This article has been extremely well received by the photography community and is now referred to by countless photography websites, forums and blogs around the world.
In this digital age where everyone has digital cameras, scanners and home "photo printers", when people upload their photos to local supermarket website and pick them up a few hours later, we hear this all the time - How in the world do Professional Photographers charge £x for a 8x10 when they cost just £4 from the supermarkets?
Here's why
Simply put, you are not just paying for the actual photograph, you are paying for time and expertise. Firstly, lets look at the time involved. (If you don't read this entire article please at least read this first part)
The Average One Hour Portrait Session
- Travel to the session
- Set up, preparation, talking to the Client etc
- Shoot the photos
- Travel from the session
- Load images into computer
- Back up files onto an external hard drive
- 4-8 hours of Adobe®Photoshop® time, including cropping, contrast, colour, sharpening and backing up edited photos. In some cases, 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 the prints, ship the prints to the Client
- In some cases, meet the Client to review photos and place orders.
You can see how a one-hour session can easily turn into a eight-hour working day or more from start to finish. So when you see a professional photographer charging a session fee of £125 (which I don't lol) the Client is not paying them £125 per hour.
The Eight-Hour Wedding
A wedding photographer typically meets with the Bride and Groom several times before and after the Wedding. It's not uncommon to end up with 1500-2000 images, much more than a portrait session. Many photographers end up spending 40-60 hours working on one eight-hour Wedding if you look at the time that is truly involved.
(Don't forget the Wedding photographer runs the day to a certain extent. A comfortable, confident Wedding photographer can make the day go more smoothly.)
The Expertise and Cost of Doing Business
Shooting professional photography is a skill acquired through years of experience. Taking professional portraits involves much more than having a nice camera. Most photographers take years from buying their first camera to making money through photography. In addition to learning how to use the camera, there is a mountain of other equipment and software programmes used to edit and print photos, manage websites etc. And don't 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 it is more important than actually using the camera. A poorly exposed photo can be saved, however a poorly posed photo cannot.
The Chain Store
Chain stores do have their place. For a very cheap price you can run in, shoot some photos, and be done with it. But you get what you pay for.
Consider the time and effort that a professional photographer puts into photographs, compared to a chain store. Store sessions last a few minutes, while a professional photographer takes time to get to know people, makes the comfortable, makes them laugh. If a baby is crying at a chain store they often don't have the time (or the patience) to wait because everyone is in a hurry.
The truth is many chain stores lose money.
Consider this, in America, Wal-Mart closed 500 of their portrait studios in 2007 because of the financial drain.
The Real Deal
Professional photographers are just that - Professionals. No different from a mechanic, doctor, dentist or electrician. But a professional 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 cost £1 at the supermarket. Still, most people will gladly pay more to hire a professional hair dresser to cut their hair. The added attention and quality a professional photographer gives is worth every penny.
