 Angie M. Nemanic |
Wal-Mart, Target ,etc Portrait Studios What are people's opinionso of the In-store photography studios that you find at Target, Wal-Mart, Sears, JCP? Do you feel they meet the standard of a professional independent studio? Just curious.
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Debby A. Tabb |
OK, I FEEL AFTER SO MANY YEARS IN THIS VENUE I CAN GIVE YOU A QUALITY ANSWER TO THIS. *MEET THE STANDARD OF A PRO STUDIO: WELL TO BE A PRO -JUST MEANS YOU HAVE THE ABILITY TO CREATE A PRODUCT THAT SOMEONE WILL BUY.SAME IS IF YOU LOOK AROUND AT WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHERS SOME YOU SAY: WOW- I CAN SEE WHY PEOPLE WOULD PAY FOR THIER WORK-OTHERS YOU SAY: WHY? THEY REALLY NEED MORE WORK ON THIER CRAFT. SAME HERE: *TARGET AND WALMART AND JC PENNY'S ARE BOTTOM OF THE LINE-THEY DO PROVIDE A PRODUCT ,SOME PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO PAY FOR. THEY ARE JUST NOT PUTTING A LOT INTO IT. ** SEARS PUTS A LITTLE MORE INTO TRAINING THIER PHOTOGRAPHERS-BUT, THEY SACRIFICED QUALITY A LONG TIME AGO. ** OLAN MILLS IS THE ONLY ONE WHO PUTS QUALITY TIME AND EFFORT INTO THIER PHOTOGRAPHERS, TRYING TO PROVIDE QUALITY IN THE PORTRAIT ARENA AND DO MOSTLY SUCCEED( YOUR PORTRAITS WILL ALWAYS BE ONLY AS GOOD AS THIER PHOTOGRAPHER THAT DAY-EVERYONE HAS THIER UPS AND DOWNS) THIER PROBLEM IS THAT ROTATING DOOR THEY CREATED WHEN THEY SACRIFICED THIER QUALITY OF CARING FOR THIER EMPOLYEES AND SENIOR MANAGEMENT AND TRAINING STAFF-THESE ARE THE ANCHOR OF YOUR TEAM AND WHEN GONE-THE COMPANY DRIFTS LOOKING FOR SOMEWHERE TO ANCHOR THEM SELF IN DECENT SALES- AND THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THEM NOW. NO DOUBT YOU WILL SEE THE QUALITY SLIP EVEN FURTHER, UNTIL THEY HAVE LOST SO MUCH OF THIER NAME THAT THEY CAN NO LONGER SUPPORT THEMSELVES. SO THE ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION IS A RESOUNDING YES AND NO... FROM SOMEONE WHO WATCHED IT TOO LONG. ***JUST A NOTE- I HOWEVER WOULD SUGGEST TO ANYONE WHO WANTS TO START A PORTRAIT BUSINESS SOMEDAY-TO DO SOME TIME WITH OLAN MILLS( LOOKING OUTSIDE OF THE EMPOLEE REALIONSHIP)- THEY DO TEACH YOU HOW TO DEAL WITH SUBJECTS AND THE ART OF POSING
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robert G. Fately |
Whoa, Debby, you've gotta turn off that Caps Lock key! It looks like you're yelling. Angie, your question is a little loaded in that you don't define (indeed, who of us can?) what a "professional independant studio" would turn out. As Debby yelled, er, pointed out, "pro" simply means someone is willing to pay for what you do - it does not imply excellence. The big store "studios" (and the mall-chain versions) were created to be idiot proof - the worker justs places the subject at the spot where the two bars of light converge on their forehead or whatever and click the shutter. The camera gear, backdrops, lighting, etc., are all pre-designed to take the guesswork (and some would say 'thinking') out of the operation. However, a portrait is much more than the quality of the lighting and getting the eyes in sharp focus. Portraiture is more a matter of the photographer relating with the subject - the nuances of expression on the subject's face have far greater bearing on the final shot than does the background (assuming the basics like decent lighting and sharp focus are covered). Richard Avedon et al don't have fantabulous lighting techniques or fancy camera gear so much as they have (had) the ability to relate to their (usually famous or powerful) subjects, to get their quarries to let down their guard and show their inner selves, etc. So, to answer your question - the quality of the el-cheap-o in-store studios varies wildly from place to place, as it's much more a matter of the photographer's personality and chemistry with the subjects than a matter of technical foo-faral. Yes, some portrature is wonderful when done out of doors, and obviously the Sears folks don't offer that. But the reality is that if a kid responds to the Sears shooter and really smiles with a genuine quality, that photo will be far better than one of that same child taken by a "pro" who doesn't get along with the kid and needs to bribe or threaten him to get a smile.
