There is an old saying.
'Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer"
Well my local business competition are not my enemies and to be honest I get on with all I have met. Networking with other photographers has been a key part of my business. I do no advertising other than my web site but my phone rings pretty regularly with work. I pick up work from other photographers regularly and (depending on the job) do it in my name, do it in their name, second shoot for them or provide a sales/print system for them to shoot into.
Networking has also created opportunities to do jobs which would have been too big for one of our businesses on its own. Pairing up allows us to compete with even bigger businesses.
How do you go about networking? Google and have a look who is close to you. Check relevant on-line forums and Facebook groups for posters who are close to you and engage them in conversation. I have yet to meet a single photographer who does not want to talk :-)
Are there any meetings or training sessions being run in your local area? Always worth having a look at these as it is nice to see which of your local businesses are prepared to invest a bit of time outside their working day in developing their skills or network.
I have not found breakfast clubs or other generalised networking groups to be particularly effective. All attending are usually looking to gain more clients (just like you are) but should any have a bit of work for you there is a reasonable chance they will also want 'mates rates' as you are networking buddies.
Ever been asked to help the competition out of a tight spot? This happens every so often and the harder headed would say 'let them sink' and then next time their client may come to me. I have found that saying 'let me help' has borne a good return in jobs passed my way.
Networking can be your cheapest and most targeted advertising. It can also be enjoyable. Meet a like minded photographer every 8 weeks or so for a breakfast/lunch and you will qucikly be having a breakfast/lunch meeting with a different photographer every week and it will be costing you about £15 a week. Not a bad price to pay for your marketing and a lot more enjoyable than giving it to some SEO company.
There is a secondary benefit to networking. One day it could be you who is not feeling well or has run out of media or has just mislaid your assistant. A quick phone call and you will probably have a solution. I now have semi-formal agreements with a couple of photographers to cover for each other in emergencies.
So, yes, you do need to remember that you are competing for business but you don't need to kick each other in the process. On the contrary, you can compete and still work together when and if you need to.
Sunday, 22 September 2013
Maybe don't sell your printers
This is going to be a bit controversial but when you want to replace or upgrade your printers put the old ones in storage or use them as back up printers. One of the elements that makes event photography different to many other types of photography is the ability to print on-site. The printers used to do this are usually good quality dye sublimation roll fed printers and are not cheap. Buying one is usually a considered investment which needs to pay for itself in a timely and reliable manner.
Most photographers will have a good selection of cameras and other kit which is common to both event photographers and general photography. The one thing most photographers do not have is a dye sub printer.
The general cost of entry for someone wanting to add event photography to their photography business has fallen quite significantly over the last 10 years. Very good new and second hand cameras, lights, laptops etc. are readily available and at very good prices when compared with the price of similar equipment even 5 years ago.
So, we have these good quality printers which can produce great images and last for years and then you decide to replace one and sell it to someone who can promptly start competing with you. Your new competition wont have the same experience you have but will now have a printer which has cost between a third and a half of the price of your new one. You have just equipped your competition. For the £400 to £600 you will get for the second hand printer you are helping someone take a piece of your business. Would you sell a good chunk of your business for £400?
You cannot stop someone competing with you but you certainly don't have to help them to do it.
Update:
After all the above I sold my printers!!
A change in the business and a change in general direction for myself meant that I no longer needed a small container load of dye-sub printers. For the time being I have kept one printer which will allow me to service the smaller jobs currently on the books. I may just keep it as it is convenient to be able to produce a quick sample print sometimes.
Update to the update:
I now have three printers but no real intention of getting any more any time soon. An opportunity to develop a part of the business in a way I had not seriously considered required a dedicated printer. So, I'm now back to a small pile of printers. A lot smaller pile than I had but still a pile more than I had envisaged not too long ago.
Most photographers will have a good selection of cameras and other kit which is common to both event photographers and general photography. The one thing most photographers do not have is a dye sub printer.
The general cost of entry for someone wanting to add event photography to their photography business has fallen quite significantly over the last 10 years. Very good new and second hand cameras, lights, laptops etc. are readily available and at very good prices when compared with the price of similar equipment even 5 years ago.
So, we have these good quality printers which can produce great images and last for years and then you decide to replace one and sell it to someone who can promptly start competing with you. Your new competition wont have the same experience you have but will now have a printer which has cost between a third and a half of the price of your new one. You have just equipped your competition. For the £400 to £600 you will get for the second hand printer you are helping someone take a piece of your business. Would you sell a good chunk of your business for £400?
You cannot stop someone competing with you but you certainly don't have to help them to do it.
Update:
After all the above I sold my printers!!
A change in the business and a change in general direction for myself meant that I no longer needed a small container load of dye-sub printers. For the time being I have kept one printer which will allow me to service the smaller jobs currently on the books. I may just keep it as it is convenient to be able to produce a quick sample print sometimes.
Update to the update:
I now have three printers but no real intention of getting any more any time soon. An opportunity to develop a part of the business in a way I had not seriously considered required a dedicated printer. So, I'm now back to a small pile of printers. A lot smaller pile than I had but still a pile more than I had envisaged not too long ago.
Thursday, 18 April 2013
Running an event system from batteries
My outdoor event Print and Viewing Stations run from a battery and inverter system. The battery supplies the basic power in DC (Direct Current) form and the inverter converts this to AC (Alternating Current ie. mains) 230V that my system components (printers, screens, laptops, etc.) can use. I can also run the system from a standard generator if I wanted to but for one day events the battery solution has some plus points. I don't have petrol, diesel or any other explosive or combustible liquid to deal with, it is silent, it is far far cheaper to run and I can run it without worrying about any deadly fumes it may be putting out. However, unless your needs are very simple then the capital cost of a small (1Kw) no-name brand pure sine wave generator will be far less than your capital cost of setting up a battery and inverter solution.
A battery and inverter solution sounds pretty simple on the face of it but there are a ton of wotchas and gotchas to be aware of. Firstly, you will be dealing with mains voltages on the output from the inverter. If kW and VA don't mean a thing to you and RCD sounds like something your doctor jots down in your notes then get a qualified electrician to help you. Seriously, this stuff can kill you.
Sizing your system is an art and again if in any doubt get some professional help. A lot depends on your loadings and how hard each device is working. Eg. a DNP DS40 printer runs at 20W when idle but pushes up to 330W when printing. To size your inverter and batteries you need to know your peak loads (for the inverter) and your average power usage to work out the required battery capacity. It is also handy to know the start up power requirements of anything you are running as some devices can use a surprising amount of power just to get going before they settle down to their average running power requirement.
The type of battery used is nearly as important as the size of battery used. For our purposes a deep discharge leisure battery provides a good balance between capacity and cost. Specialist deep discharge batteries are available for a price but generally you will find it considerably cheaper to just stay within the limits of a good leisure battery.
A typical leisure battery should ideally never be discharged to more than 50% of its capacity. The capacity is usually quoted as A/hr (Amp hours). In broad terms a 12 volt 125 Ahr battery can deliver a current of 1 Amp at 12 volts for 125 hours. That is what the 12v 125Ahr is telling us. It could alternatively deliver a current of 5 Amps for 25 hours (5 x 25 = 125). That is the theory but don't forget we can only use half the available power or we damage the batteries.
Work out your average power usage for the day and once you have an average power usage figure then double it. This covers the 50% maximum DOD (Depth of Discharge). Over discharging the batteries will severely reduce their life. A battery rated at 200 to 250 cycles will probably only achieve half this or less cycles before failing if regularly discharged below 50% of capacity. Ideally, you should also make allowances for the inverter efficiency (typically 85% to 92%) and any cable losses. Quoted capacities for batteries are calculated on a 20 hr discharge rate. You will need to add another 20% (typical value) capacity if you are discharging in 8 hours. Batteries need to be recharged immediately after use or at the latest within 24 hours (this too will have a severe effect on the life of the battery).
Lets use a simple example. I have a printer and laptop and the average power consumption for the two is 60 Watts. Ohms law tells us that Power (Watts) divided by Volts = Current (Amps). For a 12 volt system I can divide the 60 by 12 and this will give me 5 Amps of current being drawn. If I have a 125 Ahr battery then I can divide this by two (to accommodate the maximum DOD of 50%) and then divide the result by 5 (my current).
125 / 2 = 62.5 Ahr (usable battery capacity)
62.5 / 5 = 12.5 hours of system use before reaching the 50% DOD.
You should have a correctly sized fuse for the DC side just in case you accidentally short the cables or there is a problem with the inverter. Remember that your cable, inverter and fuse must be able to cope with peak power requirements as well as average power requirements. In our example (when the DNP DS40 printer is actually printing) the peak power requirement would be in the order of 350 Watts. That is nearly six times the average load and the cables, fuses etc. must be specified to handle this and have a margin of safety. Cable sizing is very important. Too thin a cable on the DC side and there is a serious risk of fire and you will lose a lot of power in the cables themselves.
I use a 24 volt system to keep cable diameters down (4 x 12 volt 125 Ahr batteries wired as two batteries in series in parallel with two more batteries in series). This then requires a 24 volt charger and 24 volt inverter. This gives me 24 volt at 250 Ahr capacity. I have a 1 Kw pure sine wave inverter which can handle peak powers of up to 2Kw.
For four reasonable quality leisure batteries , good cables, fuses and fuse holders, a good 24 volt 15A charger, an RCD breaker and a good 1Kw pure sine wave inverter you should budget in the order of a £1000 pounds.
A battery and inverter solution sounds pretty simple on the face of it but there are a ton of wotchas and gotchas to be aware of. Firstly, you will be dealing with mains voltages on the output from the inverter. If kW and VA don't mean a thing to you and RCD sounds like something your doctor jots down in your notes then get a qualified electrician to help you. Seriously, this stuff can kill you.
Sizing your system is an art and again if in any doubt get some professional help. A lot depends on your loadings and how hard each device is working. Eg. a DNP DS40 printer runs at 20W when idle but pushes up to 330W when printing. To size your inverter and batteries you need to know your peak loads (for the inverter) and your average power usage to work out the required battery capacity. It is also handy to know the start up power requirements of anything you are running as some devices can use a surprising amount of power just to get going before they settle down to their average running power requirement.
The type of battery used is nearly as important as the size of battery used. For our purposes a deep discharge leisure battery provides a good balance between capacity and cost. Specialist deep discharge batteries are available for a price but generally you will find it considerably cheaper to just stay within the limits of a good leisure battery.
A typical leisure battery should ideally never be discharged to more than 50% of its capacity. The capacity is usually quoted as A/hr (Amp hours). In broad terms a 12 volt 125 Ahr battery can deliver a current of 1 Amp at 12 volts for 125 hours. That is what the 12v 125Ahr is telling us. It could alternatively deliver a current of 5 Amps for 25 hours (5 x 25 = 125). That is the theory but don't forget we can only use half the available power or we damage the batteries.
Work out your average power usage for the day and once you have an average power usage figure then double it. This covers the 50% maximum DOD (Depth of Discharge). Over discharging the batteries will severely reduce their life. A battery rated at 200 to 250 cycles will probably only achieve half this or less cycles before failing if regularly discharged below 50% of capacity. Ideally, you should also make allowances for the inverter efficiency (typically 85% to 92%) and any cable losses. Quoted capacities for batteries are calculated on a 20 hr discharge rate. You will need to add another 20% (typical value) capacity if you are discharging in 8 hours. Batteries need to be recharged immediately after use or at the latest within 24 hours (this too will have a severe effect on the life of the battery).
Lets use a simple example. I have a printer and laptop and the average power consumption for the two is 60 Watts. Ohms law tells us that Power (Watts) divided by Volts = Current (Amps). For a 12 volt system I can divide the 60 by 12 and this will give me 5 Amps of current being drawn. If I have a 125 Ahr battery then I can divide this by two (to accommodate the maximum DOD of 50%) and then divide the result by 5 (my current).
125 / 2 = 62.5 Ahr (usable battery capacity)
62.5 / 5 = 12.5 hours of system use before reaching the 50% DOD.
You should have a correctly sized fuse for the DC side just in case you accidentally short the cables or there is a problem with the inverter. Remember that your cable, inverter and fuse must be able to cope with peak power requirements as well as average power requirements. In our example (when the DNP DS40 printer is actually printing) the peak power requirement would be in the order of 350 Watts. That is nearly six times the average load and the cables, fuses etc. must be specified to handle this and have a margin of safety. Cable sizing is very important. Too thin a cable on the DC side and there is a serious risk of fire and you will lose a lot of power in the cables themselves.
I use a 24 volt system to keep cable diameters down (4 x 12 volt 125 Ahr batteries wired as two batteries in series in parallel with two more batteries in series). This then requires a 24 volt charger and 24 volt inverter. This gives me 24 volt at 250 Ahr capacity. I have a 1 Kw pure sine wave inverter which can handle peak powers of up to 2Kw.
For four reasonable quality leisure batteries , good cables, fuses and fuse holders, a good 24 volt 15A charger, an RCD breaker and a good 1Kw pure sine wave inverter you should budget in the order of a £1000 pounds.
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