Black Label Photography

[amster65]

P. T. Barnum said something appropriate, but I can't rememeber what it was. Anyone remember?

 

LOL

 

 

Think W.C. Fields had a similar remark........:D

[nana51]

An 8x10 is $0.89 at Costco, and I assume Costco is making a heavy profit even there. Double that cost to put it on a ship, then double it a few more times to make HAL a profit and Black Label (whoever they are) a profit - even if the cost was $5 or $10 per 8x10 I'd never leave a cruise without a dozen of them.

 

 

 

 

 

This kind of comment just shows a lack of understanding. You're all missing the point:

 

When you go to Costco you're paying $0.89 for a piece of paper with one of your own images on it. In that respect your simply paying for the materials.

 

Oil paint and canvas cost very little but people routinely pay thousands of dollars for pieces of artwork that are created with those materials.

 

It's just the same here. You're not paying for the $0.89 piece of paper, you're paying for the experience, and the artwork that is created by the photographer who has himself spent years perfecting his craft and has also been trained by the person who developed the Black Label program.

 

It's interesting to see that not one person here has said they don't like their pictures. Every single person said there's no way they'd part with them and they're a fantastic memory of themselves or family at a certain point in their lives.

 

So it seems that people want incredible images, they just don't want to pay for them!

 

Some of you hit the nail on the head . . . . you can spend the same amount of money on a tour that lasts a day and what do you have to show for it? A tee shirt and a few snapshots maybe?

 

These images are nothing like the ones you'd have taken at any other point in a cruise. They're not souvenirs, they are designed to be the kind of images that you'd treasure and frame and put on the wall in your home. I guarantee they'd be the first ones that people notice when they walk into your home. You can't put a price on something like that.

 

The quality of this photography (I have seen it) is outstanding. It is definitely far and away better than all but the very best high-street photographers, who would charge just as much and still hit you with a huge sitting fee. At least here, you can go to the sitting and you don't pay for it and you never have to buy anything. Try doing that at any half-decent studio!

 

Most of the major lines are doing something like this these days and they're all around the same price points. It is designed specifically for the few people in each voyage that want something like this and are willing to pay for it. It's no different than an Art buyer or a Casino High-roller. It's not intended as a mass-market product, so making the prints $10 would do nothing but ensure the entire experience is cheapened.

 

I have a Black Label style image from my wedding in a very expensive frame hanging over the fireplace in my house and every day I look at that picture and it makes me smile. I have about $1,000 in that picture and I would pay the same money all over again to get something that good again. Next time I cruise I'm taking my now 5 year old daughter to have her images made and you can bet that one of them will be hanging next to her Mom and Dad soon after.

 

You can't put a price on that.

I agree these are not Sears photos, or copies made a Costco, but they are over-priced. I used to have my own darkroom and know the cost of making the photos is cheap. I know we are paying for the photographers know how, but really! I would buy pictures if they were reasonably priced. On our first cruise we did buy the Formal night shot, and it couldn't have been that expensive. Of course there was very little work done to take the picture. I guess if you want to spend that kind of money, go ahead it is your money, but they are still over-priced.

[BruceMuzz]

The Black Label Photography company is on many of the mass market lines these days.

Remembering that in the cruise industry, "It is ALWAYS about the money", one might assume that this company does pretty well with their "over-priced product".

And one would be correct in assuming that.

 

On most mass market ships today, this specialized Black and White Photo concession makes more money - and far more profit - than most of the other concessionaires onboard.

 

If you like this idea and can afford it, good for you.

If you cannot afford this concept - even better. All the extra revenue and profit generated by this product means that the cruise lines are not forced to raise prices on other products you might want to buy - making your cruise more affordable.

[lovetocruise2020]

The Black Label Photography company is on many of the mass market lines these days.

Remembering that in the cruise industry, "It is ALWAYS about the money", one might assume that this company does pretty well with their "over-priced product".

And one would be correct in assuming that.

 

On most mass market ships today, this specialized Black and White Photo concession makes more money - and far more profit - than most of the other concessionaires onboard.

 

If you like this idea and can afford it, good for you.

If you cannot afford this concept - even better. All the extra revenue and profit generated by this product means that the cruise lines are not forced to raise prices on other products you might want to buy - making your cruise more affordable.

 

Our black label was $1500. They agreed to edit, (they now edit off ship) right now i have three shipments of 8 pics of the same photos all missing different very simple edits that i could do myself. They are awaiting me to return them all so they can send the newly edited photos. Afraid i wont get them back. They ignored me for a year, they don't publish info for contact on purpose... Finally got responses back after HAL big stink with them. When i email them it is to 12 people...Now they are waiting on me...:( seriously afraid if i send them all in i will never see them again. Ill let you know how this goes. This has been going off and on for 2 years. Im just gonna bite the bullet.

