Traditional portraiture needs to brace itself for the kinds of changes that traditional wedding photographers saw a decade ago. I think this challenge will come from commercial shooters like me (who see a shrinking market and are looking for a way to do great work for other kinds of clients): wedding photographers (who are naturally following their clients through a life cycle, and will bring their passion with them as they did to the wedding market), students (who may have formally gone into commercial photography), and even the soccer moms (a few of whom are really closet creatives, and will be able to learn the technical aspects of what portrait shooters do). I think that portrait photography is due for a revolution.

Halper photographs portraits of families in Orange County and Los Angeles, california

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I’m a photographer, and have been for the last twenty years, because it is in my soul – it is who and what I am. It is more important to me than what schools I go to, how big my house is, and the neighborhood I live in. It’s certainly more important that the toys I have. I want to leave behind a great body of work, and my bank account (something vastly important to me) runs behind that objective. That difference may explain, in part, why we see this so differently.

I teach workshops, and I’d rather somebody leave a better photographer and hate me, than somebody leave as my friend, but no better at their craft. Ability, to me, counts more than nice, and I’d rather that you think I’m an ass and have you take a second look at where portraiture is headed and what you consider to be the best you can achieve, than to say nothing and be liked. Nice won’t be of much help to either of us if our businesses go south, or if we feel unfulfilled by the work of our lives – I think we’d both rather have had to take a hard look at ourselves earlier on. I did, and I have, which is part of the reason I’m here at all.

Mark Robert Halper is a Los Angeles and Orange county based commercial photographer

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There’s a phenomenon I’ve noticed. This applies in the commercial world as well – almost anybody can look through two magazines (one with great photography, one with mediocre photography) and pick out the higher end publication.

Yet, when these same people need to buy photography they can’t tell good work from bad work – the reason, I believe, is that when they select a photographer for themselves they are less willing to trust their gut reactions, and instead limit their analysis to what they can identify and understand. Basically, if they can’t tell exactly what the differences are, they seem to become blind to them.

Most photographers actually see their own work with those same eyes, ironically, and since we can only fix or improve what we see, don’t have much perspective on where we fit.

Taken from Forum post by Mark Robert Halper, Commercial and Advertising Los Angeles and Orange County Photographer.

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The idea of pricing images based on usage has nothing to do with the transition to digital photography, but rather is a function of a completely different business model where we charge based on the many thousands, tens of thousands, or millions of times the image will be reproduced. It also takes into account the benefit accrued to person who licenses the imagery.

Professionally, this gets complicated enough that every time somebody on my commercial board asks for specific guidelines everybody gets kind of quiet. However, it is easy to get suggestions based on specific projects.

Commercial photographers price based on:

Oh, and how soon their rent is due, but I prefer to leave that one out since those shooters don’t last long.

Halper is a Los Angeles and Orange County based commercial photographer.

Technorati Tags: image licenses, image use pricing, los angeles photographers images, Orange County Photographers

The beginning of 2009 has seen updates and design improvements to both my main studiomark.com site for clients looking for advertising, corporate, lifestyle, studio, location, people, portrait, product, still life, and architectural photographers in orange county and los angeles, as well as HalperFineArt.com, a fine art photographic service for families and couples.  

The biggest addition, however, is the MarkRobertHalper.com site, which is specifically targeted to los angeles and orange county advertising and design professionals.  This new site is a flash slide show, and serves up a tighter edit of my images in a much larger size, while still maintaining fast download speeds and the ease of use associated with all of my internet presence.

Studiomark.com benefits from a greater number of individual pages that are more targeted, and now incorporates the once separate CorporateHeadshots.com site into it’s design, as well as a brand new page for industrial photography.  By splitting up the work, the pages are more manageable in terms of size and length, and the new site ought to make for an improved client experience. 

HalperFineArt.com benefits from the addition of a running flash slide show to the home and contact page, as well as the growth from one to three portfolio slide shows.  Additionally, the new slide show page boast and improved design that better integrates the look of the entire site.  

Clients who visit studiomark.com will also now find links both to MarkRobertHalper.com and HalperFineArt.com as part of the main interface, to best direct them to the right website for their needs.

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LOS ANGELES, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire/ — Mark Robert Halper, the famous Los Angeles portrait photographer, plans to set up shop and take photos on December 13, 2008 of the families who are victims of the Sayre fire.  The shoot is complimentary for those affected by the fire.

    Best known for his portraits of celebrities and captains of industry, Halper will be turning his talent and his lens to help those affected by the devastating fires.

    Halper has committed the day to giving a priceless gift of a fine art black and white portrait to these families. 

    With the help of his wife Jennifer, Halper has handled setting up all aspects of the shoot so they can help these families that have suffered so much.  Located very near the fire area, the Hansen Dam Equestrian Center has made its clubhouse available for the event.  Halper’s gift will be signed prints for the affected families.

    “There is a good chance that, outside of the school or a department store, these families have not had a professional photo taken of themselves.  The portraits I will be doing aren’t anything like what they would get from a traditional family photographer.  I hope they will be treasured,” says Halper.

    “Even though this is a difficult time and these families have lost so much, we intend to give them a priceless gift they will hold on to for many years to come,” says Halper.  “I want to do something to give them some happiness and joy this year.”

    In addition to the shoot, Halper is hoping to mount a show of the images to bring attention to the plight of those affected by the fire.  “For us, the fire ended as soon as the flames were put out, but for these people that was just the beginning.  I believe images and faces have a stronger impact than statistics,” says Halper.

    In November of 2008, the Sayre fire destroyed 487 residences in Southern California, most of which were in the Oakridge Mobile Home Park.

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I recently wrote this document to help my clients who are new to hiring commercial photographers in Los Angeles, Orange County, California, and just about everywhere else.  If you would like a PDF copy of this Los Angeles and Orange County Photographers thoughts, please email me…

This document has be moved here:

HOW TO SELECT THE RIGHT PHOTOGRAPHER FOR YOUR PROJECT

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I’ve been a commercial photographer for my entire career.  Until very recently, I would have never even thought of doing “family portraits”.  Historically, family portraits have been less than creative.  ”Please stand here, and put your hand on Grandma”, you get the point.  Family portraits today are very much like wedding photography was ten or fifteen years ago – formulaic and uninteresting.  Flash forward to today, and wedding photographers now represent some of the most innovative and talent photographers in the profession.  

For me, being a photographer has always been about creating great imagery.  Any professionally compensated opportunity to do what I do for an appreciative client is a good thing, in anybody’s book.  I just celebrated my first anniversary, and being married does change your focus (I don’t see many more projects like The Bed Project in my future).  I’m shooting couples now, and I feel like I’ve got a new insight into what that’s all about.

I’ve recently launched Halper Fine Art, which is a part of my business that caters to couples and families.  I bring my skills and vision (the same vision I bring to my magazine, advertising, celebrity, and music work) to this business.  The tag line is “Your Celebrity Portrait Session”. 

We’ve only just begun, but there is something quite gratifying in capturing and emotion or a relationship, and knowing that your vision will hold an ongoing place in your subject’s lives.

As part of the new business, I’m also working to support those who focus their efforts on the broader human condition.  I’ve been able to donate sessions to a number of charities for them to auction off, and the creative fee from all of the work that comes directly into the studio is donated to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Los Angeles.  

Technorati Tags: couple photography, couple portraits, family photography, family portraits