This post will hum a different tune than the topics I typically write about, but it’s been weighing on me and I think it’s time that someone brushes on the daunting question that everyone seems to ask these days:
Why the heck do photographers charge so much?!
This field is extremely competitive these days, with so many finding their own hobby behind the lens, and it can feel like photo businesses are popping up and going down like Starbucks cafes. Tons of new photographers are fighting for their place, throwing out discount after discount, begging people to hire them. With all of these low prices being offered, why is it that you still find the seasoned pros asking for prices that feel more like robbery?
When my husband and I began to dream about starting our own wedding photography company (yes, before it was “the thing to do”), our main goal was to offer unthinkably low rates that no one else in our community was offering. You know, target all of the people that can’t afford the “arm & leg” price tags that other photographers seemed to slap onto their packages. We had just planned our own wedding at the time, and the amounts of money photographers were asking for made us, with all due respect, nauseous. What did photographers expect us to do? We had a venue to pay for, gown and tuxedo prices galore… the money that wedding vendors ask for is enough to make you march down to the court house and save yourself a lifetime of credit card debt. Honestly, the only reason why we have cherished photographs to look back on was because a friend had decided to dip his own toes into this “wedding photography” thing, and offered to photograph our wedding for, basically, free. I’m honored to say that ours was the very first of what has now become Nathan Coltrane Wedding Photography.
When our dream became reality and our own business license was proudly fixed on the wall, our next step to conquer was choosing set packages and prices for our new venture. This seemingly simple task became the toughest part and came with loads of consideration, changes, and headaches over the years. I was new to the field at the time so, naturally, I needed to charge what I was worth- which wasn’t much yet. As my practice grew I wanted to keep my prices low enough that anyone could afford to capture the biggest day of their lives, often working outside of my asking prices to accommodate each client. Telling someone that they could only hire me if they gave me two months worth of their paychecks seemed not only unfair, but completely unreasonable and selfish. I mean, it was, wasn’t it? These couples still had bills to pay, other wedding debt to consider, and needed to be able to eat at the end of the day. How could I look them in the eye and slide a pricing sheet toward them that would cause a coronary?
So, I refused to do so.
During the first few months of setting my wedding prices at a humble rate I received some surprising feedback that I never saw coming: People weren’t flocking to me the way that I’d expected.
In fact, people were avoiding me altogether.
My aspiration of giving people something that I’d considered a gift had turned them off completely. Everyone knows that you get what you pay for, and I was selling myself so short that no one took me seriously enough to put their trust into me. It’s a sad reality we face, everyone needs lower prices but the risk of being scammed is too great to accept them when they’re offered.
With that, I actually had to raise my prices in order for anyone to take me seriously.
So, up my prices went.
Not much, mind you, because I still wanted to be able to reach the huge majority of folks that, like me, had modest budgets. Wedding after wedding began rolling in, and during those first few years of building my portfolio and learning the trade I quickly realized exactly what goes into this business: and it was becoming slightly overwhelming.
The cost of equipment alone was (is) comparable to, well, a pretty generous wedding budget. If there was a lens that I couldn’t afford to buy, I would need to rent it. Renting anything can cost up to the amount of my entire paycheck, so, that was out of the picture (pun intended). I needed to be able to charge a reasonable rate and, at the same time, afford very expensive paraphernalia (a quick Google search will give you a little taste of what we have to acquire over time). What I was toting in my camera bag was only the start of it and, by the time I’d built up my business to run smoothly, I’d been fully exposed to the the reality and reasoning behind my fellow professional’s pricey rates.
To break this down for you, let’s take a fairly reasonable (I say “reasonable” with caution) rate of $1500 for an average 8 hours of wedding coverage. This sweet chunk of change will cover the following examples on your photographer’s end:
- Time needed to travel to your location (many jobs are a few hours away)
- Gas/vehicle wear (some photographers take on any travel expenses within a certain radius)
- Parking/entrance fees to wedding location
- Meals and snacks that may not be provided
- 8 hours of time to photograph the day of your wedding
- Approximately 30+ hours editing
- Cost of package extras (photo books, discs, USB drives, prints, mailing rates, packaging, etc)
- Taxes
- Insurance (if they carry any)
- Website fees
- Web domain fees
- Advertising fees
- System back up fees
- Workshop fees and classes (to keep updated and educated on the latest and greatest)
- Outsourcing costs
- Regular business expenses and necessities
- Money to save for off seasons and slower months
- Studio rent, electricity, etc
- Payroll for employees that may assist the company
When you add all of these things up a photographer can actually go negative and pay out of pocket to photograph your wedding. Given the time that it takes to edit each wedding, a photographer can only book a certain number in order to meet their turn around deadlines; especially because many, like myself, work from home. We need a little extra time to balance between family, running a household, booking and interacting with clientele, photographing sessions, editing, and keeping the business running smoothly behind the desk. When all is said and done our profit can be a few humble dollars an hour, oftentimes less than minimum wage.
With all of this being said, we truly love our job, I promise! Photographing each ceremony is a tremendous honor and is incredibly rewarding, so we often go above and beyond the call for our amazing clients. We devote extra time here and there to help plan out details when things get shaky, and more often than not we become day of coordinators, last minute hair dressers, gown steamers, and keep the day organized and flowing smoothly for you. We usually leave to begin our drive before the sun comes up and travel a few hours each way to reach your beautiful venue, fueling up on protein bars since we know that, unlike other jobs, there won’t be a single break until later that evening when reception time comes. This break will be very welcomed to rest our feet and get a bite to eat, but it will be done as quickly as possible to assure that we’re finished before the festivities continue, never missing a precious moment. When the day is over we walk away with sore feet, full hearts, and incredible memories as we trek back home to sleep and begin the editing process.
Yes, wedding photography is a very stressful and time consuming business to run, and after the cost of expenses and time, we have to charge enough to cover our bills and hopefully have a few dollars left to hold us over during those off season months when work is slow, and pay the stressful high costs of taxes when that sweet time rolls around. The more bills a company has to pay (say, to pay a team of employees and rent of studio spaces), the higher the rates have to go in order to keep ahead of the game.
If you’ve been able to hold on long enough to read the entirety of my babble, I hope that you’re able to close out with a better understanding of the hard work that goes into “taking portraits”, why the price tags can be heftier than you’d like, and with a new appreciation for photographers. Those who make the same mistake that I did early on, charging prices that don’t cover quite enough expenses, quickly find out for themselves that they won’t make it long in the field without moving that tab up to find just the right place for both themselves and their clients.
Crystal Mills is the owner of Resurrected Photography, a luxury photography company based near Portland, OR. With a passion for lifestyle and modern style sessions, she was previously awarded the title of ‘Best Portland Wedding Photographer’ by Weddings.com. When she’s not documenting memories for her clients she spends her time creating Disney themed portrait series, taking thousands of photos of her two children and her husband, and binge watching episodes of Friends.”
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