Edited August 14, 2013 by surfergirle

[OVgirl]

Our black label was $1500. They agreed to edit, (they now edit off ship) right now i have three shipments of 8 pics of the same photos all missing different very simple edits that i could do myself. They are awaiting me to return them all so they can send the newly edited photos. Afraid i wont get them back. They ignored me for a year, they don't publish info for contact on purpose... Finally got responses back after HAL big stink with them. When i email them it is to 12 people...Now they are waiting on me...:( seriously afraid if i send them all in i will never see them again. Ill let you know how this goes. This has been going off and on for 2 years. Im just gonna bite the bullet.

 

Scan....

[lovetocruise2020]

Scan....

 

They have a weird covering that you can not scan. They come on wood. Or else i should have done it already. Whenu scan it's extremely blurry.

Edited August 14, 2013 by surfergirle

[Vict0riann]

They have a weird covering that you can not scan. They come on wood. Or else i should have done it already. Whenu scan it's extremely blurry.

 

Can you re-photograph? I find sometimes that that comes out better.

 

Also, did you get credit on your shipboard account for your star mariner days?

[lovetocruise2020]

Can you re-photograph? I find sometimes that that comes out better.

 

Also, did you get credit on your shipboard account for your star mariner days?

 

We had already spent over and above for the $300 a day so it didnt count.

This was the case on our last 2 HAL cruises because they are also Ocean Images Photography. I do not think they would be excluded though.

 

I have not thought about re photographing. I will try that. I sure hope they come back this has been going on so long, but this last 6 months are my fault, I'm scared. :( I'm going to make myself do it today or tomorrow, gives me anxiety just thinking about it.

Edited August 14, 2013 by surfergirle

[toosday]

Here is the email for Black and white Blacklabel@ocean-images.com But heres the thing, they do not answer their emails, good luck with that!

[lovetocruise2020]

Here is the email for Black and white Blacklabel@ocean-images.com But heres the thing, they do not answer their emails, good luck with that!

 

Ive got about 10 real person emails. Thank God. I hope i see the photos again.

[toosday]

Does anyone know the email to Black Label photography or if they have a website? I have their phone number, but wanted to see if anyone had any more information. We took many photos on board this summer, but didn't purchase any and my hubby expressed that he wished we had purchased them since they were so good and we were with our children. I'd like to purchase them if they still have them saved for his birthday. Any info would be great. Thanks!

 

 

Sorry I am new at this and do not know how to respond on this site. hope this works apparently the one I did yesterday didn't:rolleyes:! So here is the site for Black label but they do not ans. and it does takes 6 weeks to the day as they said.BlackLabel@ocean-images.com here is the phone number, again I left three messages and never got a callback 954-423-6646 or 866-866-9119. Good luck with all that.

[Esri]

An 8x10 is $0.89 at Costco, and I assume Costco is making a heavy profit even there. Double that cost to put it on a ship, then double it a few more times to make HAL a profit and Black Label (whoever they are) a profit - even if the cost was $5 or $10 per 8x10 I'd never leave a cruise without a dozen of them.

 

This kind of comment just shows a lack of understanding. You're all missing the point:

 

When you go to Costco you're paying $0.89 for a piece of paper with one of your own images on it. In that respect your simply paying for the materials.

 

Oil paint and canvas cost very little but people routinely pay thousands of dollars for pieces of artwork that are created with those materials.

 

It's just the same here. You're not paying for the $0.89 piece of paper, you're paying for the experience, and the artwork that is created by the photographer who has himself spent years perfecting his craft and has also been trained by the person who developed the Black Label program.

 

It's interesting to see that not one person here has said they don't like their pictures. Every single person said there's no way they'd part with them and they're a fantastic memory of themselves or family at a certain point in their lives.

 

So it seems that people want incredible images, they just don't want to pay for them!

 

Some of you hit the nail on the head . . . . you can spend the same amount of money on a tour that lasts a day and what do you have to show for it? A tee shirt and a few snapshots maybe?

 

These images are nothing like the ones you'd have taken at any other point in a cruise. They're not souvenirs, they are designed to be the kind of images that you'd treasure and frame and put on the wall in your home. I guarantee they'd be the first ones that people notice when they walk into your home. You can't put a price on something like that.

 

The quality of this photography (I have seen it) is outstanding. It is definitely far and away better than all but the very best high-street photographers, who would charge just as much and still hit you with a huge sitting fee. At least here, you can go to the sitting and you don't pay for it and you never have to buy anything. Try doing that at any half-decent studio!

 

Most of the major lines are doing something like this these days and they're all around the same price points. It is designed specifically for the few people in each voyage that want something like this and are willing to pay for it. It's no different than an Art buyer or a Casino High-roller. It's not intended as a mass-market product, so making the prints $10 would do nothing but ensure the entire experience is cheapened.

