The reason I am creating this blog is to show people how to do easy photo editing from home so that they do not find themselves in the same situation that I found myself in.
The Story:
Here is the story behind the reason that I am creating this blog. Back in May of 2010 my girlfriend and I were looking for a photographer in Knoxville to take our maternity pictures before our baby boy arrived. Well, my girlfriend got the bright idea to look on Craigslist for the photographer that she was going to use.
At first it sounded like a great idea because we were offered a free session and a free 5X7. However, when we went to look at the pictures we found that the prices were some of the highest in town, and decided that we were not going to spend that kind of money on maternity photographs.
As a part of getting the maternity session we were also offered a free newborn session when our baby was born. We already knew the picture price but decided that we would go ahead and take our photographer up on the free session anyway.
Well, after the session on the walk back to the car I started talking about working and the photographer asked me what I did for a living. I told her that I was an Internet Marketer and that I did a lot of SEO work for people in Knoxville and all over the world. That is when she told me that she needed something like that done to make her website more visible to the people who are looking for a Knoxville photographer.
Me being the kind hearted individual that I am offered to trade my work in exchange for hers. I was hoping to maybe get a few pictures in exchange for doing some work to help increase the exposure of the photographers site and to help her gain new customers. She agreed that it was a great idea and said she would be in touch.
I was excited about the new venture and was looking forward to the challenge ahead, so I went home and started putting together a few Squidoo lenses that I could show as an example of the type of work that I could produce for her. She was very impressed and seemed to be just fine until it came down to the trade we were going to make.
I told her what type of things that I could do for her and told her what the prices are that I charge for my service, and asked her if she would be willing to give us a few pictures from both of the sessions that we had with her.
She replied back and told me that she was not interested in giving me any sessions but instead would give me some free session fees. Kind of ironic to me because that is what I was given in exchange for nothing when we first decided to use her. Also, I was not interested in session fees. I wanted some pictures that I could hang around my home and cherish for the rest of my life. After all, what I was going to do for her website was going to last for the rest of the time she owned her business. Why couldn't I get the same in return?
So, finding myself back in the same boat that I was already in (wanting to get pictures) and not being able to get the pictures that I wanted I decided to propose another type of trade. After being shot down on the free pictures idea I proposed that she send me the picture files that she had uploaded to her computer and edited.
The following email is what I got in return:
Jeff,
I think that is where we are miscommunicating. In my opinion my sessions are the very center of what I do. The session fees are for the time and talent it takes to capture moments in a way that will last a lifetime. I think that, just like you said about what you do, that is something that is hard for people to understand. The sessions and the editing are what creates what lasts a lifetime.
I truly do see the value in what you do, which is why I offered to pay for your service. Asking me to give the files is the equivalent of me asking you to tell me exactly how to do what you do. Just as you have trade secrets (for lack of a better term) that set you apart from the others offering the same service and preventing your clients from just doing what you do on their own my files are the same way. I hope this perspective helps to explain a little better why I can't do it.
(I don't want you to think I am ignoring you, but I will be out for the rest of the afternoon with clients, so I will not get any further emails until late tonight)
Jess
Jessica Weltner
Reflections by Jess Photography
I find a couple of things funny about this email. One is the fact that I was never offered payment for my services, and two, if you can pay for my services then why can you not send me some free photographs in the first place? Then I would have never even asked for the picture files.
I also find it funny that photographers know that if you know how to edit your own photos you will not need their services. What she probably did not know before she sent this email to me was that I already know how to do all of the editing that she does, and now that she has pissed me off I am going to show everyone how to do it.
Oh, and by the way, I have no problem showing anyone what I do to get websites to the top of Google. Unlike some people I am not selfish or greedy. I am also not so naive to think that I am the only one who knows how to get sites to the top of Google for the keywords that I am targeting. In fact, I have a blog set up that offers free Internet Marketing help to anyone who needs it. You can get there by going to www.JefferySherwood.com.
If you want to learn secrets that would put photographers out of business for good and no longer want to pay the high prices that they charge for getting photographs of your loved ones then make sure to bookmark this blog and come back. I am going to be posting videos that will show you how to do exactly what photographers do when they edit your pictures.
