Why Photographers Charge What We Charge
I often get asked if I offer discounts or why my pricing is so high. Some people are so surprised at “how expensive it is for just photos”. I know this is a common ask/question that photographers get.
I am here for you - my clients - to explain so you can understand all that it takes for me to do “just a few pictures” for you.
I am also writing this for you - my fellow photographers - so you can share with your clients (or potential clients who thinks you are too expensive) all the hard work and expenses you have to pay to “just come over and snap a few pictures" for them.
Expenses for photographers
Do you want to know what photographers have to spend our own money on? Here’s a list of expenses we incur to make our photography business and photography sessions happen.
You can see the list is ginormous.
You get the general gist and just want to know why we price the way we do? Read the last section.
General business expenses
Internet
Phone
Studio (if one is renting one or pay rent every month)
Taxes - generally 35% reserved for income taxes and some photographers pay for sales tax on their own
Accounting fees and other professional fees
Electricity
Office supplies
Credit card processing fees
Medical insurance
Studio cleaning supplies
Equipment expenses
Camera and lenses (mine are combined total of approximately $7,000 so far not including maintenance)
Lighting equipment
Memory cards
External hard drive for photo storage (and a back up one)
Light bulbs for strobes/flashes
General repair and maintenance fees
Camera bag
Backdrops and backdrop stand
General travel to/from photo shoot expenses
Gas/Uber/Bus
Car payments and registration
Parking fees
Vendor fees like local or state park fees
Marketing expenses
Yelp and Facebook Ads
Trade show exhibit fees and materials
Business cards
Marketing materials such as flyers, pricing sheets, etc.
Logo and other branding design
Signage
Session specific expenses
Props (especially for newborn and boudoir photographers)
Furniture (if in a studio)
Second shooter (if necessary)
Assistant (if necessary)
Batteries
Packaging of products (if ordered)
Product samples
Babysitters
Other session materials like band aids, baby wipes, hand sanitizer, snacks, hand warmers, kids entertainment.
Annual or monthly subscriptions to sustain a photography business
Editing Software
General Business Liability Insurance
Website hosting fee
Domain maintenance fee
CRM software (invoicing, contract, etc)
Social medial planner and software
Online gallery storage and fees
Education
* This is not tax or accounting advice. Please consult an accountant if you have any specific accounting questions!
What we spend 60+ hours a week as photographers
We all know that to understand how much we actually price, is not only based on expenses but also how much time it takes for us to deliver the goods and services as a business. Here’s a list of all that we do as photographers, and also as business owners.
Actual photography session related time
Preparing equipment and props for a photo shoot
Traveling to and from photography session location
Session time actually shooting (ranging from 15 minutes to many hours)
Editing
Marketing time
For me, I probably spend 80% of my time on marketing.
Creating content and materials for ads
Setting up the ads
Monitoring the ads
Networking
Blogging
Website building and maintenance
Trade show attendance and exhibiting
Preparing for trade show exhibiting
Follow up with potential clients that I met at trade shows
Prepare and draft email newsletters/deals/announcements
Social media posting and planning
Research time
Scouting locations
Research lighting at a location
Research permit for a location
Client communication
Respond to inquiries that turn into clients
Respond to inquires that never go anywhere
Discussion locations, strategy, outfits, lighting and other day-of coordination with clients
Post-gallery delivery communication with clients
How much money I actually make per session
Now that you know all of the expenses, here’s the overview breakdown of how much money I am taking in per session at my current mini and full session rate.
Mini Session Price ($275 for 30 minutes)
35% goes to paying taxes = $178.75 left
25% (a conservative #) goes to all of my expenses I lay out above = $134.06
So, now that you see my take-home amount, let’s do the calculation on how much per hour I am making.
Yes, I am only seeing you for 30 minutes. shoot
It usually takes me 30 minutes each way to travel = 1.5 hours.
To edit a 30 minute session, it will take me about 2-3 hours. Let’s say 2.5 hours.
Before the shoot, I took time to communicate with you. If it’s a simple back and forth, maybe takes about an hour total of my time.
After the shoot, I have wrapping up communications and other admin matters such as accounting, gallery maintenance and deletion, etc. Let’s say another 1 hour.
Besides this time, let’s factor in the marketing and other business admin I do each week, which is let’s say total of 20 hours a week, based on 5 sessions a week, I will add 4 hours per session.
Based on this, a mini session, I usually spend 10 hours total. Let’s do the math of my hourly wage! 134.06 divided by 6… is $13.40 per hour.
To do each mini session, I make $13.40 per hour. Not even minimum wage!
Full Session Price ($525 for 60 minutes)
Same principal as above, except my time of photo shoot and editing time increases that much more. The percentage of expenses doesn’t change regardless of how long I shoot for. I won’t break it down for you again, but basically, going through the same math… Instead of 10 hours spending, I usually spend about 12 hours.
Basically, 60% of the session cost goes into expenses and taxes = $315 take home price. Divided by 8 is… $26.25. Phew, slightly better. Even then, it’s definitely not enough to survive in San Francisco!
There you have it!
Basically, what I realized is that I need to raise my prices. lol I am not going to just yet because of where I am in my business and competitor pricing, but I hope this opens explains why I am priced the way I am, and what other photographers consider as well.
So, before you go “price shopping” for photography, please please please consider the art, service, and memories that a photographer provides. We spend countless hours on giving you the best images that we can get for you, while we take care of our selves, family, and children. Be kind!