Oh B&H Photo how I appreciate all you do.
After adding nearly everything to the cart that I could think is needed for a fully functioning studio (including being able to shoot scenes up to 12 feet wide and 10 feet tall) it’s good to know that I’m well past the part of buying the truly expensive gear. What’s inside that cart?- 7 different colors of true seamless background sheeting*, professional stands, clamps, gaffer tape, apple boxes, and more. It’ll be a while before I buy this (due to the awkward sizes/shapes, shipping alone is an additional $250), but things are going to be good since these are nearly all one-time costs.
Now also having been through the NPPA’s “Cost of Doing Business” calculator** and getting great advice via David duChemin, I know my previous plans for pricing on my future work were incredibly unreasonable, but mostly unreasonable from the perspective of my time, not my pricing. There is no point in trying to book 1000 shoots a year when it’s smarter charge more, which allows people to expect more from you, and in turn require you to find fewer people to photograph.
I don’t know where this is all going, but so far ‘forward’ seems to be going well.
* no more terrible, reflective, expensive gift wrap used as a backdrop!
** try it- if the number at the end doesn’t scare you, you’re being dishonest about what it’ll cost you to run a business.
