The Psychology of Free photographers
Here I must borrow the quote from our PM dearest "There is no Free Lunch in this world". This is the case for photographers of all sorts. Free photogs, cheap photogs, competitively priced photogs and expensive photogs, you name it.... every one pays some ways or another.
I like to use an analogy - Why is prada, LV, Gucci and all the world's luxury brands sprouting up like infested termites in CHINA? a place where Intellectual Property has no home? and having been and worked in china, these brands are making money in china alone at half the equivalent of their rest of the world's market. Reason being..... if the customer who appreciates and purchase a genuine product wouldn’t buy a fake.... and having said that, a customer who rampage thru (qipu lu of shanghai or the XiuShui Jie of beijing) fake markets wouldn’t afford the real McCoy.
So now.... is IPR a real problem to GUCCI, PRADA, LV? Maybe yes, but I would beg to differ.
In this instance, we look at our perceived "problems" of photography markets in Singapore. Nature has its way of governing the law of economics. If you are a free photog, you will attract more free jobs and "clients" who are unwilling to pay. you will not earn the money you deserve because your mind tells you so. and you are willing to receive whoever asked for....
FREE jobs.
Imagine why would top notch advertising agencies call up Chuan Do and Frey? Mark Law? Boon? (other then they are good) is because they attract the business that way. imagine they did their first expensive job for Ogilvy...and Ogilvy is happy with it. Ogilvy will come back to them.. with the same calling price ... and maybe take a step further... to recommend them to super paymasters.... once they get into the plane of good pay masters... they will only move on that plane and accept nothing less....
haha and if one day some goof ball call up Chuando and Frey and ask them to do a wedding job for 1000 SGD? (would those $1000 clients dare to call them?) hahah dont you think CD will be laughing his socks off and tell them to log into CS and find their own photog.? No offense to CS, but it may not be a bad thing to the commercial photogs at all. (i wonder if those topnotch photogs logs in CS, if so ... please tell us all how you feel
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I like to perceive that there are many celestial planes of our own ability and calling price that we improve to get up to. And in close relation, there are the different levels of planes of customer or pay masters that we wanna attract and get to.
At this point … I like to ask you “ Do you know where you are now? And do you wanna get up one notch more?”
My point now is that there really isn’t a problem in the market. It is just our need to justify why we are not earning more. Customers who find free photogs aren’t really the problem of photographers because they the people who buy “FAKES”(figurative expression). Is that the market you want? I really don’t think so! If you are a wedding photog for 500 SGD… rest assure that you will compete only in that circle. Because people who pay 4000SGD wont find you .
This is the psychology and economics that we need to recognize. It is every bit a scientific formula as to how we press that shutter.
Don’t we all love to be making that REAL prada bag and selling it at top notch price?
Or hmmmm make lousy fakes and sell them at dirt cheap rates and to people who don’t appreciate it at all. I really just mean .... well all need to improve and get better thru experience. no one gets up there in one stride. but how long do you wanna take to get there? (or do you even wanna get there at all?)
I shall finish by closing my opening – the free photogs pay by not earning their ideal fee, and the “free” clients take their chances with the free photogs. On the hind side, Top notch photogs gets their due and deliver their best. Their paymasters….. gets effective products and sleep better at night.
The law of nature never fails to amaze me
having been to this forum before and giving my outmost and personal judgments on certain events have received me some unwelcome flaming.... so i must pre empt such post again by saying that whatever I suggested here is purely of my knowledge and my willingness to help another fellow photog. i may be wrong or overlooked some points I would welcome all friendly advises or replies. if what ever i mentioned above is similar to any other posts out there it is purely by coincidence and should not be taken in to serious account. hehe lova ya all.....