Aug 25, 2011
On Day 2 of Zaarly Vacation I took part in the most EPIC Zaarly Prank to date! How great is this??
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On Day 2 of Zaarly Vacation I took part in the most EPIC Zaarly Prank to date! How great is this??
Zaarly Vacation NYC: Day 1
What an awesome, relaxing day! Today wasn’t filled with any hazing or crazy Zaarly orders; rather wandering around East Village and hanging out at ZaarlyNYC headquarters. After arriving in New York City last night and getting settled in at a friend’s apartment, I placed 2 offers on Zaarly, enjoyed delivery from Pizza 33, and caught up on some much needed sleep.
Around 1 o’clock today I met the whole team at Zaarly headquarters: Matt, Lily, Pocket, Sarah, and Leo (Lily’s toy poodle). From there, I joined Matt on a Zaarly tour of the East Village, fulfilled by Paul, a native of the area. Before our tour began, we stopped at Artichoke Pizza to devour the most amazing slice of pie I’ve ever tasted. Wandering down Avenue A, Paul told a myriad of tales ranging from personal history to bars and shops music videos were filmed.
Although I was busy clicking away, I do recall him mentioning Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin as well as a bar formerly named after the Son of Sam. The weather was gorgeous with a slight breeze as we strolled back to the Camp Zaarly later in the afternoon. I spent some take capturing images and giving Pocket, the intern, a hard time as well as plotting some fun ideas for the week.
I answered a fun Zaarly order and am anticipating some excitement tomorrow. Following my day with the team, I enjoyed wine with friends and a nice bowl of pasta. My impressions of Zaarly after just one day: I love this company!
Stay tuned for Tuesday’s shenanigans!
Southern Gal Grabs a Piece of the Big Apple
The first Zaarly vacation in which Maria Joyner will visit NYC with zero dollars and leave with money earned solely through Zaarly
When & Where:
Monday, August 22 – Wednesday, August 24, 2011 New York City, New York
What:
Utilizing Zaarly, Maria Joyner will be traveling from Atlanta, Georgia to New York City with zero dollars in hopes of gaining more money through Zaarly New York City network. This new technology platform enables her to connect with people to fulfill as many “orders” as possible while in the city. The experience will be documented through journalistic photography as well as Twitter and Facebook. “The purpose of this documentary is to show Atlantans how easy and amazing Zaarly is,” says Joyner. Atlanta is currently not as popular with Zaarly as the other leading cities. Joyner continues to say, “It is so accessible that an under 30, southern entrepreneur can invade the North and grab her piece of the Big Apple.” This ambitious example of earning money is an effort to enlighten the city of Atlanta and more specifically college students. This new web-based temporary “employment” will allow students to make money through odd jobs in which they can control income. Follow Joyner on her vacation to expand your knowledge of the effortless use of Zaarly. No matter where you are, Zaarly is the place to get what you want when you want it.
About Zaarly
Zaarly is a platform that allows users to easily get the goods, services, and experiences they want. With Zaarly, people can post what they want, when they want it and what price they are willing to pay and someone in the Zaarly community can fulfill it. This two-way, community-powered process provides convenience and flexibility to buyers while allowing sellers to make money fulfilling requests from the people around them. Zaarly is based in San Francisco, CA and is backed by investors, including Ashton Kutcher, Felicis Ventures, Bill Lee, Naval Ravikant, Lightbank, SV Angel, Paul Buchheit, Thrive Capital and Michael Arrington. Zaarly is currently available on the web, mobile web, iPhone and Android application. Visit www.zaarly.com for more information.
About Maria Joyner
Maria Joyner is the CEO of Opportunity & Success LLC, owner Maria Joyner Photography, founder of the Atlanta Chapter of Under30 CEO, creator of Financially Free by 30, and specializes in launching startups through social media strategy. Maria is representing ZaarlyAtlanta in her travels to New York City. Follow on Twitter: @MariaJoyner or www.mariajoyner.tumblr.com
Contact:
Maria Joyner 912-604-3389
Media Contact: Nicole Shields 678-360-3743 [email protected]
A Wonderful Life Series
Worth the Price? TheGCafe asks me about the cost of professional photography.
