Video vs. Photo: How to Get Paid Less for More Work

Video Much Much Harder, Say Longtime Still Photographers – This is an actual Onion headline. Or rather, it would be, if anyone ever listened to me. Jay Fram and Bill Sawalich break down whether photography or videography is actually harder to shoot and price. They compare real day rates for stills vs. b-roll video, why video production pays less than commercial photography despite needing more crew, gear, and post-production, and how one-man-band videographers are undercutting traditional video crews. Topics include client budgeting, video pricing, camera gear for stills vs. cinema work, audio on set, DP and crew day rates, video licensing vs. photo licensing, and freelance photographer business strategy. CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro and why we went quiet for a month 3:36 Today's question: video or photo, which is harder 4:04 Same client, two jobs: stills then video 9:45 Comparing day rates for the same client 13:53 Confidence and control: stills vs video 15:30 The decisive moment vs the continuous take 16:12 The physical toll of shooting video 17:45 The dead mic battery story 19:18 Why client relationships land the jobs 20:30 Where the business is headed 22:33 One-man-band videographers vs traditional crews 27:00 The money's in the details 35:17 Why video crew rates are structurally lower 38:15 Who actually owns the finished video 42:07 Second-shooter authorship on stills 44:37 The DP who learned photography is hard too 46:13 Final verdict, and next episode's tease Today we take a look at the differences between getting hired to make photographs vs. films. I love movies and film and, conceptually, I love to see my pictures move. So why do I dread video jobs, or worse, video + photo jobs? Because it's difficult to do well, that's why. And why does video pay worse for more work? Fight me. "I think everything is hard if you care about it. And I think our world is too full of people who discount the expertise that other people bring to things." – Someone smart FIND US Yell at us or with us on Substack: https://continuousagitation.substack.com Our big dumb faces on YouTube:    / @continuousagitation   Write to us: continuousagitation@gmail.com Read Bill's newsletter, Art + Math: https://artandmath.substack.com Follow Jay:   / jayfram   / https://www.jayfram.com Follow Bill:   / sawalich   / http://sawalich.com Rate and review Continuous Agitation on Apple Podcasts, it actually helps. #podcast #photography #videography #commercialphotography #filmmaking