Defining Success
Just now I was checking up on my facebook wall and right away the status update of a friend of mine caught my attention and sent my brain off on another one of my benders. I know I’m not always the most popular kid on the block because I speak my mind, and I do it for two reasons. One, because some things just need saying and two because deep down I feel the need to be an advocate for my peers in the photography industry and especially to be an advocate for the most important people of all, my clients both current and future. So here goes nothin’; speaking up about something that has been weighing heavily on my mind lately. By the way, the aforementioned status update read Don’t chase success, chase excellence. Success will follow.
January is the time of year commonly known to wedding professionals as bridal fair season. We all pack up everything we own and schlep it across town to various venues that host huge trade shows catering to the newly engaged bride who is just embarking on her wedding planning journey. Bridal fairs can be hugely valuable in that regard because it is an excellent marketing opportunity. You go, you meet people, make connections and ultimately close deals, at least that’s the plan. We’ve done quite well with the shows this year and I am pleased with our success, as it were. The thing that eats at me is when I see other mass produced photog studios actually bragging about their numbers and not only that but bragging about how little they charge and about how big the discounts they offer as booking incentives are. So they might as well say “your wedding cost less at Wal-Mart” and then show a touching photo nicely lit with diffused lighting to induce a sense of calm. I’m sure a lot of brides, not really knowing what’s going on see a deal like that and think to themselves how awesome a find this must be. Now, to be clear, this is not an essay of shameless self promotion because like I stated earlier I am an advocate of the true professional photographer and I am an advocate of the client who wants the best and needs to know how to find it. Whether “the best” is Dry Heat or another studio is purely besides the point.
What I actually want to talk about is how we define success. What does success mean to you? Well, to me it means seeing a return on an investment, accomplishing a goal, taking pride in my work and knowing that I act with integrity. So in a nutshell, I work extremely hard for years to hone my photography skills. After working for someone else for a considerable amount of time I open my own studio where I actually work even harder to produce an outstanding product and the success of it is that people hire me based on merit to photograph the most important day of their lives. I am committed to my clients and they know it, they see me working hard for them and they appreciate it. I am reasonably priced for my demographic and I do believe in fair compensation. Does this sound like a reasonable definition? Here’s what I don’t understand; why a photographer would work for well below industry standard wages and then offer a huge discount to boot and brag about it to top it all off. Let me just turn it around a little bit so that we can see eye to eye. Let’s say you go to work tomorrow and your boss tells you that your pay will be cut by 40% but don’t worry because your hours are being doubled. So that means you will now work twice as hard to make only %10 more money than you were in the first place except now you are over taxed, burned out and doing a half assed job on everything because there is simply not enough hours in a day to do any better. Would you call that success? Furthermore, how motivated would you feel to actually carry that work load? Think about it, you know the answer. So if this scenario is true for everyone else, why would it not also be true for the photographer? Sure, photography is an incredible career and every working professional feels (or ought to feel) eternally grateful for being able to turn this passion into a legitimate job but make no mistake folks photography, and especially wedding photography is time consuming, physically and mentally demanding, and most of all while it can be taught to an extent, having the ability is something you either do or do not have. I have to ask, why would you intentionally sell yourself short so that you can run to stand still and let your quality control slip between the cracks and then call that success? Who wins in this situation? Not the photographer and most certainly not the bride.
Thus concludes tonight’s edition of me running my mouth in public 
-DeAnna Dimmitt
Dry Heat Photography
I so totally agree with everything you have said here. My cousin asked me to shoot her wedding on May 1. I told her no for exactly the reasons you stated above. I am NOT a wedding photographer. I do NOT know the business and I do NOT want the responsibility of shooting that most precious day only to screw it up. Not for any amount of money.
You could have probably gone on for several more paragraphs on this subject.
There are those of us who love what we do and are in business, not just for the money, but for the passion we have for our work. There are people claiming to be photographers in our market that are in it to make a quick buck. (small buck) Because they think it is easy quick work. It’s not, and you nailed that.
Honestly, how motivated can one be to create brilliant/beautiful images for their client when they are compensated less than a burger flipper at McDs? Well, probably as motivated as a burger flipper is.
So if you want a cheap greasy burger thrown together and wrapped up in paper… by all means ‘do yo thang!’ You and your car will, however, reek of onions for the next two days…
If, on the other hand, you want a nice medium rare steak, seasoned perfectly to your taste, served on a plate that is still sizzling; with a side of delicious garlic potatoes and perfectly steamed broccoli, you need to go to a true chef who knows what they are doing. And, of course it’ll cost a damn site more than something off the $ menu.
No, we can’t have that steak every day, but for those special times in life, it would be insane not to. If your a vegetarian, submit your fav veggie dish in place of steak!!
That’s my 2 cents….
Seth
Eat this, not that….
The same issue has plagued me at times but I have faith that my potential clients are able to distinguish a great photograph from a mediocre one. Just because someone doesn’t know exactly HOW a great image is made, doesn’t mean they can’t appreciate or recognize one. Wedding photography requires a combination of experience, creativity, personality, intuition, and technical ability. You CAN NOT teach someone how to be a great wedding photographer. However, as we can see in near epidemic proportions in this market, you CAN teach someone how to be a mediocre photographer. I remember overhearing a conversation at a bridal fair in Santa Fe last year. An employee from a big studio here in Albuquerque was talking with a small-scale Santa Fe photographer. The Santa Fe photographer said, “…this season is looking pretty good, I’ve got about 15 wedding booked so far.” After the Santa Fe photographer had left, the big studio employee snickered to their co-worker “Ha! We do 15 weddings in a weekend!” I remember thinking, “let me see your photos and let me see your paycheck – I bet they both lack substance!” Quality and quantity can not be friends for long in this business, so you’ve got to choose one over the other. Photographers who are dedicated to their art will inevitably choose quality and there will always be clients who opt for value vs. a “bargain.”
Amen
Very insightful and well said. =)