Why is photography so expensive?

Photography is expensive. But why? There are multiple reasons and I will help explain this for you because you don’t know what you don’t know, and that’s okay! Photography is a lot of work, even before the session begins. You are not paying for someone with a camera to press a button and tell you to smile, you are paying for a whole experience from a dedicated artist who pours into their craft.

Preparation and client experience- As a photographer, we think about all aspects of our client experience. How can we make our clients have a non stressful fun time while getting beautiful images? This takes a lot of preparation with time planning and gathering all the information needed to prepare for your session such as creating questionaires, style guides, inspiration boards, timelines for weddings and more.

Education- I never stop learning. I have been photographing since 2008 and I still continue my education in all aspects of photography on a daily basis. With trends coming and going as well as technology upgrades, there is always something new to learn to keep my work current and give the best I can provide. Education is an expensive yet necessary aspect in being a modern photographer. Being current gives all clients the best quality and this costs multiple thousands of dollars to do.

Equipment- With constant upgrades in technology there is an ever evolving door of equipment to help business grow and provide better quality. I use the Sony brand for my business and use their top of the line lenses that help me have different photography aspects for distances, lighting scenarios and speed. To add to equipment necessities, flashes and modifiers are needed to create consistent quality when the sun goes down.

For more of a breakdown on all equipemt I use click here.

Programs- To run a business and do it well for both the photographer and the client itself, multiple programs are needed. This includes a CRM (Client relations management software) to keep track of all clients and what stage each client is at on their journey with you. This also allows your online payments for ease of client use. I personally use two, one for my wedding projects and another for instant online booking to save the client the back and forth of scheduling a session on both of our availability. That is just the programs needed for booking alone. Beyond that programs such as Lightroom for editing, photoshop to remove distractions, culling software to help speed up time to return client images quicker, programs for uploading your gallery for online and instant viewing without needing to wait for a usb or have an in-studio viewing. This makes the client experience easier but it comes at a cost to the photographer. There are also website monthly fees and more.

Shooting time- The time to photograph your session is where all the preparation and education come together. This is where we bring the vision to life so we can get to your desired end result.

Editing time- This is the most time consuming part of business. The editing for your final product. No two shooting experiences are exactly the same even if it takes place at the same location. Due to weather, clients clothing colors and other factors, it takes time to edit the unique session as well as give a consistent result that you hired me for. This takes hours and hours of work to give you the best editing possible for your end result that you will hopefully love. I also do skin smoothing, stray hair removal, clothing de wrinkling and distraction removal for a more polished result. A typical 1 hour session takes about 12-15 hours of editing time alone.

Taxes and processing fees- the bain of a small business owner’s existence. Small business owners have different tax expectations than an employee of a business. As a small business owner approximately 30% of your total booking expense goes directly to taxes ON TOP of the processing fee to accept online payment which is an additional 3% plus 30 cents. Approximately 40% of our earnings go out the door before the job even begins.

Insurance- A professional photographer should have business insurance. By having business insurance this helps protect the photographer from any instances that may happen on the job and costs hundreds per year.

State fees- being a small business owner also comes with state fee expenses, this includes registering with the state to stay compliant as well as any new expectations from the state throughout the year that tends to change consistently.

Studio space- studios are so helpful to have as a photographer so you can work with clients at any time in any weather condition. This allows you to keep your session date as planned during rain, extreme wind or heat or may feel better about having your little ones in an indoor location. This also helps our business run year round during winter season but also comes at a large cost of thousands per year.

Travel- though we may not charge our clients for travel if a session is close, this is also another business expense on the photographer for traveling to our session as well as finding locations to use for your session.

Materials- Photographers need to purchase a lot of materials throughout the year that does not include equipment. This may be decor for specific sessions, office expenses and more.

And all of these expenses come before any possibility of profit. Many times it may take a photographer 5 years before they begin to profit and a sad statistic is that 85% of photographers quit within the first 3 years of business. Most of the time photography is a labor of love and little profit, but in the end you need to eventually profit to stay in business and care for your families. When someone chooses to become a photographer they take this career out of passion and ambition but in the end must charge what is necessary to stay in business and continue photographing your special moments year after year.