5 Reasons Why (Good) Photographers Are Expensive

I have been turned down by clients more often than I like due to the cost of my services. In turn, they go to someone very inexpensive or to a chain store. Unless they are familiar with the world of professional photography, they most likely have no idea what goes into producing a finished product. Below I’ve listed some reasons why a quality photographer costs more and why you get what you pay for (usually).

5. We, too, are running a business

Just like any other establishment you buy products from, a professional photographer is also a business and according to the IRS, everything we do is a “product that can be taxed”. This means we have to have a business plan, figure out how much money we have to make to cover our business expenses, pay ourselves a salary, and pay taxes. Our time, creativity, knowledge, expertise, personal attention, and unique individual styles are mostly what you are paying for and if we are good at our craft, then we are well worth the money. (Kind of like installing kitchen cabinets made of particle board……or walnut).

4. The time we put into your photos is very valuable

When you are charged for any type of photo shoot, whether it’s an 8-hour wedding, commercial product shots, a corporate event, or family photos, you are not only paying for the number of hours we are with you taking the photos. You are also paying for the post-production which is extensive and (should be) very detailed. We come home, upload enormous files onto our computers, external hard drives, CD/DVDs, or an Internet storage space (i.e. we back it up so that we will never lose your photos). Depending on the amount of adjustments made to a photo (color correction, skin retouching, cropping, resizing for different purposes, etc.), the post-production work can be 40 hours or more. This includes travel time, conversations with you, ordering prints, and more. Our work is not even close to finished when we leave you after your session.

3. The time we put into learning our craft is even more valuable

Everyone is a “photographer” these days. With good quality digital cameras available to all consumers, anyone can take photos with more clarity, better color, and a longer lens. THIS DOES NOT MAKE EVERYONE A PHOTOGRAPHER!!!! A professional that knows exactly what they are doing has spent many years learning, practicing, attending classes and workshops, and will continue to do so throughout their career. We know how to frame a photo, how to tell the camera to do exactly what we want it to, how to expose the image so that it comes out just right. We also know exactly how to make lighting do what we want, when we want. I’m not even going to go into detail about learning Photoshop. It takes an equally long amount of time to become knowledgeable and good at using the program. The extent of our expertise greatly surpasses that of someone that knows how to point the camera at something and push the button. And on that note: A GOOD CAMERA DOES NOT MAKE A GOOD PHOTOGRAPHER!!

2. The cost of full digital files, prints, and why we want you to order them from us

Back in the days before digital cameras when everyone had to shoot with film, the negatives were the “digital files”. A photographer owns their work and would never, ever hand over their negatives (their original copy of their work) to someone without it costing an exorbitant amount of money. Just because digital files can be replicated doesn’t make this any different now. You are still paying for your photographer’s craft and the photographer always has the ultimate say about what you may do with their art. Musicians get royalties every time their song is used. A painter sells their hand-painted, original artwork for a ton of money and photographer is no different. What you are paying for are the rights to their work and it’s worth a lot of money.
As for buying prints…
Again, professional photographers own their work, but in this aspect I mean we claim it, it is ours, and we are proud of it. We want it showcased in the best possible light and that means having it printed on the best possible material, with the best ink, using the best printers. When we use a professional lab to order prints, not only do we care about the finished product but the lab does, too, because this is also representative of their work. Walmart, CVS, and other cheap photo printers do not care. They are corporate, therefore the bottom line is money, not quality. They make this money from volume, not by producing a high quality product. If you are going to pay for a high quality photographer, why would you diminish the quality of the photos by ordering cheap prints? (Kind of like having a perfectly cooked New York Strip steak…..and smothering it with grape jelly).

1. You get what you pay for: Professional vs. Hobbyist vs. Chain Store

This may be the most important reason to pay more for a photographer. It may not always be the case, but as with most products it is true. A professional is there completely FOR YOU. You are going to get the most specialized and customized personal attention that is designed to give you spectacular photographs exactly how you want them (or better!). A hobbyist has not put everything they have into knowing how to do this and a chain store, literally, does not care. A professional knows how to create beautiful imagery, usually in specific areas of photography. A hobbyist likes to take pictures. A chain store, literally, doesn’t care. Did I mention that chain stores do not care about your pictures? They recruit their camera people by saying “No experience necessary, will train!” They train them how to push the shutter button on the camera and make money off of volume and what they push you to buy after your shoot. You might as well set the timer feature on your nice digital camera, stick it on a tripod, gather everyone next to a window and not pay for it at all. Professional photographers live and breathe photography. We will be able look at those chain store photos and point out to you, in great detail, exactly why they are horrible photographs. A professional won’t even let you have the photo if they think that it’s mediocre. We will break our backs making your photos perfect and give you a fantastic product….AND YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!

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-written by Melaney Wolf, photographer and founder of Melaney Wolf Photography