As the photography industry has evolved from film to digital photographers have been rapidly losing control over the usage of their images. In the day of film, a photographer need only retain the negatives – or sell them at a premium. When we lived on Maui, wedding photographers would literally ask their couples “which of these negatives do you want to buy” and then either sharpie or hole punch out the remaining images. Pretty brutal and left a bad taste with the couples. When Chad and I were married, digital hadn’t emerged and we purchased our negatives and our photographer had a contract with us allowing us to get our own prints. We thought that was awesome freedom back then.
With digital and social media I don’t have to spell it out how it’s busted open the sharing scene for both positive and negative – the double edged sword. You can see on the forums so many discussions about this subject all over the place and there is much disagreement within the photography industry how it should be handled and there are pros and cons to both.
However, this post isn’t about files while it is the true root of the issue. What has grown from this root issue is a blossoming garden or gnarly jungle depending on which side of the fence you’re on. For those concerned about selling prints to their clients – that used to be ‘it.’ Unique and high end products like canvases, acrylic prints, metallic prints, wall collage systems, albums, books, photo boxes, greeting cards, photo jewelry, photo cube displays etc…. all used to be available only through a photography studio through an exclusive lab that only served professional photographers. Then photographers were like ‘phew, well… who cares about prints …. at least I can sell specialty items that are hand made or high end etc….’
Of course, see a need > fill a need. Labs and bookbinders know that ‘the public’ wants to be able to order their own stuff at a lesser cost and are looking for ways to bypass their photographer. It’s merely the open opportunity provided by the photographer’s who have chosen that they are comfortable with providing their files to their clients – either by selling them, or including them in the package contracted price. Give them what they want right? However, the cumulative effect of this is that in your home town market the photographers who want to provide files VS the ones that wish to retain their files becomes a real battle to compete for business. That you know already no matter what side you’re on. We’re not here saying there is a right or wrong – just there is always a consequence for action.
The internet fills up with labs that begin now offering not only prints…. but literally EVERYTHING that could be considered a specialty photographic product – to the public. Greeting cards, canvases, metallic prints, hand-crafted framed prints, dog tags, accordion books, photo mugs, calendars, t-shirts, standouts, flush mount albums, press-printed album etc.. are very common place now. What once was exclusive is no longer.
Before you think ‘oh, but it’s lesser quality … I can push that concept and still sell mine for higher’ …. well, not necessarily true in some respects, but in many absolutely – it’s horrible quality and can’t be compared to what you could provide to your customers. How do you prove to your customers that is the case though? They just want what they want …. and now.
It would take some concerted effort and money to start buying product up from different places and comparing on quality sake to have on hand in studio to show apples to apples. That could be an idea though – show them how the edges are finished properly, show them the print quality difference, the materials difference, the bindery difference. EDUCATE your customers. No, it isn’t easy and in some cases could be very tough these days with a narrowing gap on technology and access to similar products — or products that are actually made at the same place but rebranded.
Goes back to the old ‘big box store’ vs the ‘craftsman’ again. Mass production vs hand made. The stuff that is publicly offered is on a fast track for fast production. Differentiation comes from the hand and the love. Why do you think ETSY is so popular? Authenticity, relationship, hopefully quality … and a STORY, a soul.
So you sigh … and the still-professional only labs and bookbinders sigh…. and say “ok great, well… we can differentiate ourselves by continuing to offer more unique products, harder to get materials, better fine art papers…oh, and hey, our stuff is made here in the USA, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Canada or England etc…. and we treat our employees well too ….. and we’re environmentally conscious ….” right? Those are all great things. Is it enough?
And/or …. they split their business model and start offering to both sides: photographer AND public.
Now it’s getting messier. They are making out … and you’re still clambering for sales.
It’s not just labs – while most album companies are totally loyal to the photography industry still… guess what. Not necessarily.
They can vet the companies that contact them carefully before giving them access to their pricing and products – and this is super critical for this industry. After all, all other industries have wholesale VS retail – fashion, the parts that your car dealership uses during servicing, the organic farmers’ market … EVERYTHING. Business is business, people need to make a living to pay the bills and take care of their families and societal responsibilities.
What about the companies that SELL to the public …. through their own company (ie. fictional name example “Awesome Albums & Design”)….. from these ‘for professionals only’ products ?! They are totally out there and I’ve seen them. Frankly, as an album designer they are my competition too just as much as yours as a photographer. I have seen recognizable HIGH END ‘for professionals only’ albums being sold through companies like this, with your files….. for wholesale cost. Now, we know reputable bookbinders DO vet carefully before granting access to their pricing and products so some sneakiness on the part of the applicant must be occurring. We can cry ‘you unethical beast’ to the applicant all we want…. but it’s this day and age we live in. Interestingly, you can never find who runs the company on the ‘about us’ page either. They probably don’t think there is anything wrong with what they are doing because it’s not their problem to confirm contracts or tiptoe around copyrights – they are merely filling an order.
Contract or not, once files are in someone’s hands… and they have access to a company that offers everything they want, for less… where does that leave you in today’s photography market.
Where’s the silver lining?
The fire in the belly of the creative spirit. The big picture means it’s leading to some new stuff, something the Jones’ haven’t thought of and aren’t offering yet. Also, photographers should promote and appreciate the labs and bookbinders that retain strict vetting processes and really respect the art AND industry of the photographer and the photography business. We need to look harder for the things that reputable companies are keeping ‘unique’ apart from their public lines. No matter how small. On the forums it always boils down to the image being the art. Absolutely YES this is the true heart of the industry. We need to protect the art in the photography industry and the professionalism to their most innovative and passionate potential. Set apart the WOW from another FB 1 seccond ‘like.’
