E Cubed Photography » Senior and Family Portraits

Why is photography so expensive, it’s just a picture?

I get asked that question a lot.  Why is a photo session so expensive?  My friend will take pictures for $50.  In reality yes, anyone can take pictures.  And some people take great pictures but don’t charge.  It’s totally up to the individual and how much they value their time.

We get led astray as photographers.  We get told to value yourself.  Price yourself by how much you think you are worth.  Being an artist, that is a very difficult thing to do.  Often as artists we feel a sense of guilt for charging anything for doing something we love.  It’s true!  It’s like if you really really like to eat hamburgers and you charged people to watch you eat one.  It feels almost wrong.  Artists struggle with this all of the time.  And yes if you are a photographer you are an artist, don’t fool yourself.  That’s why some people have it and some people don’t.  Our problem is putting a monetary value on what we do.  So if you are having a hard time with that, this is for you.  If you are a fan of photography and plan on booking a session but can’t figure out why pricing is so different, this is for you.  Hopefully this brings a little light to the situation.

I recently heard a well known photographer explain pricing with a question that I had not expected.  “What is your time away from your family worth?”  At first I thought that it was silly and didn’t apply.  The more I thought about it the more I realized that IS a huge motivating factor in pricing.

Here’s an example:

Photographer says her time is worth $100 an hour.  Agrees to a 1 hour family session and charges $100. Goes home happy thinking that she made what she is felt she is worth.  But did she really?  Yes she only spent 1 hour away from her family.  But did she prep for the session?  How long did it take to book and gather props, supplies, go to the location, etc?  Lets be modest and say 30 minutes.  After the shoot she comes back to her office and uploads and culls the images(selects the ones to edit).  Lets say another 30 minutes.  Most photographers don’t have the chance to sit and edit right away.  They have families to feed, kids to wash and get ready for bed, etc.  So around 10pm the editing starts.  She edits 30 images at a rate of 5 minutes an image.  Total time equalling 150 minutes of editing.  If there’s any skin retouching for pimples or improper make up, add an extra 5 minutes per image.  The photographer then saves all of the images, creates an online gallery and a separate downloadable phone app, send the client their links.     (20 minutes).

Lets add this up.

30+60+150+20=260 minutes of time used.   4 hours and 20 minutes of time went into one session.  Then she has to deduct 40% for taxes, so that takes it down to less than $15 an hour!  Is that an eye opener or what?!  So for all of the time away from her family she was only making less than minimum wage in California.

So why did I raise my prices and why will I continue to raise my prices?  I am in no way near where I feel my prices need to be but I am working on the artists guilt and the business responsibility to get there.  If you don’t know me I am a mom, educator, artist and photographer.  I have a deep love and passion for photography that has been in my blood since I was a child.  I am the wife of a federal agent and a mom of 2 boys.  A few years ago when I wasn’t seeing my husband more than 4 months out of the year because of my teaching schedule and my kids were getting sick in day care, I quit my job.  I no longer taught 7th grade art and took a big pay cut for the sake of our household, my marriage, and my kids well being.  I decided to sink full time into my part time photography studio.  I would get exhausted trying to keep up with the amount of editing and time I was spending on the computer.  I would question if it was all worth it.  As of recent my husband’s schedule allows us as a family to see each other for about 4-5 hours a day.  He also took a huge pay cut.  His 2 days off aren’t really days, but evenings.  He sleeps when we are awake, works while we are asleep, and has breakfast when we have dinner.  My kids who are 5 and 2 tend to be napping when dad wakes up so that cuts time they spend with him.  When I schedule a session that’s 2 hours out of my family time I have to be away.  That means I get 2 hours to be with my whole family and it is usually spent cooking and getting them ready for bed.  We don’t leave on his days off because I schedule shoots.  Again more time taken away from my family.  I edit at night when I am the only one awake so I don’t take more time away from my family for what feels like “selfish” reasons.  I know they aren’t but it’s the artists guilt again.  Is my time away from my family worth $100 session?  Absolutely not.  I had to sit down and really wrestle with what I should be charging.  If things need to be rushed then there is a $75-$100 extra fee because I either need to spend hours away from my family or spend a bunch of money sending them to be retouched by someone else.  I have finally realized that my time away from my family is worth more than what I make and what I should be charging.  If the photographer above believes she should be making $100 an hour then her minimum session should be $420.  My current minimum session is $300.  What do you think I should do?  My family is definitely worth $100 an hour.  My precious little bit of time I have all together with them is worth so much more. So why are portraits so expensive?  Are they really that expensive in the long run?  Should you go to a $50 photographer, sure if you thats your thing.  But should the $50 photographer think about their value and what their time is really worth?  Definitely.  Everyone deserves to support their family.

Filed in   |  Boudoir- LuxurE,  bridal,  Family/ Maternity,  Senior Photography,  Uncategorized

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