Photo-Econ 101

What impact is the "big box" studios having on the single photographer, boutique and mainstream studio in this current economic environment? Well... I'm no economist but I can make my opinion known (it is my blog after all). I am not going to sit here and point fingers and blast was has happened but just to point out what I think is occurring.

Back in the day, Olan Mills was the place where you had your annual pictures take. There was the wall of backdrops, herding of the subjects, and kids that didn't want to be there in the first place. Of course one of those wanting to become a photographic escapee was usually dad. The memory is not something that encouraged a return visit anytime soon. Generally the time spent on the return trip to "select" your photos was longer than the photo session. Why is this? To be brutally honest, I believe it is because these photo-factories are so bottom line driven (read productivity) the position being driven from the home office is taking pictures costs money and selling prints makes money. Period!

With the advent and relatively low cost of entry into the business, individual photography business have exploded over the past few years. Do I think this is wrong, not at all. What I think is needed within the entry photographer psyche is a desire for education, improvement in their shooting, and a move towards quality gear. I am not saying the goal is a $30K Hasselblad H4D-50 but shooting a Rebel XTi for five years speaks volumes of where you want to take your photography. Believe me, I am not slamming a start-up photographer but do think about where you wan to be in five years.

So now we have the big-box studios and the entry photographer. These two services are really going after the same market. That of a photographic commodity, the lowest cost wins. So how does this impact the boutique and traditional or mainstream studio. I don't think the impact is as some may think. The economy probably has had a larger impact than anything else. Some people may have shifted to the big-box studio while some of their customers have stopped purchasing all together.

If you spend some time looking at pricing for the big-box vs. the larger mainstream studio, you will find the pricing structure is not all that far apart. The question still remains, how to make a living as a small studio photographer. The Econ 101 model of supply and demand does not work here, and why is that? When I took that Econ course in college back in... Well, I'll leave that alone. Anyhow, I never heard the word "emotion" during any of those lectures. Back in the 80's the word service entered the corporate culture from a marketing standpoint. Business found that people wanted good and fast service inexpensively. That was the new competitive edge. From a photographic commodity standpoint, this philosophy remains today.

The edge today is experience, an "emotional" connection with an event. How did the client feel during the time spent engaging you for your services. It is the memory of that experience that will either draw or repel future customers. This is something the big-box and mainstream studios can not compete with. Sure they can treat people really nice during the 30-40 minutes the session lasts. How about sitting down over cookies, coffee, or milk and just relax and talk about school, the kids, or just life itself. This is relationship marketing at its core. It may not for everyone or every studio, but for the ones that it works for, things are going to be just fine.

Those are my thoughts. Take care and have a wonderful weekend.

Cya... Doug