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Why does professional photography seem so expensive?

​ {December 2009 edition of Professional Photographer Magazine}

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In this digital age where everyone has cameras, scanners, and home "photo printers," 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, sharpening, 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 when you see a personal photographer charging a $200 session fee for a one-hour photo shoot, the client is NOT paying them $200 per hour.

THE EIGHT-HOUR WEDDING

A wedding photographer typically meets with the bride and groom several times before and after the wedding. And its not uncommon to end up with 1,000 - 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, when a wedding photographer charges $4,000 for eight hours of coverage, clients are NOT paying them $500 an hour!

(Dont 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 THE COST OF DOING BUSINESS

Shooting professional photography is a skill acquired through years of experience. Even though a DSLR now costs under $1,000, 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 dont forget backdrops, props, rent, utilities, insurance, etc!

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. Store 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 dont have the time (or the patience) to wait because everyone is in a hurry.

The truth is that many chain store studios lose money. In fact, Wal-Mart closed 500 of their portrait studios in 2007 because of the financial drain. What the chain stores bank on is a client coming in for quick, cheap photostand while there, spending $200 on other 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 of scissors costs $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.

CONCLUSION

We hope that those who have taken the time to read this page will have a better understanding of why professional photographs, created by a Personal Photographer are so expensive.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

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​Tips for working with your wedding photographer

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KNOW WHAT YOU WANT

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     It's important to spell out exactly what is wanted in wedding photography, even if it seems incredibly obvious. Stating the obvious can never hurt, and may just save a lot of regret over insufficient communication later on.

     For example, bride who figures that the photographer will know she wants a ton of bride and groom shots might not really mention it, and thus feel short-changed on the wedding day when the photographer spends less time than she wanted on just her and the groom.

      To avoid misunderstandings, take some time to brainstorm all the types of shots that are "must have" photos and give a copy to your photographer. A wedding photography list may include:
     Bride's jewellery and hair
     Bride getting ready before the ceremony
     Wedding cake
     Cake cutting
     Wedding rings of bride and groom
     Reception line photos
     Signing the marriage license
     Photos including the officiator or ceremony venue
Any "special" requests or poses: groom dipping the bride couple underneath an umbrella, and so on.

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     The old adage "a picture is worth a thousand words" couldn't be more true when talking about communicating with a wedding photographer. Nebulous terms like "modern," "colourful," "close up," and "artistic" can mean two very different things to a bride and her photographer.

     The only way to make sure that everyone is on the same page is to go through sample shots together, identify ones that the bride likes, and have her explain why she chose those particular images. This allows the photographer to replicate what the bride likes in her own wedding photos.  The easiest way to do this is to go online to Google Images and search out wedding photos. Right-click and save any photos that you really like so that you can email them to your photographer with a brief description of what you like about them. Your photographer will thank you!

TIMING

     If you plan to have pre-wedding photos taken it is imperative that your hair and make-up appointment is scheduled early enough so that you start your photographs on time. Hair and makeup should be finished a minimum of one hour before you are scheduled to start photographs. Allow time for travel, dressing and finding that lost pair of earrings.

     Another way to avoid misunderstandings is to schedule blocks of time for different types of photographs. Instead of having the entire wedding party and family milling around for several hours, get organized by creating a schedule of what pictures will be taken and when. 

     A good rule of thumb is to allow 2 -3 hours for post-ceremony photos starting with the largest group and working backwards. (ie full wedding party and then families, then bride & groom alone) Provide the photographer with a copy of the itinerary for the day as well as an itinerary of what order youd like to do your photos.

     Lastly, if the ceremony is scheduled to end at 2:30pm, do not schedule your photographs at 2:35pm. Take into account the travel time from the church to your location. Your participants will not arrive all at once either. You may want to assign your assistant or wedding party member to organize your families and get them to the photo location on time and all together.

When blocking off time, its better to over-estimate than to underestimateits better to be finished early than to feel rushed.

COOPERATION

     Family pictures, another fun part of the wedding day. For the family pictures make sure you follow carefully to the photographers direction. You have more control of your wedding party then the photographer. If you feel that you have to be aggressive, do it! You may also want to appoint a helper. Your guests will never say (The Bride) YOU WERE RUDE; theyll understand that you want everything to go smooth, and you dont want to be running after them or looking for them to take the family pictures. You do not want guest complaining that the photographer was rude.

     Your guest should stand clear when the photographer is setting people up and they should be instructed not to take photos until the photographer is finished. This is portrait time only, and you are paying big money for professional photographs so your guests must be patient and stand clear until the photographer is done her job.

TIP: To minimize the responsibility that you will have on the wedding day you may want to appoint someone in advance to help your photographer during the post-wedding shoot. Youll want to choose someone who is good at managing crowds; someone who can communicate instructions clearly, is able to recognize members of your family/wedding party and who can speak in a loud voice.  This person should not be directly involved in the wedding (ie not a family member or member of wedding party).

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