by Steve Meltzer
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How to Find a Good Crafts Photographer
by Steve Meltzer |
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Once upon a time, a craftsperson could send juries moderately well-done slides and expect to get into a few shows. However, the general quality of slides has risen over the years as the field has become more competitive. More and more artists have chosen to hire professional photographers. But hiring the wrong photographer could be a waste of money. How do you help ensure that you'll find a good one?
Look for craft photography experience
I have said this again and again, and it seems self-evident, but it is essential to find a photographer who has experience shooting crafts for jury slides. In photography, as in medicine, everyone has a specialty. There are wedding photographers, medical photographers, food photographers, portrait photographers, newspaper photographers, industrial photographers, fine art photographers, magazine photographers, architectural photographers -- you get the idea.
These are significant distinctions. Each area has its own unique equipment and skill requirements, and its own special tricks and techniques. An artist needs a photographer who knows how to shoot art, has shot art and knows what a jury wants to see.
Where do I look?
A good place to begin a search is right here in the "Marketplace" pages of The Crafts Report. The photographers listed here have experience photographing crafts, understand how to deal with craftspeople and know what craft show jurors are looking for.
These craft photographers also maintain a high level of customer service to artists because artists are their main source of income. Recommendations are important to the photographer's business.
Generally when artists work with any of the photographers listed in The Crafts Report, they ship their work to the photographer's studio. Since most craft photographers know what is needed for jury slides and generally have years of experience with a wide range of art, it isn't absolutely necessary that the artist be in the studio while his/her work is being photographed.
While shipping work is simple enough if you are a jeweler, it can be terribly costly if you create something large and heavy. In this case, you might want to find a photographer who is a little closer to home.
A good way to find a local photographer is to go to your local photo processor and ask if they know of anyone. After all, they see thousands of photos a day and they will know who shoots what. Another way is to look in your local telephone book for photographers who do product shots. Call a few and ask if they have shot crafts before and ask to see some examples of their craft photographs.
When a photographer tells you that they shoot everything, it's time to leave
A photographer who hasn't done jury slides may produce professional photos, but not the kind that will get you into shows. For example, there is a trend among commercial photographers to shoot "centerfield-sharp" product images. These photos have just a thin slice of the middle of the photo in focus -- interesting in a magazine ad, but I think it's a sure jury rejection.
You will also want a photographer who already has all the equipment he will need to shoot your work. A wedding photographer, for example, will generally not own the close-up 35mm equipment needed to shoot jewelry. When you review their work, you'll be able to see if the photographer has the proper equipment.
Then explain what you need. Consider showing the photographer a copy of a crafts magazine, an example of another artist's postcard or brochure, or a recent show directory with some high-quality photos, to give them an idea of the kind of photographs you want.
How much will it cost?
In my experience, there seem to be two ways photographers bill crafts photography. The first is to charge an hourly studio fee and bill for expenses like film and processing.
A photographer who bills hourly should be able to provide you with a cost estimate and be able to hold to it. Depending upon the kind of studio the photographer has and the work they usually do, you can expect studio time to cost anywhere from $100 an hour to a few thousand dollars for a full day's work. To this, the photographer will add the cost of film and processing -- usually marked-up or billed at retail. I bill my commercial advertising photography (not craft photography) on this kind of time and material basis.
The second method common to the crafts photographers listed in the Marketplace, which I use when I shoot craft photographs, is to offer a flat "package" price. Currently, this is about $250-$350 for photographing four to six pieces, producing half a dozen slides of each.
Copyright issues can lead to problems and additional costs
Copyright laws protect the rights of the creator of a work from reproduction of that work without permission and compensation. But, when you deal with a photographer, the rights of the creator of the work and the rights of the creator of the photograph collide.
Artists are usually stunned when a photographer tells them that they don't "own the rights" to the photographs they have just paid for. I regularly get calls from craftspeople complaining that a photographer told them that it will cost them several hundred dollars to use a photo they have already paid to have taken for a postcard or poster.
Many photographers make a living through copyright sales: charging for the rights to copy a photo in an ad, or print it for a wedding album, etc.
Although the copyright law provides absolute protection, common sense needs to be applied. I do not copyright craft photos because the cost for me to file and catalog them would be crazy. I simply do not have the time to stop shooting whenever someone needs a few duplicate slides or a few extra 4-inch by 6-inch prints.
Get the most for your money
When you negotiate with a photographer, I'd suggest that you demand two things. First, get all rights to all uses of the photos of your work. In practice, this means that you will get all negatives and slides that do not have the photographer's copyright on them. This is important because most labs will not make prints, duplicate slides or digital copies from photographer-copyrighted material without written permission from the photographer. If the photographer's name is printed on the slide, this makes it difficult for you to reproduce the photos for multiple show applications or press packets.
The second demand you need to make is that all the material you receive will be first-generation originals. When I shoot for an artist, the artist gets the original slides I shot in the camera, not lab-produced duplicates. Unfortunately, I have heard of photographers keeping the original slides and negatives, and sending the client copies of those originals. This is inappropriate, and it is an issue of image quality and fairness. ... You should get the originals you paid for.
A step in the right direction
Producing high-quality crafts photographs is a collaborative process between the photographer and the artist. Working with a responsible and talented photographer can be the best way to get high-quality jury slides that will get you into shows.
Steve Meltzer, The Crafts Report's photography columnist, is a Sarasota, Fla.-based photographer. He can be reached via e-mail at: stevefoto@compuserve.com.
JUNE 2000: TABLE OF CONTENTS