 

I have a Black Label style image from my wedding in a very expensive frame hanging over the fireplace in my house and every day I look at that picture and it makes me smile. I have about $1,000 in that picture and I would pay the same money all over again to get something that good again. Next time I cruise I'm taking my now 5 year old daughter to have her images made and you can bet that one of them will be hanging next to her Mom and Dad soon after.

 

You can't put a price on that.

 

I seriously doubt I'd do a portrait session myself, but I agree completely with everything you've said. They do quality work. They charge quality prices.

[NCSunshine]

I returned a week ago from the Maasdam.. purchased 10 photos of our family and received the DVD that goes along with them. I have actually been off the ship since the 27th July, but only just last week was home to see the DVD.. while we received all 10 printed shots.. (for a total of 200.00usd).. there are only 5 of our family on the DVD .. and 5 of someone else's family..

 

I've written to HAL to ask, but I'm getting more and more frustrated that they haven't responded (it's been 1 week since I wrote). I would really like the other 5 photos on a DVD but I fear they have now been deleted from their systems.. Anyone can comment on something like this.. or am I going to be held hostage by a non-reply to my query...

[lovetocruise2020]

I'm still scared to send mine in :( Scared we will never see them again...

[Kassandra]

As an artist myself, I bristle a bit at folks who talk about how expensive stuff is.

Yes, we did a session, loved the pics, and paid for them.

 

Sticker shock? No, not when you see that Darton Drake, one of the best portrait photographers I am aware of, charges $2000 FOR A SITTING. That does not include the prints. http://www.dartondrake.com/index2.php?v=v1#/rgallery1/1/

 

Yes, they do the sales pitch, the emotional grab, etc etc. Because the are trying to make some money too. Isn't everyone. ;)

 

We love our portraits, and I don't regret the money spent.

[hotwheelqt]

My high school friend and I got hooked into trying the black and white sessions on Noordam on Holland a few weeks ago. We ended up doing two sessions on two of the formal nights and I am soooo glad we did cause I bought one from each night. She had TOTAL sticker shock--we asked a hundred times and dozen different ways what the price ranges were and were always given the brush off until it was time to purchase. The final purchase session took us over 2 hours. We missed our final night's dinner and everything including the final night's Dancing with the Stars show. I wasn't as shocked as she was at the prices, although i did find them to be very high. I would have guessed about $500 less than she paid for what she got (she ordered very large sizes). The wonderful photographer onboard our ship allowed me to add my 11x14's to my friend's package so that I could afford them (I don't have the $$ that she does) so I paid $350 or 2 11x14's. I am giving them to my husband for our anniversary this year. They are truly the best photographs taken of me since I had a boyfriend in college who was an amateur photographer (a profession he should have continued) so I would have regretted the rest of my life not buying them. My friends photos were breathtaking, One of her by herself and the others with her service dog that has saved her life many times. She spent $1500 but like I said, she got large sizes. She did not have buyers remorse the following days and neither did I so I think we did the right thing. HOWEVER, I still believe the prices were VERY VERY high and would have expected her $1500 package to be more around the $1000 range and my 2 photos to be around $200 total. We won't do it again (how many photos do you need of yourself? I'm a scrapbooker so my house is filled with photos) but these were quite special for a quite special occasion. I only hope the actual photos are as good as what we saw on the computer screen. They should arrive within the next 2 weeks. Crossing my fingers!

I know Holland also had color portraits for couples that were completely different from these black and white ones---and were a TON less and some of those I saw up on the walls were quite good. Another way to go if you want a nice portrait to remember the trip but not spend thousands. :o

[3ssn]

We had a great photo session at the Black Label studio. Really a very fun time. When we heard the prices we had a bad day. We felt bad for the photographer who really made great pics. But also we felt bad for ourselves for not wanting to buy the best pictures ever taken of our family.

 

But we are not going to pay hundreds of dollars on a small picture. For the same price we got over 100 pictures from The regular on board photographers (including a DVD of all the pics).

[hotwheelqt]

Those of you who bought the black and white photos--what did you do about framing them?? Did you leave them as they are and place them on a shelf or actually put them into a frame? we have dust so so bad here living in the mountains just outside the desert and I asked our photographer how to clean them in case I don't frame mine (although i really think I need to). I'd love to hear what the rest of you did so I can plan ahead....:)

[VermeulT]

Those of you who bought the black and white photos--what did you do about framing them?? Did you leave them as they are and place them on a shelf or actually put them into a frame? we have dust so so bad here living in the mountains just outside the desert and I asked our photographer how to clean them in case I don't frame mine (although i really think I need to). I'd love to hear what the rest of you did so I can plan ahead....:)

 

Mine is framed with what we bought at Michaels... Not their framing jobs... Just a nice frame (about 30$ ??)

