Cosplayer Credits in the order that they appear:
Death Knight by Dust Bunny Cosplay
Original Cinderella Design by - SunsetDragon
Original Big Bad Wolf Design by Dust Bunny Cosplay
Link by MilkyPamyuPamyu
All photography by AshB images
ashbimages.com
Who’s afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
Original Big Bad Wolf costume made and modeled by Dust Bunny Cosplay
Photography by AshB images
For more costume and cosplay photos, visit AshBimages.com and like Facebook.com/AshBphotos
Please reblog! <3
Just my opinions on the lastest cosplay controversy.
I’ve discussed pricing before on my Tumblr. If you’d like to read and share those articles:
Ridiculous Photography Pricesss
http://heyashb.tumblr.com/post/48751054577/ridiculous-photography-pricesss
and
Its Not Fair for Photographers to Charge to Shoot
http://heyashb.tumblr.com/post/44834702331/its-not-fair-for-photographers-to-charge-to-shoot
To look at my photos!!!
Websites - http://ashbimages.com/#
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AshBphotos
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Hey_AshB
Tumblr - http://heyashb.tumblr.com/
Instagram - http://instagram.com/hey_ashb
DeviantArt - http://ashbimages.deviantart.com/
Back in March I made a blog post responding to the most common reasons why some think its unfair for cosplay photographers to charge for their services. This post is also about charging for shoots, but its mostly touching on why I charge and how I came up with my pricing. Its also a response to some feedback I have gotten for it.
I have been asked by other photographers how to come up with pricing for shoots. I have also consulted other photographers when making my own pricing. PRICING ISN’T EASY. There is a lot to consider if you are taking what you are doing seriously. For example, who is my market? Am I shooting only at conventions? What conventions am I shooting at? How many shoots do I plan on booking? How much time am I spending post processing on each image? How much time am I dedicating to photos before, during and after each shoot and each convention? etc Everyone is going to answer those questions differently so every photographer is going to have different prices.
Why do you have to charge?
I simply cannot attend conventions without working and making money there. If I didn’t, I’d only be going to one convention a year (which would be MAGfest for reasons) I pay my way to conventions with the money I make from shoots. I also maintain and purchase camera equipment. I WISH I could pay my bills with cosplay photography money, but I’m no where near that yet.
How did you come up with your pricing?
When I first started shooting, I knew that I couldn’t just go to my first con and expect people to just throw their money at me (I still don’t actually) I knew I would have to shoot to build a portfolio of high quality imagery as well as a good reputation with cosplayers as someone they’d like to work with. The first convention that I started charging at, my shoots were $20-$35. I wanted my shoots to be priced low because I still considered myself a newb and more importantly, I wanted people to afford me. That seemed to work great because I quickly filled up my schedule for the entire weekend. But when there are pros, there are also cons. The amount of work I was doing was doing during and after the shoots was intense. I also had the terrible problem of last minute cancellations and no shows. So for the next convention I raised prices slightly and added a booking fee.
Now this was something that I was really nervous about doing. I was nervous about the possibility of negative feedback. Who would want to pay the $35-$50 price with an additional $10 to book me when they could get another photographer for less or free? Well, the answer is: a lot of people. So much so, I squeezed people into my convention weekend jam packing my schedule to get as many cosplayers in. I had a really hard time saying no to someone because of how much they said they wanted ME to photograph them. That is always touching to me and I wanted to photograph everyone who asked me.
That was the worst thing I could have possibly done for myself.
My schedule was literally back to back shoots from 10am-10pm for two days. I had less cancellations and no shows which is really good, but my body was screaming at me during my later shoots that I just didn’t have the energy to do. Then when I got home I had all of the photos I had to post process within my two week turnaround time. The money from the shoots was okay, but not worth the stress I put on to myself. My back to back schedule also made the quality of my work go down. That’s the thing I regret the absolute most. I didn’t have the time to really work with my cosplayers to chose unique locations and poses. I didn’t have the time to really spend time post processing and creating artistic imagery. I can’t blame anyone for that but myself.
So having that convention as experience, I now know that my pricing AND my scheduling process had to change. So now I do this:
Book less shoots
Why? Instead of shoot 15 cosplays in one day, if I shoot 5, I have more time to plan ahead to scout unique locations, negotiate payment plans, concentrate on directing each shoot and post process each image. If I can take MORE TIME on each cosplayer, on each photo shoot, on each image, my quality is way better.