Meet our family: Lucy, a 7 yr old Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, and Layla, a 3 month old Dauchtsun mix. This is "the first play day".
Why Are Professional Photographers So Expensive?
Why are Professional Photographers so expensive?
The classic article.
This article has been very well received by the photography community, and is published in the December 2009 edition of Professional Photographer Magazine by an undisclosed author.
In this digital age where everyone has cameras, scanners, and home “photo printers,” we hear this all the time: How do professional (or personal) photographers charge $X for an 8×10 when they cost just $1.50 at the drugstore? Simply put, the customer is not just paying for the actual photograph; they’re paying for time and expertise.
The average one-hour portrait session
First, let’s look at the actual work involved:
* Travel to the session * Setup, preparation, talking to the client, etc. * Shoot the photos * Travel from the session * Load images onto a computer * Back up the files on an external drive * 2 – 4 hours of Adobe® Photoshop® time, including cropping, contrast, color, sharpening, and backing up edited photographs. Proof photos are also ordered. * 2 – 3 hours to talk to the client, answer questions, receive order and payment, order their prints, receive and verify prints, package prints, schedule shipment, and ship. * Possibly meet clients at the studio to review photos and place order. Meeting and travel time average 2 hours.
You can see how a one-hour session easily turns into an eight-hour day or more from start to finish. So when you see a personal photographer charging a $200 session fee for a one-hour photo shoot, the client is NOT paying them $200 per hour.
The eight-hour wedding
A wedding photographer typically meets with the bride and groom several times before and after the wedding. And it’s not uncommon to end up with 1,000 – 2,000 photos, much more than a portrait session. Many photographers spend 40-60 hours working on one eight-hour wedding if you look at the time that is truly involved. Again, when a wedding photographer charges $4,000 for eight hours of coverage, clients are NOT paying them $500 an hour!
(Don’t forget that the photographer runs the wedding day to some extent. A comfortable, confident wedding photographer can make a wedding day go more smoothly.)
The expertise and cost of doing business
Shooting professional photography is a skill acquired through years of experience. Even though a DSLR now costs under $1,000, taking professional portraits involves much more than a nice camera.
Most personal photographers take years to go from buying their first camera to making money with photography. In addition to learning how to use the camera, there is a mountain of other equipment and software programs used to edit and print photographs, run a website, etc. And don’t forget backdrops, props, rent, utilities, insurance, etc!
In addition to the financial investment, photographers actually have to have people skills to make subjects comfortable in front of the camera. Posing people to look their best is a skill by itself. You could argue that posing is a more important skill than actually knowing how to use the camera. A poorly exposed photo can be saved, but a badly posed photo cannot.
The chain store photo studio
Chain stores do have their place. For a very cheap price you can run in, shoot some quick photos, and be done with it. But you get what you pay for.
Consider the time and effort that a personal photographer puts into photographs, compared to a chain store. Store sessions last just a few minutes, while a personal photographer takes the time to get to know the people, makes them comfortable, makes them laugh. If a baby is crying at a chain store, they often don’t have the time (or the patience) to wait because everyone is in a hurry.
The truth is that many chain store studios lose money. In fact, Wal-Mart closed 500 of their portrait studios in 2007 because of the financial drain. What the chain stores bank on is a client coming in for quick, cheap photos…and while there, spending $200 on other items. They are there to get you in the door.
The real deal
Professional, personal photographers are just that—professionals. No different than a mechanic, dentist, doctor, or electrician. But a personal photographer often becomes a friend, someone who documents a family for generations with professional, personal photographs of cherished memories.
Maybe we need to help clients look at it this way: A pair of scissors costs $1.50 at the drugstore. Still, most people will gladly pay a lot more to hire a professional hair dresser to cut their hair.
The added attention and quality that a personal photographer gives is worth every penny.
Conclusion
We hope that those who have taken the time to read this page will have a better understanding of why professional photographs, created by a Personal Photographer are so expensive.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.