{ Why Do Professional Photographers Cost So Much }

So I have been getting comments like this or similar at least once a week lately...the answer may seem long, but please read through, I think you will be surprised, educated, and hopefully relieved that photographers really AREN'T trying to pick your pockets...especially in this economy...:)

This question and others are answered on my site under FAQs, but I wanted to post it to my blog because I think the answer is SO important. In addition to giving people great images to last a lifetime, I feel it's important to educate people too! Please don't take ANY of the answer as complaining...I absolutely LOVE what I do, but until I really got 'into the business', I never realized just how much work and all of the little nuances that go into each session. Remember, a lot of photographers charge more and some less for their services...always review the quality, service and their style before choosing your photographer, don't just choose based on their prices!

In this digital age where everyone has digital cameras, scanners and home “photo printers”, when people take their camera cards to a local printing store and pick them up a few hours later, I hear this all the time - How in the world do Professional Photographers charge $55 for an 8×10 when they cost just $1.50 at the store? Here’s why.

Simply put, you’re not just paying for the actual photograph or piece of paper; you’re paying for time and expertise. First, let’s look at the actual time involved. If you don’t read this entire page, at least read this first part. (This is my version on what happens ‘Behind the Scenes'. Remember each photographer has their own means and ways of preparing, editing, items and ordering. The scenario below applies to me and my work…and keep in mind that in addition to my photography business I have a regular 40 hr/wk day job...in addition to my awesome family and photography business! :)) For an average 2 hour portrait session:

• 30 minutes initial communication, session details, locations, etc.
• 30 minutes of equipment preparation, camera, car, etc.
• 30 minutes to 1 hour of travel to the session
• 1-2 hours of shooting
• 30 minutes to 1 hour travel time from the session
• 1 hour to load the photos onto a computer (2-4 Gb of data)
• 30 minutes to back up the files on an external drive
• 1-2 hours to edit / post initial previews to blog and email to client
• 3-5 days (sometimes longer) of Photoshop time including cropping, contrast, color, art work; including textures, overlays, cloning of unwanted distractions, airbrushing, sharpening, saving a copy for print and a copy for the Internet and backing up the edited photographs, printing the proofs for viewing, make slideshow for viewing, make and print your little ‘extras’ that you don’t know, until the viewing session etc. The list can go on and on…
• 1-2 hours to load photos to online host for client viewing
• 2-3 hours to communicate to the client regarding viewing images/ordering prints, answer questions, receive their order and payment, order their prints, receive and verify prints, package prints.
• 30 mins – 1 hour of scheduled appointment for pickup of photos.

You can see how one 2 hour portrait session easily turns into more than 4 days of work from start to finish. So when you see a Photographer charging a $200 session fee for a two hour photo shoot, you are not paying them $100/hour. And I haven’t even mentioned all the other office work of running a business that happens on a daily basis.

For an eight hour wedding…I won’t go into all the details, but an eight hour wedding typically amounts to at least 2 to 3 full 40 hour work weeks worth of time. Again, if they are charging you $4,000 for an eight hour wedding, you are not paying them $500/hour.

Now, as for the expertise…In my case, shooting professional photography is a skill, acquired through a natural talent of seeing the light, an artistic eye, and many, many, many hours & dollars of learning how to use software, constant upgrades, finding the best quality of products to offer you etc. Even though a quality camera now costs under $2,000 taking professional portraits involves much more than a nice camera.

Most Professional Photographers take years to go from buying their first decent camera to making money with their photography. In addition to learning how to use the camera itself, there is a mountain of other equipment involved, as well as numerous software programs used to edit and print photographs, run a website, having insurance etc. We also have to calibrate our monitors regularly to make sure what we see on our screen is exactly what gets printed, no unwanted colors.

And let’s not forget that you actually have to have people skills, be able to communicate, make people comfortable in front of the camera - and posing people to make them look their best in a photograph is a skill all by itself. Think of it this way - the next time you pay $X to have your hair done, those scissors may only cost $1.50, but you gladly pay a lot more to hire a Professional to apply them.

What about the cheap studios at the Shopping Center?
Please don’t compare me to the chain store studios. But if you must, consider all of the time and work that I put into your photographs, compared to what they do. Good luck getting a two hour photo session at a chain store. Not to mention they won’t come to the beach! And of course, look at my work compared to theirs. You get what you pay for.

I could go on and on with why Professional Photographers charge so much, but you get the idea, I am a service to please you, to give you something that you will have a lifetime of enjoyment and wonderful memories from. Consider this when you think about the cost of a session…

Taken from extracts of the original writings from: Shawn Richter