Post 11

The other day, I was watching a video on YouTube which basically consisted of a photographer giving a presentation to some people about what he does, and how he's successful. At one point, the photographer began to discuss prices, and why he charges what he charges. I think this brought up a number of good points that potential clients don't always take into consideration.

It's no secret that good photographers charge "a lot" of money for their servies, but there's good reason for this. Not only do clients get what they pay for, usually, and to a certain extent, but providing good photographs is a challenging feat that not every person can do. There are a number of things that photographers must do besides taking quality photographs that are extremely time consuming.

The most obvious challenge photographers face, are making good photographs. There is a difference between "taking" and "making" photographs. Snapshots are taken, but art is made. If you're trying to become a photographer, but you don't have "an eye" for it, you won't make it. Not everyone is aware of "the eye" for photography, but some people have it, and some people don't. "The eye" can rarely be taught, and is usually what separates an "okay" photograph, and an "outstanding" one. Taking a photograph from the right angle, dialing in the right settings, and arranging the subject(s) so the photograph looks good is the most essential, and probably the least time consuming. Composing the photograph and pressing down the shutter button may take anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes, and may also take more than one shot. Ideally, I like to get a decent photo within a couple of shots, but this isn't always the case. Some people may think a few seconds of arranging and getting the right settings might not seem all that time consuming, but when I'm taking photos for any number of hours, those seconds begin to add up.

The second biggest challenge for photographers is editing. Editing is, without a doubt, one of the most time consuming parts of being a photographer, but it's also one of the parts that most clients aren't aware of. If you hire a photographer, and they shoot JPEGs and don't edit their images, then you're overpaying. I wish I could be satisfied with pressing the shutter button a few times while letting the camera do all of the work, but the camera doesn't know what I want in a photo. That's why I choose my settings, and then go in and touch those photos up. In my opinion, a JPEG will never look as good as an edited RAW file if it was edited by someone who knows what they're doing. Editing is probably 75% of what my clients pay for, because for me, it's one, if not the, most time consuming aspect. If I do a one hour session, I'll most likely be editing for at least another hour. The client will most likely be present for the hour I'm shooting, but once I go home, many clients don't realize that I sit at the computer for another hour to get edit the photos to where I like them. And, an hour is ideal. The time it takes to edit depends on what the client wants and what I'm shooting. If the client is satisfied with and prefers a more "minimalistic" edit, for example, slight adjustments to contrast, maybe an exposure adjustment, I could probably get through 100 photos in an hour, if all of the photos require slight tweaks. If I'm doing senior photos though, clients generally want those photos to be heavily edited. With senior photos, I'd be ecstatic with getting through 25 photos in an hour. So if I take 200 photos for a senior photo shoot, I might only be shooting for an hour or two, but I'll be editing for, potentially, eight hours. The client will see me working for the hour or two, but once I leave, I don't know if they even realize that my work isn't done yet.

Another factor that are included in cost, is the preparation that goes into a photo shoot. In an ideal situation, the client and I will both be free for the first day mentioned, but that's rarely the situation. Usually, the client and I will have conflicting schedules, and we'll both need to work around that, which requires who knows how long of going back and forth until we find a time that works, and that's if I already know the client. If I had to search for the client, and I've never worked with them before, I have to pitch myself to them, which adds only more time. I have to contact the client, probably send them some examples of my work, wait for them to look over the work I sent them, ask them if they're interested, and then work out all of the details, such as the date of the event, what they're looking for, tell them how much I charge and what is included when they pay, find out what time the event is/what time they want to schedule a session. Then, once I actually do the shooting for the amount of time they want, I have to go home and edit the photos. I then will send them a CD with the photos they requested on it. After I send out the CD, I then make sure they received the CD, and thank them for their business. Sometime before the shoot, I also have to make sure all of my lenses are cleaned, make sure my batteries are charged, make sure I have enough memory cards, and then get the lenses I think I'll use ready for the session/event. If I could figure out how much time went into this, I would.

Something else that I found to be surprisingly time-consuming, is putting files onto CDs. I recently had a client who ordered a number of photos from me. I wrote down the file names and expected to be done within half an hour or so. I didn't take into consideration that I have had three cameras in the past couple of years, and have some files with the same name. I went down the list of the photos the client ordered and typed them into my search bar. If I was lucky, only one file popped up, and then I put the file into a folder, which I then burned to a CD. Unfortunately, I think only one file popped up maybe three or four times. If more than one file came up, I had to search through the other files and make sure I was choosing the right one, which is more challenging than you may think when the thumbnails are literally the size of a thumbnail. Another thing I found out was that deleting and typing the names of the photos into the search bar took me longer than I thought. Once I thought I had all of the files on the CD, I went through the list to make sure they were all on there. Unfortunately, I'm not known for my organizational skills, and when I started writing down the names of the files, I started in the middle of the piece of paper, ran out of room, started a new column on the left side of the piece of paper, ran out of room, and then started a new column on the left side of the paper, which resulted in the files being out of order. This was my fault, and I will be sure to remember this for next time. When I was confirming that all of the photos the client wanted were on the CD, I realized I was missing one. I checked the list and files again, and then a second time. Then I stared at the list for a while and saw which one I didn't cross off. Another thing I will remember for next time is to write more neatly, so I can tell which file names are crossed off and which ones aren't...

This is also why I charge what I charge for prints/files. Sure, I make a profit when I sell prints. It doesn't cost me $10 to print an 8x10, but I take into consideration that the prints clients choose to buy are considered to be works of art. I not only captured a special moment that speaks to whoever wants to buy the print, but I took the time and effort to edit the photo, wait for that special moment to happen, interact with the client and make sure they have a pleasant experience while dealing with me, spend money on envelopes, postage and ink, but I have a cat to feed, and charging enough to break even won't provide me with a career, let alone enough money to make a living. Generally, I charge $5 for a file when I'm working with a client. There are advantages and disadvantages to selling files as oppose to prints. When I sell a print, that's the only print the client will have. They're buying something more unique than a file. When a client purchases a file from me, they can make as many prints of the file as they want, and in any size they want. If they want to make wall paper out of the files they purchase from me, they can, and don't have to pay me anything more than the $5. So looking at that one way, one may think I'm losing money. However, by selling files, I don't have to take the time to print every file they want, I don't have to mail the print, and I don't have to run out and buy more ink and paper before I want to. Before you decide you want to buy a file from me though, instead of a print to hang up on a wall, I only let clients who I shoot for purchase files from me. So in other words, if I take your child's senior photos, I supply you with a cd with the files on them. People who I don't shoot a session for can buy a print.

So, as you now know, when clients hire me to take photographs, I don't just show up, take photos, and then hand them over. There are a plethora of other time-consuming pieces that fit into the puzzle, which, I think, justify the high prices that photographers are often associated with. If anyone with a dSLR could take the same photos professional photographers make, then there would be no reason to hire someone to take photos.

(I realize after reading this post, that I sound like I'm complaining. I've decided that I've already typed too much and put too much effort into this post to start over, or change the wording, though. So, instead, I will clarify that I love taking photos, and I would never even consider aspiring to be anything else. Except maybe Boba Fett.)