It is well worthwhile investing in professional commercial photography even as a small business, but it is equally crucial to work with a photographer who understands the budget constraints and needs of the entrepreneur. I wanted to explain why a small business should invest in a commercial photoshoot, and how I can work with them to make it affordable.
A trap that some small business owners fall into is in not investing enough in their product presentation and marketing. I follow a lot of smaller boutiques, artisans, and artists, and a recurring theme over and over again is the use of poor (or at best, mediocre) photography in showing off their wares. It may be a low-cost/no-cost solution to their problem, but ultimately it costs them money. If you want to sell like a premium business, you need to present yourself as a premium business - and frankly cell-phone snaps aren't going to cut it.
High quality photos don't have to be prohibitively expensive.
I talk about this in my blog post on "Adequate" photography and I think it should be more of a concern to small business owners that merely adequate images of their products are potentially doing them more harm than good. The problem of course is that a full commercial shoot can be prohibitively expensive - a relatively simple half-day event could easily run into tens of thousands of dollars, which is an eye-watering amount for a small business and probably seems hard to justify.
Fortunately there is a better way - a happy medium for the entrepreneurial spirits who want to get ahead.
Pros and Cons of various small business photography solutionsLow cost solutions often come at the expense of quality and legal protections. It's worth investing in your business's photography needs, using a solution that makes sense for you.
Low-cost solutions often come at the expense of quality and legal protections. It's worth investing in your business's photography needs, using a solution that makes sense for you to to optimize your return in investment.
The reasons behind commercial photoshoots being expensive fall into two categories: the photoshoot itself, and licensing fees. A typical commercial photoshoot is geared for a full-service, high-end solution to a corporate client. Full-service means they provide everything except for the product itself - for a fashion shoot this includes photographer(s), model(s), probably a stylist, dresser, hair, makeup (all separate people!), production assistant(s) and an editor. This may include travel fees, hotel stays, and per-diem costs. This doesn't even include any equipment needed, or location fees or permits - which by themselves can be thousands of dollars. For a multi-million dollar corporation, looking to spend $50,000 on a commercial campaign shoot is an easy decision. For a small business it's an insane proposition. It's entirely possible to put together a more affordable, but equally well-organized photoshoot, using reliable local creatives and minimizing overheads.
The second area that is poorly understood, even by many photographers, are image licensing fees. It is a common misunderstanding that when you pay a photographer to take images for you, you own those images. Legally, the photographer retains the copyright on all images they produce - and any you use are merely licensed. For personal images, clients may be allowed to post on social media, or print out digital files, but they won't be permitted to enter them into competitions for example, or sell them, or use in any other promotional way. Commercial licensing is often just the opposite - social media posts are typically embargoed until certain dates, images may be licensed for digital-only or print-only, and they are specifically intended for use in for-profit (commerce) activities and only by certain entities (i.e. the client). Because of this, commercial license fees are high - easily hundreds or thousands of dollars per image - and this is in addition to the actual photoshoot costs! But those fees are often based on large audiences and expensive advertising budgets that justify the creative cost.
Both of these areas need careful reconsideration when it comes to small business. A much smaller-scale photoshoot is easily justified - still utilizing proper talent and with appropriate compensation, and still with a goal of elevating the photography, but with a much more manageable budget. Commercial license fees are typically expensive because of the size of the audience and the value of the product(s) being promoted - these too can be sensibly negotiated down, but leaving the small business still protected with the same rights and control as if they went with a much more expensive solution. A small business owner often wants control of the images of their product, but this can be achieved by well-drafted limited licensing of a subset of images, and for a much more reasonable price than the photographer having to sign over full copyright of everything they've photographed that day.
Branding headshots on a budgetA reasonably-priced commercial photographer can make all the difference.
Commercial photography solutions should be tailored to the specific needs of the small business entrepreneur.
There are many excellent specialized photographers who can offer these services - whether in food photography, clothing or jewelry, or any other products. Reach out and start a conversation with them about how they can help uplift your branding, and ultimately increase the odds of you being successful.