Photo editing

[Gareth S]

Not really sure where to put this "idea", but here seemed the best option:

Do you think there is a market out there for photgraphers to just take the photos, then pass the images on to a 3rd party, we shall call this person a business partner for arguements sake, to process the images as per the client requirements/instructions?

It could either be a trusted friend close by, or someone at the other end of the country that does the processing for you.

Only reason i thought of this is if someone has a genuine passion for photograpghy, but not an ounce of editing skill, then this could possibly work as a business concept.

Have submitted this idea to the patent office as it makes sense to me.

 

[TCR4x4]

Pretty sure similar already exsits, and I think the majority of photographers dont want to pass control of thier images to some 3rd party to mess around with.

Just my opinion of course.

 

[Gareth S]

Pretty sure similar already exsits, and I think the majority of photographers dont want to pass control of thier images to some 3rd party to mess around with.

Just my opinion of course.

Werent aware this already exists. Damn it. Hope i can catch the cancellation of this in time.

I can understand not wanting to pass control, but if there is a spefic contract in place between tog and editor, then that would take some of the "risk" out of the deal no?

 

[Manninagh]

Hmm... but don't we have a picture in our minds eye of how the processed photo will look?
You may not get back what you percieved, and be very disappointed with what a third party see's as the optinum processing.

 

[Musicman]

Do you think there is a market out there for photgraphers to just take the photos, then pass the images on to a 3rd party, we shall call this person a business partner for arguements sake, to process the images as per the client requirements/instructions?

[emphasis added]

These days it's called an artwork studio - at least in the advertising production process.

In the days of yore, when film was king (I know it's a long time ago, little over a decade) there were specialist photographic (master) printers who worked in close collaboration with photographers to produce prints to their specification.

Cartier Bresson, Ansel Adams, etc. all had their particular favourite printers that they trusted and worked with, exclusively in some cases. A lot of very famous photographers hardly ever did any work in a darkroom themselves.

They still exist. - e.g. http://www.robinbell.com/

 

[Gareth S]

Hmm... but don't we have a picture in our minds eye of how the processed photo will look?
You may not get back what you percieved, and be very disappointed with what a third party see's as the optinum processing.

I guess that could form part of the contract between the two though. Subtle retouches that meet your requirements / expectations all as part of the package/cost.

 

[TCR4x4]

There are hundreds of companies online that do retouches and full blown photoshop work to images. So I'd say thats pretty similar to what you are suggesting.
I imagine these places arent cheap, they probably charge by the hour. You'd have to pay whoeve it i s doing the work, and you'd have to pass that cost onto your customer.

Surely it would be wiser to invest that money into training so you can just do the work yourself.

 

[DigitalRelish]

There are hundreds of companies online that do retouches and full blown photoshop work to images. So I'd say thats pretty similar to what you are suggesting.
I imagine these places arent cheap, they probably charge by the hour. You'd have to pay whoeve it i s doing the work, and you'd have to pass that cost onto your customer.

Surely it would be wiser to invest that money into training so you can just do the work yourself.

Not everyone has the aptitude or the willingness to do it even with training. There will always be someone who can do it better/faster and using a third party frees your valuable time up to do something else whether that's being with family or other income generating activities.

Not for everyone and not everyone can fit it into their processes, but if you want your business to be scalable you don't want to turn yourself into a bottleneck.