“People learn you get what you pay for, but unrealistic expectations make it harder for a true professional to sell work and explain why I charge more,” said Maier.
Websites, such as Pinterest and 500px.com, Maier said, help counteract some of the low-ball pricing expectations by showing brides-to-be “awesome photos that set their expectation for quality a lot higher than it might have been.”
Paul Quackenbush, who has been a studio photographer for 21 years, lamented that there was no regulation or licensing for professional photography. You have to get a license to be a massage therapist, or a psychologist, he said, but “anyone who buys a camera can become a photographer.”
This, said Quackenbush, has caused the level of professionalism to decline and has “diluted the field.”
“The market is so oversaturated,” said Nick Grier, “that you need a niche.”
Grier, who started Nick Grier Photography in 2008, used to do consumer photography, such as weddings and baby pictures. Today, however, he concentrates on commercial photography and aerial photos. On the commercial side, he said, he mostly does commercial and industrial real estate photos, such as apartment complexes and condos.
For the aerial photos, Grier leases a helicopter, and has done photos of large tracts of land and construction projects as far away as Seattle and Spokane. He also does photography for local companies, such as Mac Chain Products in Woodland, iQ Credit Union and United Grain.
Quackenbush, too, has found his niche. He concentrates on portraiture, and a large majority of his business comes from institutions, such as churches and school districts, and from corporations, banks and law firms who want studio-quality portraits.
Not only is the field of photography hyper-competitive, but the nature of the deliverable has also changed, said Quackenbush.
“20 years ago, people looked at photographs that were actually printed. Now a huge percentage are viewed on screens,” Quackenbush stated.
He added that there were two problems with this fundamental shift: Not only is there less money to be made selling prints, but digitally storing photos means impermanence and a greater chance of loss.
“If you put all your pictures on Facebook – will they exist later? Facebook could crash and people would lose all their pictures. That would be tragic,” said Quackenbush.
Another tragic outcome of the oversaturation of the photography market, Quackenbush said, is the effect on ancillary businesses such as labs and album manufacturers.
“They’re struggling at least as much as the photographers,” he said, citing the demise of Tymers in Vancouver and K&K Color Lab in Portland.
But all is not doom and gloom. On the bright side, said Grier, Southwest Washington is a “fantastic” place to be a photographer. It is central to a variety of locations such as mountains, beach, remote rural settings and interesting urban settings. Maier added in old barns and gorge waterfalls, not to mention the variable weather, which affords photographers a diversity of lighting.
Summing up the photography marketplace, Maier said that “increased technology is good for the professionals, but has created more competition. Those who want to make it and do something great – they have to step it up.”
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