Why Hire A Professional Photographer?
I make my living capturing still and moving images and producing portraits, video, graphics and web sites. I feel that in all those areas I charge a fair amount both for my time and the final product that not only represents the amount of time and capitol I have invested in the production of your project, but also nearly 3 decades of experience in this industry. I have had people ask me why they can take a file to the local drug store and get a 4×6 print made for $.20, and so how can I feel I can charge somewhere in the range of $12-$15 for the “same” thing.
It’s not the same thing. Consider the following:
1. The cost of the equipment that I use. A digital camera today that has the features needed by a professional will range between $2000 and $8000. the add another (conservatively) $4000 for lenses, filters, on camera flashes, tripods, ect.
2. The cameras that I use produce large files, you can’t go to Staples and buy a computer off the shelf…my last computer cost me almost $3000
3. Once you have the files in the computer you have to be able to do something with them….Photoshop – the industry standard software for photo correction / manipulation will cost you about $700, and every 2 years the upgrade will run you about $200
4. Storage, I mentioned that the files that my cameras produce are very large. Several copies of each file has to be stored on different mediums to protect against computer crashes. I have 7 or 8 hard drives that cost on the average of $150 each, plus enough DVD’s and CD to fill a small house.
5. I have a room that was specially built in my home to shoot in – try to take a full length portrait of a person in a room with 8′ ceilings.
6. The lights in my studio are very expensive. I have 5 – they run about $1200 each, plus stands, light modifiers and other related equipment
7. Back grounds. I love it when I see someone use a white sheet for a background. I have close to $700 invested in each of my painted backgrounds plus rolls of black and white paper and muslins
9. Experience. You can hand someone a very expensive camera and put them in a studio or at a nice outdoor location, but that doesn’t mean that they will produce exceptional portraits…a few good snap shots maybe. I have almost 30 years of experience as a photographer (ya, I’m getting old). I have spent decades studying how light falling on a subject affects the overall image. I have almost 30 years of experience knowing how to pose people to make them look natural (ever really see someone hugging a tree in real life? I see that pose often and much much worse in the work of inexperienced photographers) I have experience with the the best software that allows us to take full advantage of the digital files that we have captured.
10. I have decades of experience working with people, helping them express themselves in a way that is natural and pleasing.
11. Every one of the portraits that I hand to a client has been printed at a professional lab by professional technicians using professional products . Ask the gal or guy making prints in the drug store what year in high school they are. Ask them to print something darker, or to remove 10% of the cyan or to spray and then mount the print for you…you will get a blank scare and then a look of panic.
12. My time. On the average, if I take your family’s portraits and I have spent an hour with you in the studio or at a location, I will spend at the minimum of 4 -6 hours with your images preparing them for you to view and make a selection, and then preparing them to send to the lab. If I have done your Senior Portraits and we have spent 3 or 4 hours together, it would be nothing for me to spend another 8 hours working with your images. If you are a bride and I have captured your wedding and made you an album – I probably have 60 hours invested in your final project.