Here’s one example.
The little ‘thumbnail box’ wooden box that holds prints.
In my enews list I saw the Miller’s little wood “thumbprint photo box” ….. and then today, I saw that same little wood box AGAIN from their child company – MPIX. As you probably know, Millers is the pro-lab … and MPIX is their for the public arm. Both offer quality products and they do a great job servicing, well, everyone. Here’s the nugget: YES that same little wooden thumbprint photo box is the same box and is offered to two different markets. I need to look closer… my brain is churning. There is a wee difference! The MPIX box has an mpix logo on the lid. The Miller’s box lid has a printed photo on it. Miller’s also offers the same box larger as a custom album box – their public arm doesn’t offer that. Before you say to yourself, Karen, you’ve had too many late nights at the computer and snuck in too many chocolates over the holidays… you’ve officially gone insane. However – this little lid gives me hope. It tells me that SOME companies do care about the photographer still and are trying to keep some features sacred and special for YOU still.
Looking deeper, Miller’s offers flush mount albums with ‘new for 2015″ luxury cover materials being launched …. compared to MPIX their public arm offers books too, but perhaps not their luxury leathers AND looks like their photo album has a wider split in the center line that you wouldn’t get in the pro-line Signature flush. Their other album is a simple soft cover book – probably much like you’d find elsewhere economically online. If I had more time I’m sure I could hunt down many more comparison examples. Perhaps another post.
As if this post couldn’t get any longer, I started wondering to myself “what other labs have a retail VS professional wholesale arm” … within seconds I find Bay Photo lab who is a much beloved and reputable lab amongst many photographers …. and their ‘Retail Entrance‘ vs ‘Professional Entrance‘ to their website is right there in plain view. I click on both to compare and on the surface I’m not finding any difference of offerings. Perhaps it’s merely price? Comparing a Kingston 10×10 standard cover 30ps album on both websites … it’s the same price. Having two sides to their lab has not hurt them as they are very successful and deliver fantastic quality products.
WHCC is another example of a popular lab that produces products a huge variety of desirable products purchased by professional studios to resell to their customers. However, have you noticed that their pricing is open for public viewing? Sure, you need an account to order from them…. but savvy customers can dig around and ascertain your wholesale pricing. Granted a sensible person SHOULD understand that retail pricing is higher than wholesale and includes many other factors, time, design, your unique images, service in selections etc. However, these numbers used to be more off the map in the recent past. To become a client of WHCC… doesn’t look like you need to be a professional photo studio… We can get miffed… or we can understand they are just diversifying their market to sell more goods and keep their staff employed.
Other labs like ProDpi still have on their contact form that they only serve professional photographic business and studios – and to contact your photographer and order through them. Thank you ProDpi !
Album companies like Finao only sell to professional photographers and are endlessly seeking for cutting edge ways to help the photographer stand out amongst the crowd. They even have exclusive one-of-a-kind materials that can’t be found anywhere else. Additionally, they have a brand new ‘Friends with Benefits’ program for their loyal photographers with all kinds of discounts and product rewards! Thank you Finao!
There are many labs and bookbinders – and photographer post-production service providers like us at HAPPYFISH that still serve professional photographers with the respect that they deserve. Let’s face it, we’re in this industry because it is our passion and our life. Why would we want to purposely hurt our own ability to do what we love – and make a living doing it? We support integrity, each other, promote creative innovated ideas to keep the industry moving forward in a healthy direction.
For 10 years HAPPYFISH has served the photographer, not the public. We do get inquiries from happy couples as you can imagine. We reply with congratulations and a clear message that we can NOT work with them without direct signed release from their photographer. Perhaps we’ll even call them too to talk in person! OR… we’re happy to be contacted by their photographer and we’d love to meet them and work with them instead. I can tell you that 98% of the time, they vanish. They are truly just looking to get a better deal than what their photographer is offering. There has been a rare few times where we have a photographer who has happily given us the blessing and privilege to service their customers – and we have with 100% satisfaction from both parties. Sure we lose a TON of ‘public’ business, but we sleep great at night because we know that we’re true to this industry and we’re not pulling a fast one behind our photographers backs.
I challenge you to ask your vendors “What are you doing to support photographers ability to sell unique “not available to the public” products this year?”
WHAT’S THE BOTTOM LINE?
Your images are more valuable now than ever. You no longer can set yourself apart through product for product sake… but you can through the artistry, quality and creativity of your images. The summit of digital photography exploded in photographers offering their files up in their packages. My prediction is that like the portrait photographer is still predominantly doing – more wedding photographers are going to stop releasing their files to their clients again. Some offer files at a high premium fee and/or contingent on a certain amount of product sales per client upon release. In fact, some high end photographers are simply NOT releasing their ‘files’ at all anymore. The focus is a paradigm shift from FILE to IMAGE – the art. The client is hiring the photographer for the art – the finished piece whether it be a large framed print or metallic standout… whatever it is… THAT is the end product. So there is still product being sold but the value is in the image/moment/emotion captured. It is like someone commissioning an oil painting and expecting to receive any preliminary sketches or such artist methodologies to be included in the sale also. Will the public happily accept not having a chance at receiving the ‘files’? Doubtfully without a fight amongst the masses – however, at the high end of the scale exclusivity is all the more appealing. Will be interesting to see what the next decade brings.
Ultimately YOU are the DIFFERENCE. Sure, anyone can buy a canvas wrap today – but is the image as stirring, beautiful or extraordinary as you would have shot it? Are the stories told in your album designs as poignant as they can be?
HappyFish will work WITH you to set you apart.
public labs, pro labs, albums, wall art, wooden boxes, photography studio sales challenges