 

I totally recommend you put it in something. You spent too much on that piece of paper to have anything happen to it... Dust, scratches, bends, .....IMO

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[donaldsc]

Jeez, I always think that.

 

An 8x10 is $0.89 at Costco, and I assume Costco is making a heavy profit even there. Double that cost to put it on a ship, then double it a few more times to make HAL a profit and Black Label (whoever they are) a profit - even if the cost was $5 or $10 per 8x10 I'd never leave a cruise without a dozen of them.

 

I think the same thing at amusement parks where the overhead is not nearly as high. For $5, the amusement park would be making probably $4.50 on a $5 purchase and I'd buy one on every ride. But they're $20 - who can afford one? So they make $0.

 

Your attitude and it is a typical attitude so I am not picking on you is the reason that it is difficult to sell fine art photographs (note that I used the word "photographs" and not "pictures". I have photographs in my home that cost me many hundreds of dollars up to nearly $1000 and some of them are even monochrome. I was at a photo gallery once and there was a photograph taken in a jazz club that they were asking $60,000 for which I would have bought in a heartbeat if I had the money and my wife would not have killed me. Yet I can get a 24x36 print done by a professional lab (not Costco) for less than $40.

 

So what am I getting for the difference between my $1000 art photograph and the $40 print done by MPIX labs. First of all, a skilled photographer gets good money; a hack is cheap. Secondly, the skilled photographer may spend hours doing retouching to get the final print just right. Thirdly, the professional lab will spend a significant time getting the print just right.

 

The problem I have with most of the work and even the upscale work done on ships is that you pay skilled photography prices and you get hack pictures. They just do not have the time, space, equipment and yes, skills, to do high quality work.

 

The premium packages sold on the ships would be worth the money if they were good. It it just that they are not good. This is one reason I have never bought any pictures on a cruise.

 

DON

[donaldsc]

Mine is framed with what we bought at Michaels... Not their framing jobs... Just a nice frame (about 30$ ??)

 

I totally recommend you put it in something. You spent too much on that piece of paper to have anything happen to it... Dust, scratches, bends, .....IMO

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

There is another reason to frame pictures - to prevent them from fading. Archival glass which is what you should use protects the picture from the fading UV rays of the sun. You should also use acid free archival mats on any pictire you have matted.

 

DON

[SouthfieldRed]

We bought 4 digital images and 1 8 x 10 for a total of $599.00 in September of 2014 on HA's Westerdam. We love what we received--here is information that may be helpful to others:

[1] the digital images came with a full copyright release.

[2] the images are very high resolution.

[3] the 8 x 10 AND the digital images have all been retouched and done well.

[4] the images are much better quality (crisp focus) than the proof sheet that they gave us on board.

[5] it took 9 weeks post-cruise to receive our images (we live in Michigan)

[6] they photos/disk were extremely well packaged when they arrived -- they could not have been damaged in transport.

[7] They were very expensive (as others have noted) but we feel like they are worth the price. One of them is the best photo I have seen of myself in the last 20 years and another is a fabulous shot which captures us perfectly on our anniversary cruise.

[8] Black Label is completely separate from the regular ship's photographers.

[BruceMuzz]

Several cruise lines are using this same B&W company for their "Premium" Photography products.

 

On all those lines, the results are the same.

Passengers comment that the photos are indeed very special - and very expensive.

But they buy them - without anyone holding guns to anyone's head.

 

On many ships today, the revenues from the Black and White Photography exceed all the other revenues in the Photo Department.

This is the most successful photo venture we have seen on ships in many years.

It's not going away anytime soon.

 

As with anything else (Ferraris, Summer Homes, Luxury Yachts, Professional Sports Teams) if you cannot afford it or do not like the price, don't buy it.

[sammygoose]

Interesting discussion.

 

I have always walked by but now I am reconsidering. My parents 50th anniversary is going to be celebrated on our next cruise and with all of us there perhaps you can't put a price on a good picture...........it's not like we can't afford it.

 

LOL clearly they have but if they are that good..............people who put the puck in the net get paid across all occupations. Materials vs. intangibles.

Edited November 30, 2014 by sammygoose
additional information

[donaldsc]

 

It's a risk that they must feel is worth it. But the teaser photo now belongs to the people they gave or sent it to. If they didn't want the goodwill of the use of the photo they would have put a transparent watermark on the picture.

 

The teaser photo belongs to you. An enlarged scanned picture from the teaser photo does not. You have stolen someone's intellectual property if you scan and print it.

 

What surprises me is that they did not put a watermark on the teaser to make it more difficult for someone to scan it.

 

DON