There’s been a few rather good comments on some of the blog posts recently, so instead of them staying buried pages down, I’m going to stick them on here for all to see.
In response to this post, David Hayes comments:
“I work over as a club photographer in Falkirk for a chain, and have worked up in Perth and Stirling. I’m thankful I’m an independent and not working for the Contact Aggregator services that I am sure you are aware of in Glasgow and Edinburgh. I started out my first year charging a break-even cost, purely because I enjoyed the work, but was fully insured, back-up body, lenses and flash, and a fully professional service to the club. When I re-evaluated my prices for Year 2 of the business (which almost doubled), two clubs dropped out immediately, showing they cared more about price than quality, but one club I work with in Falkirk keeps bringing me back for more and more.
I know exactly what you mean about devaluing the service. I look at the quality of the photos that my competitors provide at cheaper prices, compared to my own where I generally provide more photos on a night, and I am astounded that the clubs continue to use these photographers… but then, they devalue the service, because clubs assume thats the quality they have to live with, and refuse to pay any more”