Rongnongno Loc: FL

Too many times I see folks adding costs to the business of photography that does not exist.

Old time:
- Camera purchase
- Lens purchase
- Time
- Film purchase
- Film processing
- 'proofing'
- Printing * Note using an external lab was common
- Dedicated processing room
- Cost of doing business

Today:
- Camera purchase
- Lens purchase
- Time
- Film purchase
- Film processing
- 'proofing'
- Chemical print processing
- Imaging software (New)
- Printing * Note: using an external lab for printing is still common
- Dedicated processing room
- Cost of doing business


What is not included:
- Computer(s) and printer(s). The reason for that is that these item are not dedicated to photo processing but used for many other things.

The overall cost for a job has been reduced to almost nothing and so has the time from event to delivery.

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

I agree. The recurring cost of photography is nearly nothing. If you throw in that one has to have a smartphone anyway, the gear cost is nearly nothing.

Proof? My granddaughters are typically broke college students. They are amazing photographers. They avoid print costs and share their work electronically.

They spend nothing on photography and are good at it.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

The longer you read UHH, the more expensive it gets.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

When you mention the "cost of doig the job" I assume you are talking about the business of photography. One of the biggest mistakes photographers make in planning their business, formulating process and profit margins is not separating the cost of sales, from the costs of doig business (overhead) and capital investments.
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The big misconception- kinda oversimplified for the purposes of illustration- goes like this. "It costs let's say $20 to generate a or buy a print for of a particular size so if I sell it for $40. I am making 100% profit" The photographer who calculates lie this is probably losing money. He or she is not factoring in all of the overhead expenses, divided equally over all the sales into the fees or prices. There a long list- rent, insurance, labour, maintenance of gear, office expense, assistant fees, educational and association costs, utilities, automotive and travel, business tax, YOUR OWN SALARY, advertising, website maintenance, and much more! The 20 bucks are only the cost of sales- that's the stuff or service you buy on behalf of the client to supply the promised goods. Some go on a kinda formula of 5 or 8 times your print cost at the lab as a price determination but that is arbitrary and not based on exact overhead costs. The business plan needs to be specific to the photographer's operation.

The costs of equipment are a capital investment- assets. You can write off leasing expenses otherwise yoy can deduct depreciation as expenses on a P&L statement.

The time for shooting to deliver can be shorter if you are delivering files- data. CDs, online delivery, or on a stick or similar device. If you are printing, special finishing, creating display presentations, mounting and framing, the delivery time is almost the same as in the film days.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

If you read the list there is the last line...
"Cost of doing business" that includes everything that is not directly accounted as invisible to the client or even the fly-by-so-called pros who really have no clue.

The only thing they see is the equipment then the time.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

If you are doing photograhy strictly as a hobby, damn the costs- there are worse ways to waste money entertaining yourself like sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, fast cars, rare stamp collecting, fly fishing-whatever and in the end, you won't even have a nice picture to show off! If, however, you are doing photography professionally- for a living, you are in an entirely different ballgame!

Many years ago, I attended a P.P.of A National Comvention. The assembled a panel of business experts to preset a 3-day seminar on business administration. A kind crash course for "artists" who want to go into the biz. One speaker was a professor at the Harvard University School of Business Administration. The gentleman was a very professorial-looking guy in a corduroy jacket, a bowtie, horn-rimmed glasses, and blackboard- the works! I'll never forget his first statement "If you start your business without a solid business plan and understanding the costs of doig business, you are floating your boat up Sh**t's Creek without a paddle and a large hole in the hull!

So...young folks used to ask me "what camera should I buy" kinda thing- "I'm going into business". My answer always was and is "if you are seriously considering becoming a professional photographer YOU should already know about the gear. Don't buy anythg yet, not until you sit down with an accountant, devise a business plan, do your market research, know your costs of doig business, make projects, set goals and make cert that you have viable and marketable skills and products. If you have no business acumen, get some to help you with that. You can't do everything singlehandedly, especially as your business expands"! The smart ones listen up, the not so smart ones say "...and what kinda lights should I buy"!

You can't help everybody!

tcthome Loc: NJ

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Really, cost reduced to almost nothing, so, in the film days, a flagship Canon or Nikon was about 2K, today 6.5K, so you see, the cost of doing business has actually gone up, NOT NOTHING. The cost of a Hasselblad digital has gone through the roof, NOT NOTHING. You are not being realistic.
A true professional owns a business, studio, employees, advertising, equipment, rent, insurance, payroll, overhead, all of these costs have also gone up, they are NOT AMOST NOTHING. I am not sure what planet your from but here on earth costs continue to escalate.

Dannj

There’s one ingredient that all successful businesses need that I don’t see mentioned in your comment and is often overlooked by people who want to venture out on their own. You’re probably including it under a broader umbrella....research? business plan?....but it needs mentioning. Who are my potential customers? Who will pay for my services? Yes, it’s a basic component but I’ve seen many potential entrepreneurs who don’t give this enough thought.

