According to photographer John Mueller it is, and I fully agree with him.
His argument is that if you had to purchase everything he used to re-create this photograph the cost would be $6,612.
And it would actually cost more, as I was going through his list of expenses I did not see the cost of his memory card, his time, the wear and tear on his car, and all the things that go with editing (electricity to run his computer, the value of the space where he did his editing, heat, lights, etc.).
But he makes a great point, that others (and sometimes photographers) undervalue the worth of a photograph. What we do has value, and John gets that.
Please take the time to read John's full article.
And while you're at it be sure to check out the photography at his website and his Flickr page.
6 comments:
wow what amazing photos
When I go to to a resteraunt and purchase a hamburger, I'm not expected to pay for the grill. All businesses have capital investment whose cost gets amortized across many sales of market priced products or services. Whether or not that image is worth 7k depends on many things, but the outright cost of equipment is a poor measure.
Hey Nathan,
He was pretty clear that it wasn’t what it cost him, but what it would cast to start at nothing to re-create it. And he was making the point that the image has value so please don’t ask to use it for free or worse, “snag” it from the web and use it.
And I thoroughly agree that if they did that would be the price his attorney would be asking for in restitution.
Thanks for coming by and taking the time to comment.
Scott
I could stare at that photo all day. I checked out his work. Amazing!
He does have some great work. You're right Scott, it's about the value of it and trying to get that through to the client can be tough sometimes, but after a while people learn to appreciate the value...time effort, gear, etc. Great post.
I agree... There's many things that come in consideration when thinking of what it takes to create an image and they should be considered into pricing.
Is that the price tag that you'd probably put on it to sell for prints or to a stock site? No, but if someone stole it they deserve to pay the penalty for it.
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