Remote Photography

I do a lot of traveling, and I think I've proven that it is possible to do all of the aspects of running a photographic business, except the actual photography itself, from the road. 

Yes, I know that pressing the shutter release is kind of an important part of the process.  But there's so much more!  By traveling with a laptop, I now have completed all of the following workflow steps on the road, and several of them on airplanes.  Here's a highlight of the steps involved:

• transfer photos from camera card (in raw format) to computer, and make backups
• add location info, copyright, keywords etc. (the metadata) to each photo
• Save modified photos as TIF files, make backups
• for HDR files, fuse the multiple exposures into one
• for panoramas, link the multiple pieces into one
• Make adjustments of TIF (whether fused or linked) in Photoshop
• Save as final jpg
• for panoramic video, convert Photoshop output into video
• Upload - to website for video, or to photo lab for prints

And then there's calling customers, replying to emails, sending out the e-newsletter and a ton of standard customer-interaction business issues.

Pushing the button on the camera starts the process, but there's so much more to do, and it takes time.  But when you're stuck on an airplane or in a hotel room, there's often plenty of available time.  I'm still surprised what can be done with a cell phone, a fast laptop with a lot of memory and a bunch of USB devices.  And, look at all the newly available time back home after the conversion of dead time during travel to productive time.

Those poor guys working with film and darkrooms did some amazing things, but they couldn't touch some of the things we can do now.  I wonder what amazing technology will be used in 20 years that will make people look back and pity old farts like me.

Providing Value to Receive Value

Most people know instinctively that one of the best ways to receive value is to provide value first.  Not a new thought (see "better to give than to receive").  Some businesses offer a service and hope to get paid for it, but others either give some value away or price in a way that seems like free value.  I'm not thinking of WalMart - I'm thinking about Apple.  No one ever accused Apple of selling cheap, but they sell a lot, partially because the features and the "coolness" of their products seem like a gotta-have to many.

So how toes a realtor or a builder (or a photographer) give away value without going out of business?  Realtors often do it in service.  Builders can create something using creativity, quality workmanship and location that approach the Apple gotta-have mentality.  What's a poor photographer to do?  Sitting by the phone waiting for a call doesn't work very well - where's the free value in that?

So, I've been reading marketing books and doing some thinking.  One suggestion to builders I've heard is to offer a free print of a large (24x30, for example) print of their own family, completely free, for them to hang in a model home.  Family portraits in empty homes are supposed to help, "they say."  A small note next to the print would allow visitors to know the photographer, and the builder might provide visitor emails to the photographer for follow up.  This seems to have the advantage of providing something free that helps the builder, while staying in position to follow up wherever  possible.

An idea I've come across for realtors is to give them pre-printed coupons for portrait work that they could hand out to likely (whatever that means) prospects for buying a home.  It probably would be well over 50% off, plus a free 8x10, for example.  People shopping for homes don't have family portraits at the top of their mind.  BUT, they are shopping for a home and many do have a family.  Giving the realtor a nice-quality handout for them to use (as a small reward for buying, for example) seems like free value, while staying in position.

I do know that the flow goes like this:  Information leads to Perceived Value which leads to Business.  We all have to be good marketers so that our real value can become perceived.  That's what separates the successes from the bankruptcies.

Something New

I might live to regret this, but we're trying a blog.  Communicating with customers, suppliers and partners is so critical to survival.  Since survival seems like a good thing, I thought I'd make a real attempt to do this and to bring something useful to the world.

I'll be covering different things here than we talk about on Facebook or our e-newsletter. For example, we should discuss whether good photography actually helps sell real estate. I believe that quality photographs will stir interest and stimulate visits, but getting people to see the photography in the first place can be difficult.

When I do a job for a realtor, I feel like the photography belongs to them and they should manage the access. However, I can argue that posting links to the photography in every available setting might be more effective at stimulating buyer visits. Real home shoppers will end up on a realtor's site or on MLS, but I'm thinking that posting all of my jobs on my site, in the e-newsletter and even here would improve homebuyer access and interest.