Are you buying jewelry photography for the first time? This brief guide will help you understand and navigate the process of buying jewelry photography.
Are you buying jewelry photography for the first time? This brief guide will help you understand and navigate the process of buying jewelry photography.
When buying jewelry photography, there are four key things you must consider. Before contacting a professional jewelry photographer, it is worth taking a little time to prepare to discuss your specific needs and the details of your project.
Do your homework by asking yourself the following four questions:
First: How do you plan to utilize the images of your jewelry?
Will the images be used primarily for a web site? Perhaps printed as postcards? Maybe in a catalog or magazine for advertising, or just for inventory record purposes? Perhaps you will utilize the jewelry photography for one purpose now and for a different purpose in the future.
Second: How much of your inventory you need photographed?
If your sample line is vast, will you photograph hundreds of items? This can be expensive. Could you start with photographing just the essence of your collection at the beginning, make some sales with those images, recover some of your initial investment, and get more images later? The technique of PII (progressive inventory imaging) is a practical way to acquire great looking images on a limited budget. Do you plan to advertise your jewelry online? The cost of getting people to an online store is not a negligible amount! The more striking images you display on your site, the greater the chances for customers to come back for more!
Third: Do you want to ‘own’ the images?
The term “buying” photography is not accurate because one does not buy the photograph, but rather buys a license or the rights to reproduce a certain image of photographed jewelry.
Federal copyright laws specify that the images created by the photographer become the creator’s intellectual property and thereby belong to the photographer. The photographer owns the images produced of your jewelry, and you, the client, buy the license to use or reproduce those images for your specific needs, for a specified length of time. When dealing with professional jewelry photographer, you will find those usage rights specified on the estimate sheet you should be receiving prior to commencing with the assignment.
If you expect to ‘own’ the digital image since you paid for the assignment, no problem, you certainly can, but you would be paying more than you actually need to. If the sole serving purpose of your digital image is to unlock your customers' wallets, displaying a digital reproduction of your jewelry will produce income regardless of image ownership. The question is in what proportion?
Look at it this way, what would you pay and consider fair value for a digital image that represents your diamond ring, which retails for $1200.00 in your online store? Let’s say you are comfortable with $15.00. Would you want to pay the same price for that same image if it was going to be used additionally in a national print ad campaign? Of course not, it has a greater value because it will produce more income. How about if it would be also used to create co-op catalogs? Definitely, the image has a greater value yet. A digital reproduction of your jewelry produces income!
The cost of your photography is relative to its income producing power; therefore, you compensate the asset-creator accordingly. That is called ‘usage’. Usage saves money. You buy only what you need. Why pay for the above-mentioned three usages if you are going to use it for the online store only? You can re-license the image for any additional usage, when needed, and save the money for inventory!
Here are some stock-house image "usage" examples:
Printed Marketing Material or Product/Packaging:
An image used in any brochure or other printed material such as direct mail, public relations or sales material distributed to a targeted audience for commercial purposes. Includes use in product packaging. Additional usage, brochure or direct mail, annual report, travel catalogs, packaging.
Web and Electronic Broadcast
An image used in any web, electronic broadcast media such as the Internet, email, television or presentation software. Includes use in any motion picture, video or theatrical production. Additional uses, corporate website, web advertisements, TV commercial, entertainment program, infomercial, feature film, music video.
Print Ad or Display
An image used in any print advertisement, billboard, tradeshow, or in-store for national advertisement, point of purchase counter display, in-store posters, store wall décor, tradeshow panel or presentation.
All Commercial Uses or ‘Unlimited Usage’ Use in any medium intended for commercial or promotional purposes.
‘Unlimited Usage’ would be giving you the greatest asset and the most costly option, but you probably don’t really need it all. Plan ahead, be specific, and save money.
Fourth: Who will be assigned to create those striking images?
The other day the phone rang in my studio and the inquisitive stranger on the other side asked: “How much?”
“How much for what?” I asked
“Well” he continued, “for taking pictures of my jewelry of course”
“That depends on the kind of jewelry you would like us to photograph” I said, to which he hurriedly replied, “What does it matter, jewelry is jewelry.”
This conversation went on for some time, ending with an agreement to photograph a single jewelry item for this potential new client, at no cost, through our Free Digital Capture (FDC) Program. We agreed to continue the dialog after he inspected the digital capture. He felt comfortable knowing that seeing the image of his product would help demystify the ‘unknown’.
A seasoned, professional jewelry photographer will want to take the time to understand the specific needs of your unique project. I would recommend discussing a project with more than one candidate. Describe your project as specifically as you can and provide the photographer with a layout or a sample of a style you like.
When discussing cost, do not confuse the real purpose of jewelry photography by thinking that the best value is from the cheapest price. Beyond cost, you must make sure to receive great photography that represents your jewelry line at its BEST, for those images will become the most valuable and least expensive Public Relations agent and SALES person your company will ever have.
In Conclusion: Thinking about the above four considerations ahead of time will help clarify your needs and will enable you to better communicate those needs with the jewelry photographer.
Applying what we discussed here will help you achieve a most desired outcome: Obtaining the best jewelry photography suited to both your unique artistic needs and personal budget.
For more jewelry photography tips and information, including info about the Free Digital Capture (FDC) Program , please visit http://www.jewelryphotographyonly.com
About Author
Avi Roth is the founder of Digital Jeweller: Digital Jewelry Photography Solutions. His elegant jewelry photography can be seen in Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Martha Stewart Weddings, and other prominent publications. Roth has received numerous awards recognizing his professional virtuosity, but he feels most rewarded by sharing his knowledge with others who share his passion for photography. For more jewelry photography tips and information, including info about the Free Digital Capture (FDC) Program , please visit http://www.jewelryphotographyonly.com
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