Thanks for the thoughtful comment Tracy.

Thanks for the comment Todd. I appreciate you adding to the conversation.

To be fair to Jesh, he went “on air” the next to clarify what you get for the 1-on-1. It’s not a 1-day workshop. It’s a full on consultation and implementation plan with a money back guarantee. (He should have made that clear up front).

With regards to the 8×10, the justification for the $150 8×10 is totally valid. We all get that. But to the average consumer who doesn’t know about all that work (or care to be frank), it’s still over-priced. Just like most of us didn’t know what really went into Jesh’s 1-on-1. And even now that we know, some people STILL wouldn’t pay that much.

I believe if we can educate clients as to what goes into our work, that would help…some.

Thanks again for participating.

Good discussion as well about the price of an 8×10. Sure in the US a person can certainly go to the mass market stores such as Costco, Walgreens, etc and get a print for less than $0.50 but will it be a quality print? More than likely not. Paying a photographer $150 for one 8×10 in my opinion is not expensive at all. Where I live this kind of price is not unheard of nor is it deemed expensive. Once you factor in the burning of the CD, going to a quality lab to get it printed, the cost of printing, picking up the print, delivering it to the client, you have already spent quite a bit of time which equals money.

I wouldn’t pay $16,500 for a 1-on-1 workshop with Jesh. I think the things he has to say are valuable, and I am investing in his Life as an Artform workshop, but I can’t afford $16,500 and I won’t pretend I can.

Some photographers out there do charge $16,500 for wedding coverage. Others (like me) don’t. But wedding photographers would be total hypocrites if we berated Jesh for his markup and in the same breath justified our own. He has placed a value on his service (read his blog for a more in-depth description of what his service provides – it’s more than you think) based on his previous experience in offering the same service to other studios, their return on investment, etc. And due to his popularity, I can’t imagine him offering the same service for $1000 a day because he would simply spend every day for the next 10 years or more giving 5,000 1-on-1’s.

I’m not saying that it’s not a huge investment and I’m not suggesting that it couldn’t be better spent. But I also realise that some studios can benefit from it and I’m not the one to judge that.

It’s the crap spewing forth from Twitter that makes me cross, because it demonstrates how nasty and judgmental people can be (not the ones giving a balanced opinion or criticism, but the ones dishing up outright hate) about something they clearly have done little research on. And more than anything, it’s the hypocrisy from other photographers that makes my blood boil.

The “perception of value” comparison between Jesh’s 1-on-1 price and a photographer’s 8″x10″ really hit home. Doesn’t matter a squat that the value of the 8″x10″ lies in our equipment, overheads and experience; it’s the perception of the consumer that will dictate its value. (A family of four with no understanding of how our industry works won’t care; they’ll think it’s ludicrous to spend $150 on a piece of paper they can buy for $0.20 from Walmart). Likewise, some photographers think it’s ludicrous that Jesh offers a 1-on-1 for $16,500 without taking into account his experience, overheads and the product he has to offer.

Rant over.

I love the Lynn. We’re all just squirrels trying to get a nut.. 🙂

It’s funny you mentioned curing cancer. In a way, we CAN cure cancer with our craft: http://bladeronner.com/2011/03/08/you-can-cure-cancer-with-your-craft/