Dirty Little Secrets
Like any other business, most photographers are looking for ways to maximize how much money they make. But there are large differences in how most photography businesses operate and how Impression Studio operates. Think of this page as a checklist of what to look out for.
- + Nickel and Dime Pricing
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The Secret: The best way to get someone to give up lots of money is to take a little at a time. It works for taxes, it works for installment plans, it works for photographers. Look on other photographers price lists. Do you see any of these charges?
- Sitting fees
- Packages based on number of poses or clothing changes
- Extra fees for outdoor sessions
- Different charges for different session lengths
- Extra charges for B&W or other finishing options
- Retouching charges
- Pricing based on arbitrary "Units" and other scenarios that don't make sense to a customer, but save the photographer money with their print lab
The Solution: Impression Studio has the simplest price list possible. There are no extra charges, no extra fees, no surprises, and nothing is hidden. We give every single senior the best session we can possibly give. We want you to buy photos that you love, and we want to earn your investment based on our skill as photographers. We aren't crunching numbers and purchase scenarios that maximize numbers on a spreadsheet, using clever manipulation of human nature to extract the most cash possible from your pocket.
- + Pre-Session Consultation
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The Secret: Is the meeting to sell you something before you get into the studio for your real session, or are they actually trying to help you out? When you spend money at the consultation, it makes it easier for the photographer to get a higher total amount of money from you because people naturally don't factor in money spent weeks or months ago when deciding how much to spend now, when you are deciding what photos to buy.
The Solution: Impression Studio doesn't ask for any money up front, and will only take your order after you have seen your proofs. We don't use a pre-session consultation, but we do send out detailed information on how to make the most of your session.
- + Money Spent Is Money Forgotten
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The Secret: Have you noticed a trend? Most pricing lists and fee structures are designed to spread out the spending. They aren't designed to rely solely on the quality of the work being presented. With many photographers, you have spent up to half of what you intended before you even come into the studio, and if you don't like your photos, the money is virtually guaranteed to be non-refundable.
The Solution: Impression Studio only asks you to pay for what you are happy with. By the time you have come in to our studio for your proofing, we have spent many hours working with you and on your proofs. We want to earn your investment, rather than making sure every hour we put in is pre-paid and without risk to us.
- + Show only the best
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The Secret: When you are looking at photos from a photographer you are interested in, are you looking at full sessions, or are you looking at just the best photos from a few sessions? Virtually anyone with a camera can get one nice shot in 100. Anyone can put together some nice literature with a few nice photos. Only quality professionals have consistently superior work, and only full sample sessions can prove that.
The Solution: Impression Studio doesn't hide behind a few good photos, hoping you won't find out that complete sessions are weak. We post online full sessions, and you can browse through dozens of sessions to see just what kind of quality you can expect from your complete session, not just one or two images.
- + Bait And Switch Photographers
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The Secret: Sometimes photography studios will show samples from their best photographer, but then when you get to your photo session, you find out that someone else is taking the photos. There is no guarantee that the other person is qualified, and they may even be temporary help.
The Solution: Impression Studio is primarily a single photographer studio. Virtually every session is done by Amy Elliott, a nationally award winning senior photographer. You will never be forced to have someone else take your photos, and there is no hidden switching of photographers.
- + Stock Photos in Literature
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The Secret: One of the most surprising issues we see is photographers sending out marketing material for their studio that has someone else's photos on the slickly designed post-card. The way this works is the photographer gives their text to a company that will put it into a professionally designed template that has stock photographs from a great senior photographer. These mailings are then "zip code locked" so that you don't have the embarrassing situation where two photographers purchase the same mailer with identical images, but two different studio promotional materials. Want to see some of the templates? Check out this site for proof. The next time you get a flyer from a photographer, those images might just be too good to be true.
The Solution: Impression Studio NEVER tries to pass off someone else's work as our own. If you look at our marketing material, you'll see your friends and other seniors from the area.
- + About being "Professional"
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The Secret: Anyone can pick up a camera and call themselves a "professional'. It takes extensive portrait training to be a true professional, as well as a customer oriented nature. Do you want a photographer who is taking money because they are cheap or have performed a hard sell to get you in their studio, or do you want someone who is dedicated to the art of portrature?
The Solution: Impression Studio is an established business that backs up our claim to be qualified professionals. We spend a lot of money every year on our continuing education, and we are always striving to be the best in the area. Our national awards are proof of our commitment to portraiture, and our customer oriented service is what you expect from a real professional.
- + Hurry up and wait
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The Secret: Some portrait studios will pack in as many seniors in the day as they can. We've heard countless stories of seniors getting to their session at the appointment time, then waiting upwards of an hour for the photographer to finish with the previous senior.
The Solution: Impression Studio schedules more than enough time for every senior, and you won't be waiting for us to finish up with the last senior before your session begins. Regardless of your session length being a 15 minute head shot for the yearbook or a three hour marathon of fun indoor and outdoor photos, you will be given all the time you deserve.
- + What service. . .
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The Secret: Some professionals show you images straight from the camera. It saves them time, and it reduces the amount of work they have to do. Unfortunately, that means you have to sift through images making sure there aren't blinks or weird expressions, and you won't see what the final image is going to look like when it's cropped and printed in its final form.
Also, some photographers do not do anything other than snap photos. They may not offer additional services such as framing your photos or any of the other things you expect
The Solution: Impression Studio has years of experience making good portraits, and we make sure that you only see images that we are proud of. Our goal is to have you trying to decide which images you must live without, rather than which images are acceptable for purchase. It's our job to pick out the right photos from the session, and to make sure that every photo make you look your best.
Part of our service is the option to have us frame your prints for you. We have a full line of frames to choose from, and are happy to provide this service at a price that is typically less than you will be charged elsewhere.
- + But I thought I couldn't go anywhere else
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The Secret: Some schools setup senior portraits through large chain portrait photographers, or through a contract with a local or regional photographer. The schools usually receive a percentage of sales, and both the school and the photographer will imply that the "official" photographer is the only way to get your photo in the yearbook. You may also be told that if you get your photo from somewhere else, your portrait won't be with the rest of the seniors, or your photo won't be in color like everyone else.
The Solution: The reality is that this is such a problem that there are laws against it in New York State, yet not all schools and photographers are aware of this. As long as you can provide a photo that meets the requirements of the yearbook, you may use any photographer you want, and you don't have to use the photographer that the school has contracted with to take photos. Impression Studio is equipped to handle any requirements, and will give you better service and quality at our studio than the contract photographer can possibly give you in the limited sessions they can afford to do.