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Kerry L. Walker |
Debby isn't yelling. She sometimes has a problem with her eyes so she uses all caps. Sometimes I think she has just had too much coffee. LOL
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Melissa L. Zavadil |
I go to two main places with my children. A very well known professional that charges outragous prices and then target. I have found a particular photographer that I just love at target and request her when ever I go. Of course these shots are limited in artistic value but target does a pretty good job lately in spicing it up--they have costume road tours and they have some neat images of late. Most of these stores you most likely will not get a great photographer unless you 'find' one. *****ITS THE PHOTOGRAPHER***** That is the key ;o) Melissa
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Pete H |
Short answer, and I know some will scream... In store portraits are cattle drives! I once shot a wedding a few yrs back..The mother of the bride thought my prices were ridiculous. I said "I understand Mrs So and so." Let me ask you a question. May I purchase YOUR wedding photos and negs for $1,000?" She thought I was insane..afterall, these were not replacable! Of course she would not sell them to me! Cost=value=cost Technically correct photos do not a photographer make. In my porttrait portfolio I have several shots, side by side of the same person. One shot by the "in store special" and one done by me, with the price next to each shot. Great portraits are not cheap, cheap portraits are not great! happy shooting, Pete
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Nicole Kessel |
I think it all depends on the client your shooting for. Some people don't even pay attention to the details of a photograph. All they want is their kid sitting next to a pumkin, easter basket, or reindeer with proper exposure and they are happy. Something to put in their album and say "Yeah, here is junior at 14, 15, 16, etc". Then you have the people that want something more that are willing to pay a little more. They want something to make their image stand out and portray a moment in time in their life, something special. These are the people that I feel appreciate photography as an art form. That being said... I used to work for a company that took children's school portraits. Which is a similiar set up as Wal Mart and Target. (I think they are even affiliated with Target) I got into it because I wanted to learn more about Studio Photograhy. I came away from it knowing no more then I did before I got in. (Except for mabye how to handle the kids and people which was great experience for me.) Melissa is very right about it being all about the photographer. Even though we were all taught to always position our lights the same, use the same poses, and all had the same equipement. Not all of our pictures turned out the same because it had a lot to do with connecting with your subject. When we were shooting at schools we were to have 45sec with each student. Not a lot of time! But, you could definitely tell a difference between the photographers that really cared how their subjects was portrayed and those that were just there for the paycheck.
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Debby A. Tabb |
Exactly Nicole! But..... My experiance is that I would hire good quality people, and they started out so excited having fun, and enjoying thier job and really tring -this kind of company can suck that right out of someone-with thier constant PUSH for sales above photography! life touch in the school market doesn't do that(and they don't teach so much about posing , dramatic lighting and GETTING EXPRISIONS either) unfortunately thier "Target" venture is not much better at training. However, what you did get is IMPORTANT to you, one of the hardest things to learn is comfort with a subject,and how to get and /or capture expessions. about half of the studio shots, in my gallery(of kids) I did while I was with companies like these- but, the difference?? Well I was Training and Management staff! I hired and trained people who COULD do this, who cared that much, but hey...the company really only patted your back if your numbers were high-not the quality of your ART. sad. sadder yet,watching a company you used to belive in 20 years ago-today go down the tubes- and they are struggling.
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Angie M. Nemanic |
I'm chimming in here again. I want to hit on the point about the amount of time with the client at a studio like Target's portrait studio. It seems there's no time to really get the kids comfortable, make them feel at home which can result in a frustrating session. In addition, Target photographers have to time to photograph the kids. The comment I've heard from a photographer there, who I might add gets amazing shots of the kids, you only have about 10 minutes with each kid because you lose them after that. Is that true? How much time does a photographer who works at an independent studio spend with a child. When I want to take a child's portrait (I'm just starting out), I take up to one hour, depending on the age of the child. If we need to stop and feed the baby we do that' if the kids get restless, I'll let them eat a snack. These all seem to work okay, unless the child is completely out of control at which time, we'll reschedule. I guess what I'm saying is I can't believe that you can photograph a group of kids in 10 or 20 minutes an always expect to get great stuff. However, it seems I see a lot of great stuff coming out of Target's Portrait Studio and it amazes me how some of their photographers can do that in such a short amount of time. But I still feel it's a very impersonal environment and does seem like a "cattle farm."
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Debby A. Tabb |
Angie, this is very true! I trian to take a 5 shot series in 15-20 mins. and yes it is successful-and most of these studios should stop and let a bottle or nursing baby eat.and most do. Actualy, you are training yourself to take to much time- children loose intrest an dget lazy after a short period of time and the better portraits are those taken in the first half hour to hour tops.but, diffenatly the first half! and yes it is a "cattle drive" at times, but concider this at the prices they charge : 1 8x10 2 5x7 9 wallets plus extras all for 4.95-6.95 how do they make money? Well it is by getting as many humans as they can get and up selling the packages- so they PUSH,PUSH and PUSH thier photographers to get bodies and dollars! and they do make it hard on you to get your prices right off the bat. also , about those poses in that amount of time- as in my books and classes I teach how to do secuqances of shots, to get the MOST out of one pose before ever moving the child or family. this type of experiance helps you to do so much more in a shorter amount of time. and the more you do the more you can offer. i do hope this helps, Debby
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Angie M. Nemanic |
Great conversatoin...thanks!!
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Tiffany A. Guyett |
I just wanted to add to Debby's coments. I too have been a trainer at (what I think to be) the same company. And I agree as an amiture going it to studio photography I had come out learning a lot (this was not Walmart or Target). The training is better than most, but you are trained to get in and out as many people as possible. Unfortunatly, no matter how good you are as a photographer something has to lack if you only have 15 minutes to do a shoot. And that something is the "warm-up" time and creativity. That's why independent photographers can have a more pricey sitting fee as well. When you are getting your numbers at these companies you are the shinning star and they don't even care what you are selling. As a trainer/leader you get very tired because it is an endless cycle of people needing to be trained for the same position/store. And because the company is worried more about the money aspect they forget about the people who are really making it happen, therefore the trainers get tired and it starts to show through the photographers in the studios. Where as an independent photographer would take more pride in the product that they are putting thier name on.
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