I know there are so many deserving families but thought that a teacher would be the most appropriate selection for this session.  Ms. Judy taught my son, AJ, both last year and this year in preschool.  She exemplifies what a teacher should be and I am so honored to have known her and to meet her family.

Her children Brandon and Max are both active boys and we decided to take some pictures of them in their sports apparel.  Max just recently obtained his black belt and Brandon is a pitcher for the local high school baseball team.

Thank you Judy for sharing your smiles and your boys with me for this session.  Xo

Before I became a professional photographer I couldn’t understand why custom portraits were so expensive.  Now that I’m in the business I understand the true investment required to provide great results for clients.  I also realized professional photographers are entitled to make a profit.  Below are some of the reasons that portrait photographers charge what they do.

TIME

Simply put, you’re not just paying for the actual photograph; you’re paying for time and expertise in creating the image itself. First, let’s look at the actual time involved for a 2 hour portrait session:

1-2 hours of travel to and from the session
30 minutes of preparation and setup for the shoot
1-2 hours of shooting time (or upwards of 3 hours for newborns)
1 hour to load images onto a computer and ‪back up the files on an external drive
2 – 4 hours of editing time time, including cropping, color, retouching, sharpening, and saving a copy for print and a copy for the internet
2 – 3 hours to talk to the client, answer questions, receive order and payment, order their prints, receive and verify prints, package prints, schedule shipment, and ship (or hand deliver if local)

And if you decide to order those expensive holiday cards or that $800 leather album?  An additional 3-6 hours goes into designing these products and then add on another 1-2 hours for proofs and revisions and sending to press.

You can see how a two-hour session easily turns into more than ten hours of work from start to finish. When you see a Photographer charging a $200 session fee for a two hour photo shoot, you are not paying them $100 / hour.

There is also the time that is invested in the business outside of work for each session.  Including marketing, training, creating invoices, maintaining licensure, updating websites/blogs, and paying sales taxes.  This could average anywhere from an additional 5-20 hours a week.

INVESTMENT

Photographers invest in professional equipment for their photo shoots.  The average camera body costs $3,000-$5,000 and most of lenses upwards of $1,000-$2,000.  And that is just the beginning for the equipment in our bag… We also invest in flash equipment for every situation, tripods, backdrops, props, memory, carrying and storage cases.

In addition to purchasing expensive camera equipment, we also have to purchase numerous software programs to edit photographs, host and backup images online and run a website.  We must hold business insurance and also pay tax on our earnings. We may also pay for marketing, packaging, and shipping.  A photographer that offers a variety of products will have to purchase samples of their products and templates for press cards to show their clients. And if we have children, we pay for childcare.

SKILL

Becoming a professional photographer doesn’t happen overnight.  Regardless of training or natural talent, a lot of time and research goes in to learning how to operate a camera correctly for every situation.  We join professional associations and take seminars and training from some of the best names in the business.

As professionals we need to be able to communicate, and make both adults and children comfortable in front of the camera.  Posing people to make them look their best, yet completely natural in a photograph is a skill all by itself.

CUSTOMER SERVICE

As a professional, I offer my clients more than just prints in an envelope or digital images on a DVD. I package my items with detailed instructions on how and where to print digital images, explain crop ratios, and provide print care instructions for my prints.  My clients are investing in their portraits and they should feel like they are getting that extra treatment.

Our prints and products are purchased from reputable labs that have outstanding color quality and craftsmanship.  Purchasing a print from a 1-hour consumer photo lab and a professional print lab will produce varying results.  And the price reflects the difference in quality. We continuously learn new techniques and remain up to date on the latest equipment, creative products, and photo trends. We prepare our clients for their sessions by suggesting great locations to take photos and assist them in coordinating their clothing for timeless photographs.

SUMMARY

Professional photographers do more than just show up and take great photos of your family. They are CEOs, accountants, marketers, child tamers, receptionists, graphic design artists, production workers, and sales people. They invest a lot of energy and go the extra mile to get that perfect image for clients.  For me its more than just the financial return, it’s the time I’m taking away from my family to create images for other families.  But like most other photographers, I take pride in providing my clients memories that will last a lifetime.