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In this digital age where everyone has a
camera, scanner, and home “photo printer”, we hear this all the time: How do professional (or personal) photographers
charge $X for an 8x10 when they cost just $1.50 at the drugstore? Simply put, the customer is not just paying for the
actual photograph: they’re paying for time and expertise.
THE AVERAGE
ONE-HOUR PORTRAIT SESSION
First, let’s look at the actual work
involved:
Travel to the session
Setup, preparation, talking to the client, etc.
Shoot the photos
Travel from the session
Load images onto a computer
Back up the files on an external drive
2-4 hours of Adobe
Photoshop time, including cropping, contrast, color, sharping, and backing up edited photographs. Proof photos are also ordered.
2-3 hours to talk to the client, answer questions, receive order and
payment. Order their prints. Receive and verify prints, package prints, schedule shipment, and ship.
Possibly meet clients at the studio to review photos and place order. Meeting and travel time average
2 hours.
You can see how a one-hour session easily turns into an eight
hour day or more from start to finish. So if you see personal photographer charging a $200. Session fee for a hour photo shoot,
the client is NOT paying them $200. Per hour.
EIGHT-HOUR WEDDING
A wedding photographer typically meets with the bride and groom several
times before and after the wedding. And it’s not uncommon to end up with 1,000 to 2,000 photos, much more than a portrait
session. Many photographers spend 40-60 hours working on one eight hour wedding if you look at the time that is truly involved.
Again, if a wedding photographer charges $4000 for eight hours coverage, clients are NOT paying them $500. And hour!
(Don’t forget that the photographer runs the wedding day to some
extent. A comfortable, confident wedding photographer can make a wedding day go more smoothly.)
THE EXPERTISE AND COST OF DOING BUSINESS
Shooting
professional photography is a skill acquired through years of experience. Even though a DSLR camera now cost under $1000,
taking professional portraits involves much more than a nice camera.
Most personal photographers take years to go from buying their first camera to making money with photography. In addition
to learning how to use the camera, there is a mountain of other equipment and software programs used to edit and print photographs,
run a website, etc. And don’t forget backdrops, props, rents, utilities and insurance. In
addition to the financial investment, photographers actually have to have people skills to make subjects comfortable in front
of the camera. Posing people to look their best is a skill by itself. You could argue that posing is a more important skill
than actually knowing how to use the camera. A poorly exposed photo can be saved, but a badly posed photo cannot.
THE CHAIN STORE PHOTO STUDIO
Chain stores do have their place, For a very cheap price you can run in, shoot some quick photos,
and be done with it. But you get what you pay for.
Consider
the time and effort that a personal photographer puts into photographs, compared to a chain store. Some sessions last just
a few minutes, while a personal photographer takes the time to get to know the people, makes them comfortable, makes them
laugh. If a baby is crying at a chain store, they often don’t have the time (or patience) to wait because everyone
is in a hurry.
The truth is that many chain store studios
lose money. What the chain store banks on is a client coming in for a quick , cheap photos...and while there, spending $200
on there items. They are there to get you in the door.
THE REAL DEAL:
Professional, personal photographers are just that- professionals.
No different than a mechanic, dentist, doctor, or electrician. But a personal photographer often becomes a friend, someone
who documents a family for generations with professional, personal photographs of cherished memories.
Maybe we need to help clients look at it this way: A pair scissors cost $1.50 at the drugstore. Still, most people will gladly
pay a lot more to hire a professional hair dresser to cut their hair. The added attention and quality that a personal photographer
gives is worth every penny.
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