WHY IS PHOTOGRAPHY PRICED THE WAY IT IS?

A question that keeps coming back is « Why is photography so expensive? ». Afer all, don’t photographers just turn up, take a few snaps, go home and load their photos onto a DVD to give to the client? Not so!! Here are some aspects of this profession that you might not be aware of, and which hopefully will make you see our industry and art in a brand new light.

TIME

First of all, the photographer spends a lot of hours on preparing for the shoot, including testing the light and putting everything in place before the model comes. However, this is actually a tiny part of the whole amount of time they’ll spend on you. There is time before the shoot (client meetings, contracts, invoicing, location scouting if needed) and most importantly time after the shoot for post-processing (up to 4 hours of editing for each hour spent on the shoot!). Also, a lot of shoots happen on weekends and afternoon after regular « work hours », which means we often miss out on valuable time with family and friends! Add to this the time to simply keep the business running such as updating this website and my blog, paying the bills, keep up with the latest trends and techniques (continuous education), doing taxes etc. As you can see, this is not a « one day a week » job like so many people think it is!

COSTS

Equipment: 2 cameras and many lenses for different use and effect, each of which cost a few thousand euros (and need to be upgraded every couple of years to keep up!). Staff: makeup artist, sometimes the need for an assistant, for bigger studios even graphic designers, special photoshop editors, project managers, accountants etc. Then come website hosting, advertising, computers, back up system, hard drives, printer, editing software (!!), … which also means insurance costs to cover all of this! And did I mention rent for those who have a studio?…

SKILLS AND TALENT

Good photographers didn’t just wake up one day being able to capture beautiful photos. It takes a lot of time, education (self or formal) and practice to get good and consistent results. And they always have to continue to keep up with new technical innovations and educate ourselves on it. Also, in this digital age, not only do photographers have to be good with a camera, they have to be good with computers! Have you ever tried to use Photoshop?! Lightroom?! 🙂

A big Thank You goes to many of my past clients who understood the value of what we do!