JBRIII

I wanted to be sure of my numbers so I typed "failure rate of small businesses" in BING.
90% of startups failed in 2019. They then say research shows failure rates of about 20, 30, and 50% by years 1, 2 and 5. I am not sure if 2019 was really bad or accumutive. The 50% in 5 yrs is what I have heard. They list the reason which cover much of what has been said here.

Paul J. Svetlik Loc: Colorado

In the "Old way" part - I would add an enlarger, trays, tongs safety light, timer, paper easel and paper printing filters and chemicals (more expensive for color).

In the "New way" part - I would also include a negative scanner and a printer (cost depending on how large you want to make prints)

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

I’m not sure you should include “sex” in that list, Shapiro 🤔😏

Stan

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

That's right! If I were presenting an actual tutorial or writing a book about business management in professional photography, MARKETING RESEARCH would consume several chapters and resurface throughout the text. Obviously, you can't have a successful business without customers and since most photographic services are not an off-the-shelf item and usually entail a specific specialty, the research has to reveal if the population, the industry, the requirement and the socioeconomic conditions for that specialty exists in the locale where the startup is initiated. If the photographer aspires to a career in fashion photography, he or she would not do well in an agrarian community. A commercial photographer needs to start in a location that has a wide variety of business models- manufacturing, distribution, and retail. A family, wedding and portrait photographer can prosper in most communities providing the market is there for certain luxury services. Basically, the question is are both the market potential and the money there!

Problem is- many young and even older upstarts begin to idolize "iconic" photographers. Of course, if a photographer garners international fame, he or she can work from anywhere and travel the world. First, they have to start somewhere and build a reputation- it ain't easy.

In today's media environment, even photojournalism has changed and markets are not what they used to be. Print media has given way to electronic media. It is hard to "scoop" television! Newspapers used to compete for spot news. Nowadays, whatever happens, is on TV in minutes. Th paparazzi ain't what it used to be!

The most important research is introspection- one must research themselves and discover if they have the talent, sticktoitiveness, patience, work ethic, personality and business savvy to preserver in a difficult market. It's not impossible, it's ain't rocket science, brain surgery, and not necessarily hard physical labour. It's not always glamourous or fun! When your hobby becomes your livelihood, a different mindset is required.

Regardless of your talent, competence or degree of education, there are no guarantees. It's a "profession in one way but in another way, it ain't. If someone has a degree in medicine, law, accounting, engineering, etc., even if they are no the "sharpest knife in the drawer", they will always find a job, a niche, you'll make a living. Some approach it as a "trade" but there are no labour unions, no established apprenticeship programmes, and again, no guarantee of work. There are photographers with high degrees of formal education-fine arts degrees from universities, college degrees in photographic technology, master's credentials from recognized associations and are not "making it"!

There are those who profess that a mediocre photographer with sharp business acumen and good salesmanship can do well. I disagree! Nowadays folks are more "image savvy". Since the advent of digital photography more folks are simply taking more pictures. Cellphones have popularized and consumerized photography. Photography is no longer intimidating to the non-technically inclined! Just about anyone can produce a sharp properly exposed image. More advanced amateurs are out there. So, if you can't produce work that is a serious cut above what the DIY folks are doing, people are no gonna spend their hard-earned money for your services. In commerce work, you are deal wit art-directors, ad agencies, account executives- people who know the difference. And you still have to be a good "people person" and a good salesperson because human nature dictates that folks will not patronize people they don't like and they won't spend money if they see no benefit from their investment- too simple!

Sorry for the long post- I get "trolled: for them!

Rongnongno Loc: FL

err.... Counting inflation they are the same price.

You miss one important issue, the generic price of a camera is not the whole story. You are not buying a salad here but a field to produce salads. Meaning a camera use is not a one time shoot (unless you are traveling and have a serious budget). A camera life in valuated first in sensor output than in the number of actuations (shots) before it gives up the ghost.

So a 10k setup divided by the number of an average of 250k x 2/3 you have the cost per shot so... 0.03 cent. Why the fraction you will ask? Simply because if you are a pro you do not try to tempt fate and replace the camera/lens long before its end of life.

Now before you had the price of film, processing and proofing before one was able to check the usability. This depending on the film specialization, and if the process was in house the cost per shot was raised to 0.15 to 0.30c per shot, not including the camera. So pray tell, what is the cost of shooting today? Almost nothing.
Digital imaging includes the price of software and the partial computer price unless dedicated. Here we are also looking at a few pennies invested in hardware considering the number of captures processed.

The cost of business is indeed high and is mentioned as unchanged (rent/insurance/advertising/employee...).

One more thing, about the camera. Shooting a medium format camera is great in studio but also quite unnecessary, sorry to burst your bubble. While I drool as an individual to get my hands on one, as a business it makes no sense with the quality of cameras we now have*.

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* Caveat, if you are in the high-end market you need one of these toys to 'impress the gallery' not to create better images. Nothing else justify this onerous medium format investment.

Picture Taker Loc: Michigan Thumb

A interesting post. We go thru the costs and then compare the quality of todays equipment and the less mess and effort with todays processing.We still strive to be better every time. We just have different gold posts.