I’m sure that you all can tell which images I spent time shooting and processing and which images were just pushed out like on an assembly line. I’m so sorry that it happened, but I now know how to avoid it ever happening again.
I am currently pricing my photo shoots based on the quality I know I can deliver. The quality that I KNOW I WILL DELIVER.
If you want to guarantee time with me and photos from me, then hire me to shoot your costume. If not, go elsewhere. That’s perfectly fine with me. There are plenty of other photographers out there. You have an abundance of choices.
I touched on it briefly in my original post, but most cosplayers just don’t get it. Photography isn’t supposed to be “cheap”. Photography isn’t supposed to be “easy.” The prices that you see that are $50 and less are crazy low and its basically like giving your images away. I can’t do that anymore. I won’t.
So what are you charging now?
I have three tiers or levels of pricing. They can be viewed here along with additions and discounts.
My most expensive tier on my current pricing scale is $200 for a 60 minute shooting session at a planned location with 5 final high res images processed and delivered digitally. To be placed on my schedule (for any tier), you must make a 50% down payment. The other 50% is due at the time of the shoot. I have started booking for my next convention, more than 3 months in advance.
I don’t expect everyone to just have $200 to spend on cosplay photography. I don’t expect everyone to WANT to spend $200 on cosplay photography. However, if I’m going to spend 10+ hours on each image like this one, and then have 5 images total, $200 is a bargain. I also want to make sure that the people who hire me, hire me for more than just, they “want some picture”. I’m not for everyone, and that’s okay. There are plenty of other photographers to consider. Just please don’t expect them to cheapen their services because you don’t see their value.
I do take unplanned photos at conventions. If you run into me and I’m not doing anything, I can photograph you. However, if I shoot your costume for free, I’m going to work it my way. You won’t be able to decide which photos I edit and you just may never see those photos ever again. Its a personal project. But when you book me, you are hiring me to work for you. You will get a product and you will get a service. You can help me plan it and you can call the shots.
Bottom Line
Its not about being an elitist or ripping people off. Its about understanding that there is great value in private and personal photography. There are reasons for the decisions that every person running a business makes. I am trying my best to price the service I provide and the product I deliver while keeping not only the cosplayer in mind, but myself too.
Here’s some kinda cute faces after looking awkward as hell in that other video. I shouldn’t be recorded while talking ever.
Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJ-R4Mp-d4o
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151618535365229&set=vb.257190091024924&type=3&theater
(How stupid does my thumbnail look???)
Otakon pricing info here - https://www.facebook.com/notes/ashb-images/ashb-images-price-list/439129862830945
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Website - http://ashbimages.com/#
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it’s seriously one of the reasons I want to quit cosplay photography. I hate how obsessed people are with likes, both cosplayers AND photographers. It’s as bad as a high school popularity contest.
I sometimes feel that photographers want to take pictures of a famous cosplayer just so they can get likes and be more “popular.”
Many times I’ll avoid shooting famous cosplayers because I know they’ve already got tons of exposure and they’ve also got great photographers too. They don’t need me. I’d rather shoot someone unknown that has a cosplay that I’m interested in.
One of my photographer friends told me this: “Likes are almost like pity. People see a picture of their friend tagged in their feed and just like it, whether it’s good or not” So to me I’ve never really seen the need for “likes” What I value are the occasional comment and private messages I get that talk about specific aspects of a photo that I took. Especially if it’s from a fellow photographer.
I’m very tired of the fame game. Cosplayer or photographer, if you do this for fame/likes… you’ll never be happy. EVER. Do your hobby for yourself and for your own enjoyment. The moment it becomes a job/work is the moment you lose your love for the art and trade it for money and fame. It’s just not worth it.
I agree but not entirely.
Photography is my hobby.
Photography is my past time.
Photography is my stress reliever.
Photography is my self expression.
Photography is my passion.
Photography is also my job.
Photography is also my income.
Photography is also the largest part of who I am as a person.
I can make work and make money doing photography and still love every single second of it. The money won’t change my passion. The fame won’t make me forget where I started and why I fell in love with photos in the first place. I don’t care about that stuff.
My goal is to be successful. MY definition of successful; and doing what I truly love, which is photography.
So there’s a Korean video trend going around andddd I wanted to join in the fun. A singer named Hari made Gwiyomi or “The Cutie Song” and adorable girls everywhere are making these videos to go along with it! Seriously, check them out, they are toooo cutttteeeee. n___n
Here are a couple of my favorites:
