Need Advice On Photo Editing Service...

[Camilla and Darwin]

This is kind of an awkward post for me to write, but I would really appreciate everyone's input. I have been considering starting a photo editing service.,

DH and I are in the process of saving up so we can move and go back to school, and my job just isn't cutting it. Since I do so much photo editing for people already, and love it, I thought it may be a good option for me. I am lucky to own some really good editing software, and I have become pretty darn proficient at using it. So I'm trying to figure out if this is a good or bad idea, what services I would offer, etc. I would appreciate honest frank thoughts on this. :-)

Right now I'm trying to decide how to group the services. One thought I had was different tiers.

Base: Lighting and color fix, red eye removal, crop

Medium: All of the base plus sharpening, other effects like background blur or special filters.

Advanced: cloning, portraiture, etc.

Or, I could just list everything separately. I also wanted to have a custom category where I could do books similar to this, and this. As well as photo restoration, things like that. Pricing is really hard for me to decide, but I'm considering pricing it so that people could have me do batches of photos. 

example: 25cents per photo in the base plan, 50 cents for medium plan, 1 dollar for advanced, etc. As far as photo books or other custom work I have no idea yet.

Here are some before and after examples I've made.

Cloning: 

(thank you Nancy for allowing me to use this example)

Leash removal:

Basic fix:

Middle package: 

Portraits:

As well as some of the photo effects I can do

Do you think these examples are okay? Any you would like to see, or would not like to see? Am I forgetting any services that should be offered?

I hope I am not doing anything wrong by asking for advice here. Just a request for honest opinions. Thanks!

[Donna K & Quincy]

Send me a message with your e-mail, and I'll send along some.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Of course there is nothing wrong with asking for this advice. I love your examples. I think this is a great idea but I have no idea how financial successful it will be. I would say you should do it part time without giving up your job at first if possible. As to the pricing that is a mystery to me too. Jane, mentions photo restoration but I don't know about that. Many people wouldn't be able to scan their photos and then you'd have to get involved with mailing, which could be a pain. Unfortunately, one thing working against you is that the people who would most likely want and benefit from your expertise are the least tech/computer savvy so they would be the least likely to find and utilize your site. Certainly you would need to have a much wider potential customer base than DK, friends or family could offer.

[Camilla and Darwin]

All good points. Perhaps I should explain my job situation so this all makes a little more sense. I have a part time job, but I get almost no work. I'm talking 3 hours a week. So I'm home almost always, and I haven't been able to get another job. So, since I'm always home I thought perhaps I could make a little bit of money doing this. Not sure if it will work, but even if I make only 10 dollars a day (perhaps that is too optimistic? LOL) then it would be worth it.

You have a very good point about the customer base. I hadn't thought of that. Perhaps I could focus more on the more difficult edits, like the photo books, photo restoration, difficult cloning, etc? For those that ARE tech savy just don't know editing well?

[Donna K & Quincy]

Being able to make prints for your customers would also be a plus.

[F, Calla & Luca]

The restoration and difficult edits might be feasible. As to the book, Kodak and Snapfish have pretty easy ones if people know how to upload. I think they would be hard to compete with.My son and his SO Sarah gave me a book, primarily of my garden, a few of my son and doodles, that was done through Apple. It is simply beautiful, but Sarah is a great photographer.

I have worked all my life in a fee for service profession where my time  and expertise is all I offer. Not that I have anything to complain about but that is no way to really make money. The way to really make money is to sell some mass produced thing or have some robotic service like thing so your talents are multiplied many fold.

[Camilla and Darwin]

The photo books I am referring to are the ones in which I edited Darwin and my nephew doing fun things together. It wouldn't be the photo book printing that is the service, simply the edits of a custom adventure book, using your dog/kid's photos.

[Leslie J]

I think this is a great idea!  Probably everyone in the photography group is savvy at photo-editing, but there are lots of people like me who are comfortable with working online but for one reason or another haven't taken the time to master a photo-editing program.  The challenge would be finding a way to market your service.

[Linda and "Toby"]

Hi Camilla,

First let me say that I think you are an exceptional photographer, and your editing/post-processing shops are superb! Having worked from home for many, many years, I can appreciate your situation.

These samples are great. (The very first one says "cloning" but I think you meant cropping.) You might be able to make a little bit of money at it, but I think it will always amount to pocket change. "Tens of dollars" a month as opposed to a hundred or more. Hrmmmm.... if you decide to go this route, I would suggest offering to make custom greeting cards or notecards for people with their photos, and sell them in a set of 6 or 12.

Have you considered trying to sell your photos as artwork on Etsy, Ebay, Fine Art America, etc.? You could offer them as prints or matted/framed, etc. 

[F, Calla & Luca]

Unfortunately notecards are available, with one's own photos, from Kodak etc. Again I think you'd be hard pressed to be their prices. I did one through them, a year ago, of the snow calendar picture with C and L.

[Camilla and Darwin]

I actually did mean cloning. If you look, you will see that I removed the camera bag from the photo and used cloning to put the quilt pattern back in.

You are probably right about not earning much. Right now I'm trying to decide if it's enough to be worth it. I mean, I don't really have a lot to lose by trying. :-) 

I haven't thought much about selling my photos, as I know that it is a super competitive market.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I think you're right....you have nothing to lose by trying.  There's no upfront investment since you already have the expertise and equipment.  You might want to launch a website, but there's very little expense with that.  I say give it a try....it's not like you're quitting a job to do it.  It sounds like a challenge....and that is good for all of us.

[Amy, Kokomo & Killian]

Hi Camilla,

 

I know I am not that active in this group, but I read almost daily and am trying to learn how to take better pictures by looking at all of the talent in here...but I had to share my experience.  In 2002, I started a company called DigiMemStudios, LLC.  (google it...you will find traces of it out there).  I had an oustanding (for the time period) photo printer and scanner that could handle slides and negatives and a 5 MP superzoom digital camera that cost me more than the SLR I have now.

The site started out as a service where I would scan negatives and produce prints or a CD.  My first client was from FL and it was for 100s of slides!  I thought I was going to be all set...but that was the only one of that caliber.  So, I expanded.  I offered photo restorations/edits, etc.   I was teaching Photoshop and Illustrator at a local high school, so I had tons of time to practice and improve...and to reach out to people in the community and show what I could do.  I did TONS of restorations --- yellowed photos, torn, faded, water damaged, etc. That did very well...I did more business for friends and acquaintances than anything, though.  Very few people back then had scanners or knew how to get a good-quality scan and then upload to my site.  So, again...eventually it slowed down.  I began offering photo invitations and birth announcements...that was a big hit!  I did 100s of custom cards where I edited photos, applied filters, printed on vellum and assembled with ribbon and cardstock.  I became a reseller of wedding invitations (all of the big books that you can purchase from at any wedding planning place).  I got myself listed in several directories (dmoz.org had me as the top result for scanning of negatives). 

If you have never seen this site before, it is pretty cool --- they have archives of most every site out there (including mine).  This is a capture of my site from Feb 2003:  The baby in the pics is my 10 year old son that you can see in my photo albums.  http://web.archive.org/web/20041208023517/http://www.digimem-studio...

April 2004: http://web.archive.org/web/20040430150516/http://digimem-studios.co...

http://web.archive.org/web/20040404013201/http://digimem-studios.co...

 

My family grew faster than my business...as I started to get off the ground, sites like Kodak Gallery and Shutterfly took off too. By 2005, they were able to offer some of the same print services at a lesser cost.  So, what I am trying to say is, it is hard to compete with big companies.  If you are looking for a hobby with recognition -- go for it!  It is exciting and rewarding.  But be sure to promote yourself in circles (like DK) where you may find people who are unaware of what the possibilities are and how to make them happen on their own.    Good luck!!  I hope my experince helps.

 

Amy