Buying the Disc

"Can't I just buy the disc?"

We hear this question a lot.  And honestly I think most people don’t understand what an insult this is in the photography industry.  

Some photographers won’t sell you image rights (i.e. the disc) ever.  Never ever.  

Clients buy discs
for 4 reasons.

Some photographers, usually those who are just starting out and don’t really have their feet under them yet, only sell discs. They sell discs because they don’t have their vendors or their work established yet. This tends to change as they grow and improve.

Typically, people buy discs of images and they don’t do anything with them. Surveys tell us that people buy a disc of portraits, planning on printing pictures, and never do.

Clients buy discs for 4 reasons.
1) Cost - They hope to save money. 
2) Insecurity - Unsure of the best product choices, they put off making decisions.
3) Repetition - This is the way they’ve done it in the past.
4) Control - They want to know they can have additional copies down the road.

We are in the business of creating artwork, and artwork is meant to be seen.

Troutman Photography has gone back and forth on this issue over the years. We sold discs.  We stopped selling discs.  We started selling them again, but changed the prices drastically. We’ve hemmed and hawed, and gone all the way around this issue.

Multiple times.

Here’s where we are now.  

We want to sell you art.  We are in the business of creating artwork - and artwork is meant to be seen.  Not on a disc, in a drawer. Or on your hard drive.

So we create artwork for you with your images; leather albums, canvas collages, metal art pieces, etc; and then allow you to purchase copies of the digital images at a drastic discount to do with what you like. Hopefully everybody wins.

As the industry continues to change and grow, this issue will also continue to evolve.  Call us if you have questions. We’re always happy to chat.

Clare Troutman

*Note: Discs fail.  If you buy a disc of images from anyone, or just pull them off your phone, please make sure you have the files placed on a solid state hard drive.  Even a thumbdrive will work.  Most CD/DVDs have a 5-10 year shelf life.  That is not long enough for those precious pictures of your child’s first steps

 

****** The above doesn't affect B2B projects, they are composed for the digital images, to help with their marketing*******

Clare Troutman
503-871-5505
clare@troutmanphoto.com
Albany, OR

Clare Troutman began her career in 1999 as a content editor for one of America’s 360-degree imaging companies. There Clare earned her dot com veteran status and has since used that knowledge for small business start-ups, marketing, and project management. Clare has spent the last decade to help to elevate corporations, nonprofits, and Troutman Photography.

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