Public Forums > Photography > Is the Bad Economy Affecting Your Business?

I made a similar post in the Modeling section of these forums but I wanted to ask if any photographers are experiencing any setbacks in their business due to the tough economic times we're facing (both in the United States and abroad)? Are you noticing a change in the way people are doing business, or has the ball kept rolling for you regardless of what's going on with the economy?

Or maybe there are still some parts of the world that are able to do business as usual and are undisturbed by what's going on in the US? I'd be interested to hear other people's experiences in the industry during these times.

Hi Dania

Things are a little slower than usual that's true - I work in a few different industries and there are some where people have felt the blows but at the same time they still need the work doing - so where it's been possible people have asked for things like discounts.

Hi, Rowena!

Yes, discounts are becoming quite common in business these days. While searching for freelance gigs, I'm finding that more clients are drastically reducing their pay rates for models and are instead combining lower pay rates with retouched photos or copies of images, whereas normally clients used to offer models only one or the other.

It's sad, too, because I'm noticing that if clients have a budget to work with, they'll offer to pay everyone from the photographer to the stylists and makeup artists but not the models. Unfortunately, many clients see us as being on the totem pole of the process so I'm seeing more and more non paying gigs. (Sigh) I understand why it's becoming more difficult to squeeze pay for models into the budget but at the same time, it doesn't help me out at all.

Ahh that terrible! I have always been fair in shoots and even when booking models we make sure everyone gets a little smething for their hard work.  It's mad really that you can't get paid for some gigs - everyone has to eat!

Ugh, tell me about it! I recall seeing a funny stock photography picture of a guy holding a cardboard sign that read, "Will Model For Food!" Never did I think that concept would actually be a reality! haha.

Ha ha that is funny!!!!! I think a lot of people feel that way, in the recession where work is scarce, and pay is less, people may literally feel like they are working just to feed themselves.

At least we get to do interest work along the way!