Why A Custom Photographer?
Owning a digital camera has brought amazing flexibility and ability to control various factors during the image taking and making process. Photographers, those who do photography as a business or those who do it as a hobby or an amateur all benefit from the ability to manipulate pixels.
Today, many people own DSLR cameras and can place the camera on automatic [the green box] and make enjoyable pictures. Today’s clients want a photographer that knows how to capture great images in all lighting situations so for a custom photographer factor in the expertise that comes with your photographer.
Speaking of expertise, if you’re wondering why none of my information says “professional photographer”, it’s because I don’t find it necessary to denote what I do. I prefer to let my work speak to you without all the fluff and frills.
Each click of the camera shutter lends itself to the lifespan of that camera. Yes, camera’s have a lifespan. I’m not talking about changing it to get the latest model but the “shutter life”. Then there is the need for additional resources for processing the images, the time it takes to get a useable image and the effort that goes into creating a work of photographic art.
We all know that you can go to a local drugstore or Wal-Mart and pay under a dollar for a 4×6 print –as a client you may wonder why you pay more for custom photography prints. Every once in a while I hear statements like this:
It only cost $2 to print this 8×10 at x store, why does it cost $15 with you?”
The answer is multifaceted. Much of the cost of a photographic print produced by a photographer has a lot to do with the time, equipment and program costs, artistic vision and reputation of the photographer – not to mention expertise and the usual costs of running a legitimate business.
The cost of TIME Approaching it from a time standpoint, let’s imagine that you have hired a photographer who has work that you love. This photographer is traveling to your desired location to photograph your session. Here is an example of a time break down:
- booking time: 30 minutes to one hour (client contact time + paperwork+invoicing)
- pre-session prep time (30 mins – 1 hour, includes equipment and back up equipment checks + vehicle checks+ prop and background preparation )
- travel time TO session
- 15-30 minutes prep time at client’s home
- 60 minutes with client photographing subject
- travel time FROM session
- 30-45 minutes uploading time from digital cards from camera to computer
- 30-45 minutes time spent backing up the original images
- 3-5 hours editing time to present you with a diverse gallery of edited images
- 1 hour gallery preparation
- 30 minutes Phone/Text or Email consultation with client for ordering images
- any additional phone time or time needed for add on ordering, shipment issues, quality issues
In this example, the time spent per client can range from just under 9 hours to 15 hours – dependent on the photographer’s level of service. This is time dedicated only to ONE session. When the photographer charges $125-$300 for the photo shoot (aka SESSION or CREATIVE FEE) you are not just paying for the 1.5 hours of session time, you are paying the photographer for 9-15 hours complete time for your session.
