Today...I'm going to share my thoughts on the cost of custom photography....
One question I get asked the most is...
"Why don't you do this as a business?"
There are a few reasons that I won't go way into. One of the main reasons is because I am not really all that good as a business owner. Believe me...I have had MANY different entrepreneurial goals over the past several years. I have been fortunate that most of them have been great and not too cost consuming. I am terrible at keeping books. I hate keeping track of money and to be honest...I really just suck at the whole business aspect of owning a business. I really only like the creative side of anything I do. This poses a HUGE problem for me. It makes having a successful business next to impossible! The second main reason for me is that I really cannot put a price on anything that makes it worth leaving my kids and ignoring them for 40 hours a week. They are getting so big and I really feel like time is just going by so fast I can't even keep track of it. I don't ever want to look back and say "Why didn't I spend more time with my kids?" I can't imagine anything worse than feeling like I missed out on any time with them.

What I want to address today is the price of custom photography. I just have to laugh when people think I am asking too much for a session when I actually agree to do it in the first place. I love it when people beg and beg me to take photos...saying "I'll pay you!" Then...you actually tell them a price and never hear from them again. It happens all the time. People want me to do them a service. The problem? They want to pay nothing for it. I have spent way too much time doing these "favors" for people. I have realized that when I do a session for a friend, neighbor, even family members for free...it is basically telling my family that they aren't as important as the people I am taking pictures for. What kind of message does that send to my kids? Definitely not one that I want them to hear. There is a great post over at
MCP Actions today. Everyone needs to read it. Aspiring photographers, professional photographers, and anyone who ever gets pictures taken by a photographer!
Go read it....I will wait. It really puts the cost of photography in perspective. It is exactly why I can't do photography as a business. And...it explains very openly why custom photographers charge what they do. My favorite quote from this post is...
"So how do you price? Work backwards to figure out what clients need to spend. So many people want to skim over this because they are “arteests” and think it’s all about the talent, not about the pricing structure. WRONG! Artists work from emotions, and you better step outside of that for a moment and keep those emotions and business separated, or you will BE a starving artist who will one day look back and say “my kids are grown, where did the time go? I sat in front of that computer for hours for less than minimum wage… I wish I had that time back with my kids….” No one looks back and says “I wish I would have worked more away from my family….”
This is exactly why I can't do this as a business. I don't have the time to make it really worth leaving my kids over. I already spend WAY too much time on the computer editing photos, as it is. Really makes you stop and think about why 95% of all photography businesses fail....
I figure I spend about 8-10 hours per session. This includes prep, shooting, driving, and editing.
If I am charging $200 a session...it comes out to $20/hour. Which in theory sounds great...but it isn't true. Figure in cost of equipment, driving, paying babysitter, taxes, etc, etc, I end up making WAY less than $10 an hour. So...you figure your are making less than minimum wage for your time, then.... give away the work for free when you hand over a CD of images for nothing.
Hmmmm. Really makes you think. What are your thoughts on custom photography? If you do it as a profession...how to you make it worth your time? If you are a consumer...how do you feel about the cost of custom photography? What do you think is too much to spend?