price husbands? What does that mean? Sexy type poses?
You are not a copywriter. Hire that part out. At least.
People read every damn word they can find when they are interested in something and want to buy it. In fact they will look for exactly whatever it is they want to hear.
The copy is SOOOO important on any site and still on a photo site no matter how good the displayed pics may be. While the style of the pics shown atm may not be cutting edge, There are an awful lot of people out there that would think they looked just fine and wouldn't see a problem with them. There are going to be very few people I believe that would look at the info on the site and be motivated to pick up the phone and that's a serious concern.
Getting the copy re done can take a week or less and it will sell not only the pics but the studio just as effectively with the current pics or the one's that may replace them.... in time. In other words the copy is a quick but effective long term fix where shooting new sample pics isn't going to happen near so fast. The copy won't need to be changed however for some time so it's not like money down the drain if it's done asap, quite the opposite.
With the distinct exception of the Boudoir examples, there isn't anything wrong with the pics that's going to scare people away. The style may not be to everyones taste but what style is? Even if a viewer to the site loves what they see, the copy does nothing but give an uneasy feeling and turn people off going any further.
It can't be put subtly, it's an absolute nightmare.
The first page talks about filing and fitting the customers " needs" 3 times in 4 consecutive sentences. On business sites or advertising or promotional material, the thing that appals me the most is when people can't think of anything else to say to sell themselves than filling a customers " XXX Needs" .
It sounds even worse than the done to death over used " quality and service" crap.
The only thing I hate on the net more is zealots that drivel on about " safety" on every DIY/ specific interest site where a person hammers a nail into a bit of wood, or lord forbid anything more involved.
At least the first page is the only one that doesn't tell people to look elsewhere so thats a plus.
On the rest of the site I counted no less than a dozen references to calling, searching on the net or googling other photographers and they were only the direct instructions, there were several more where the implication was made if not directly specified. That's got to hurt the amount of people ringing even to enquire further let alone anything else.
Changing a photographic style takes time but changing on the copy on a website takes none at all.
Spend the money and have it done yesterday and that alone will make a huge difference to your booking rate straight off.
I would also find some people to do shoots with and give pictures in exchange for their time so you can get some new sample images. Just take down the Boudoir pics all together for the time being. You'd be better off with copy alone than showing what you have now.
As you are a husband and wife team, involve your wife a lot more in that side of things because she will understand what women really want and clearly you haven't got the first clue. It took me an awful long time to come near having the faintest idea but now I have an inkling, I can tell you categorically it is not about the pictures.
I hope you don't take anything said the wrong way, it's all an honest attempt to try and help you by pointing out what many of us would be too close to the fire to see. Your clients will see it like a glaring beacon however and unlike us here, will never say a thing or mention it to you.
They will simply do as you said and go look and book elsewhere.