Know Your Value: Pricing

This article is for any up and coming photographers who (like me) have struggled with trying to figure out a price point. Too high and you’re not going to get any clients for your skill level, while too low will leave you overworked and underpaid. I suggest that you do a lot of research before setting your prices and then stick with them.

Probably the most calls I get now are to shoot weddings and it’s not uncommon for me to hear “Hey so how about knocking a bit off the price.” And unless we’re working out a larger package deal then my answer typically is “No.” The tricky part is saying no without appearing like a jerk. For starters my price is nothing outrageous and the same goes for the bulk of photographers who I know and associate with. Sure you can get a sub $1000 photographer but I’m a firm believer in that most of the time you will get what you pay for. I have yet to see the $500 budget wedding photographer who will deliver the results that a $2500 one will. And I’ve had brides say “well I know this photographer who charged $4000 at my friends wedding and the photos came out fairly boring.” I’m sure that we can all come up with one off stories like that but the reality is that with pretty much everything in life, you get exactly what you paid for. We’ve all heard that story where the cousin, brother, aunt or uncle can do the shoot but they want to attend the wedding and that they would have done it for $1000 less than what I’m asking. When clients go online and see your work as well as your pricing, they are calling you because they are interested in you. To them they’re paying a couple thousand for a full day of work…seems high right? Let’s calculate exactly what goes in to a typical wedding shoot. The following is what you can expect from most mid level and higher wedding photogs:

GEAR
- Two SLR camera bodies typically ranging between $2000-$7000 EACH.
- Professional quality lenses which allow for not only better image quality, but they can shoot in dark conditions. Two of my most commonly used lenses are over $3000 for both together.
- Lights. Even an SB-900 flash costs over $400 alone. Studio strobes also start in that range and go much higher.
- Misc items such as memory cards, camera bags, light stands, reflectors, diffusers, umbrellas, backdrops.

TIME
You’re only shooting for 10 or 12 hours! If I pay you $1500 then that’s like $150 an hour! Well sort of. Let’s just add in a bit more time for me getting to and from multiple locations…brides house, church/temple, artsy shooting location, reception. Don’t forget the time you spend in the morning prepping your gear for the shoot, planning out some of the photos we’ll be posing as well. Of course after the wedding you can easily spend 5 or more hours cutting and editing all of the images, airbrushing, adding effects, hosting the photos, burning them to DVD, and mailing them out. Realistically the amount of time you the photographer spend on a shoot is doubled in reality. Let’s also not forget the photo workshops and events that you’ve attended to become a better photographer along with the thousands of hours of practice to get your images to a level where someone looks and says “You know what? I like those photos and that’s what I want to look at for my memories years down the road.”

Just those two things above are already costing the photographer a small fortune. And let’s not forget that most mid level and higher photogs are showing up with at least one other photographer who also needs to be paid. When you add everything up, you’re worth the price. Stick to it. Yes you will probably lose that budget bride who wants the full deal for a few hundred dollars, but that’s life. You will be better off shooting one wedding for your price than doing 3 for a fraction of it and your clients will be a lot more appreciative of the photos. It’s not expected that a client understands every detail of what you go through for a shoot, but it’s important that you do and price yourself accordingly. It’s easy for a client to sit on the sideline and point out how basic something like a shoot is just as it’s easy for me to sit at home and yell “Come on, you were wide open!” when a professional athlete misses a run. But it’s a different story to hop into their shoes.

Does this mean that you should buy all the gear and run out there with a high price point? No. For your first wedding you just might want to offer photos to a friend as a gift if they can’t afford a photographer. Or you can call studios and see if they’ll send you out as a third shooter where you get to see and follow the photographers in action. You might need to go out a few times to get it or take a workshop or spend a few hours online or read a book. Point is that all that time and effort you’re putting into it is making you better (see PRACITCE WITH INTENTION). Once you’re out on your own, you need to factor all of that in and stick to your game plan.

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~ by novophotography on February 21, 2011.