Why are professional photographers so expensive?

Have you ever asked yourself that? Well...in my spare time (ha ha, that's funny) I try to keep up on my professional reading. This month, there was an article I read that discussed this very topic. It got me thinking that this would be a good blog topic.

ONE-HOUR SESSION

In the onset of digital photography, people would think that this would make a photographer's life easier and make things faster. In reality, it has added hours upon hours to our jobs! Before, with film, I would setup my sittings and ensure perfect lighting, shoot the sitting, and compose the photo in the lens. Then, I would send the film off to the processor for development. When the proofs returned, I would sort through the blinkers, put them into a proof folder and deliver to the customer.

Now, I still meter my lights, shoot my sitting and compose in the camera. However, I know in the back of my mind that I can adjust a lot of these things later in Photoshop. So, after a sitting, I will spend about an hour sorting through all the photos I took to find the best ones. I spend another hour pretouching the images (do a little retouching for the proofs), and then send them off to the processor to create the proof book. When the books come back, then I upload them onto the on-line proofer and deliver them. So, as you can see, I'm spending an additional 2-3 hours that I never did before. Thus, you’re really not paying $45-50 per hour for that one-hour session!

WEDDINGS

When shooting a typical 6-7 hour wedding, I will spend 3-4 hours sorting through the 400+ images, another 2-3 hours pretouching the best ones, and another 1-2 hours ordering the proofs and the Custom Keepsake Proof Box. Once the proofs arrive at my studio, I will organize them in sequence and prepare them for pickup. So, I’m really spending about 17 hours on the typical wedding coverage.

The article mentioned that the photographer is usually the one that “directs” the flow of the day, and to some extent that is accurate. When looking at the price the bride and grooms will pay for their photographer, there’s a lot to consider…not just the price of the coverage, but also if they get along with the photographer and will enjoy spending their entire wedding day with that person!

Another big time consuming part of weddings is if they order a wedding album. The new digital albums are great and extremely popular. I offer completely custom-built albums (no predesigned pages or set number of images). This means that I will typically spending between 12-16 hours building an album for the bride and groom. Although this is another downside to the wonderful digital world, I enjoy the creativity of this!

CHAIN STORES

Yes, they’re cheap! If you’re looking for price alone, then they’re the best option. But, as the saying goes “You get what you pay for.” As a professional photographer, I try to get to know my customers, spend time with them, make them comfortable, and do my best to get good expressions. A chain store probably doesn’t have patience to wait for a baby to stop crying or to be a photographer-on-the-move with a toddler in the studio. Many times after shooting a wedding, I feel like I’m not only the couple’s photographer, but also a friend and a guest at their wedding. I think this is why I still cry at many of the weddings I shoot. I feel like I know them!

Also, I become a personal photographer, shooting more than one event for a family. They can count on me, and know what they’re going to get by going with me. They’re going to get a professional with knowledge and expertise AND a friend!