Answers to the FAQ:
Tel: ( 212) 490-2646
Cell: (917) 513-3869
Email: peterpeirce@comcast.net
Q: What do you like to photograph for fun?
A: The same things. I’m interested in lifestyle, architecture, construction, landscape, and learning about people by observing the details of where they live and work.
Q: Do you shoot video? Do you do portraits? Do you shoot products? Artwork? etc...
A: Yes, sometimes, and I enjoy doing so.
Q: Do you travel a lot? What’s the most interesting place you’ve been?
A: Every assignment involves some travel. Siberia in the winter is the most interesting place I’ve been, but my favorite places are warm, beautiful, and comfortable.
Q: When assignments take you to warm, beautiful places, do you bring your family?
A: No.
Q: Do you bring an assistant or work with a stylist?
A: Not usually, however it depends on the job. I travel with at least 100 pounds of gear, so if your project is in a ten-story walk-up, I’m bringing an assistant. If there is a budget for one, a stylist is nice to have on any job that isn’t an empty building, (Please send me your resume, if styling or assisting is what brought you to this website.) I’m always the photographer and the retoucher, and I’m frequently the stylist and assistant.
Q: Do you need my (architect, designer, project manager...) help?
A: That depends on the job of course, and how confident you are that you have described to me what you would like photographed, but in any case, I like having company. I’m perfectly comfortable left on my own, but if we’ve never worked together, plan to stick around for a good part of the day. You will probably be very helpful to me for 10-30 minutes out of every hour, and slightly bored the rest of the time.
Q: Do you do a lot of lighting?
A: I do more with natural light now than I did five years ago, but most of the photos on this site have supplemental lighting, including many of the exteriors. Fifteen of the interior shots were taken entirely by natural light, hopefully you can’t be certain which ones are which. The current trend in photography is toward more use of natural light, partially because modern cameras and software have made it possible to get acceptable results with nothing more, but my goal is to produce more than “acceptable results.” The camera isn’t perfect, and natural light isn’t always the best way to render a texture, a color, or the relationship between planes in 3-D. It’s important to know when natural light is enough and when it isn’t.
Q: How do you charge for your services?
A: Normally I charge a day rate, or half-day rate, (also known as a creative fee) but other arrangements can be negotiated. The creative fee stays the same regardless of the number of images, but the cost of post-production and retouching will vary based on the number of images and the complexity of the retouching.
Q: What’s the difference between retouching and post-production?
A: Post-production includes everything required to go from the camera to a final version of the scene as photographed, with good color and lighting. Retouching involves creating something substantially different from what was in front of the camera. Examples of retouching include adding artwork, hiding a large ceiling vent or exit sign, replacing an area with a complicated pattern, eliminating reflections, signs, wires, or pedestrians. I want the photographs to look good, so I include some retouching as part of post-production, removing minor distractions such as a smoke detector or repairing some nicks and scratches on the furniture. Retouching is often hard to anticipate before the camera is set up, so I’ll include some retouching time in the job estimate even though we may not be sure initially where it will be used.
Q: How do you work? Do you ever shoot film? How is the digital process different from shooting film?
A: I don’t shoot film any more, having switched to digital in the early ’90’s. I still have all my 4x5 equipment if you’d like to shoot a job the old-fashioned way, but you’ll have to twist my arm. With film, it was necessary to get it right in the camera, on site, and some still argue “getting it right in the camera” is all-important. There was no choice in the age of film, but that was, like, 100 years ago, and while it remains supremely important to know what you are after, with digital photography it isn’t always cost-effective to try and create the photograph in its entirety on site. Time on site can be the most expensive part of the process - it’s my time, your time, the homeowner’s time, or down time for the hotel or facility. There is always a limit to the time available on site. My goal is to make the best use of that time, the end result being the greatest number of images possible, the best quality possible, at the most reasonable price. Shifting some of the work from the site to post production reduces the total cost.
Q: Did you go to school for photography?
A: Yes, but more importantly I worked as an assistant for some very talented architectural photographers.
If you Google “Peter Peirce” just to see what turns up, please note the spelling of PEIRCE. Many of the images you will see are not mine. I am not the author of a book about Japanese Haiku, and I am not connected with the University of Detroit Mercy. I am not the treasurer of the Pontiac Driver’s Club, and I am not 14 years old. I am, however, fully insured, with a driver’s license and U.S. passport. My company Peter R. Peirce, Inc., has been in business since 1997. I have experience in many areas that aren’t represented on this website, from wedding photography to medical photography to aerial photography, and you will find my work in many magazines, journals, books, manuals, museums, private collections, and other places on the web.