5 Reasons Why There’s Such a Price Disparity Among Photographers
You’ve likely done what any good consumer will do when researching photographers for your next big event: Review their work and compare their prices.
While there are plenty of options for photographers in this saturated market, you’re also probably frustrated with the wide range of pricing as you reach out to each one. With some photographers charging as low as $250 for an entire portrait session while others charge $1,800 for the same offering, no wonder there’s so much confusion.
As someone who’s experienced some pretty hard growing pains in my business, I can say with confidence that you’re the unfortunate victim of our own pricing mistakes. I share five reasons why there’s such a drastic difference.
#1 MANY PHOTOGRAPHERS ARE Starving Artists
This, my friends, is probably the biggest and most important driver behind the pricing disparity among photographers. I’ll be so bold as to say that nearly half of the photographers in our industry aren’t really tracking the cost of running a business — both the financial costs and their value of time.
Let’s face it: We’re artists. We aren’t known for our love of math.
Let’s use the example of a family portrait session. For even the most experienced photographer, a standard 1-hour photo session usually eats up 4-5 hours in total project time — from planning, travel, shooting, editing and project communications.
But to do your project a professional photographer also needs gear. They use a $2,000+ camera (I won’t count the lenses) with a $150 memory card to transfer images onto a $3,000 computer and edit them with a $100/year software, if they’re using Adobe products. Those same photographers deliver your beautiful images through a $180/year gallery, backing it up in a $100/year online storage because we’re paranoid we’ll lose all your files. And during winter months, you’re photographed in a $500/month+ studio.
Did I mention the 30% state + income tax rate on our fees?
If we need software, there is no IT guy to rescue us. If our computer breaks, we’re praying for a sale at the Apple Store (never happens). Camera gear and lighting are crazy expensive. And we don’t have healthcare or a 401K match. It all adds up.
Is this the industry we chose? Absolutely. But it also means as business owners, we need to set a fair price that adequately covers business costs and a fair profit margin for our time and talents to avoid legitimately earning below the poverty line.
#2 SOME PHOTOGRAPHERS Don’t Charge Enough Because They Don’t Value Their Work
My previous point segues nicely into this one: Some photographers are absolutely amazing. They produce consistently good experiences and stunning photos for their clients. They have raving fans, excellent referrals, and check all the boxes.
But they still charge a scrappy fee for all the time and energy they put into their work. Or they bend when a client complains about the cost, ultimately wondering why they hit burnout year after year. This person will sadly fold a business and the world loses another talented gift.
An experienced photographer who passionately loves their craft and their clients has invested tens of $ thousands over a relatively short period of time to get the right equipment, take classes to advance their skills, and eventually secure a studio space to serve clients year-round. They want to love their clients so well that they would do just about anything to keep making the experience better.
That investment in experience means they need to charge a fair price for their work. However, fear often grips a talented photographer from charging what he or she is truly worth — and what truly needs to sustain a business. Some photographers can’t separate their personal worth (emotion) with the worth of their products and services (logic) so they continue under-charging for their high-end work.
Photographers: If you are burning out and feel you’re not valued, take a step back and ask yourself what needs to change. You are a Lamborghini. Benevolently love and release the clients haggling over a used Chevy.
#3 Some photographers Charge Less Because They Don’t Need the Work
Take this classic example: A new mom gets a decent starter camera for Christmas to take photos of her growing family. Being the genius she is, learns how to use that camera to take beautiful photos. Her friends see the photos, love them, pay her to take great photos of their kids, and voila! — a side hustle is born.
Photographer Mom loves her new paid hobby for the simple joy of it. It’s a means to document and preserve the memories that matter most and, besides, who doesn’t love a little fun money?
She’s totally entitled to that. We live in a capitalistic society that empowers anyone to work as they see fit and charge what they want.
However, as Photographer Mom continues to be a wonderful source of images for friends who want photos on a budget, her business model is far from sustainable. It’s a matter of time before burnout.
Eventually, Photographer Mom realizes she’ll need to book a sitter to make a session work. Childcare fees will get padded into the cost of her photography sessions, and she’ll need to raise her prices to keep her business running.
Somewhere along the way, she’ll have to choose between her love of taking photos and loving her kids — choosing between being present at their activities vs. running her business during golden hour — the same time as soccer practice. In the end, her passion and love of the craft will have to be worth the money to sacrifice time away from her family. At a meagerly $13/hour (if she’s paying taxes) for a cheap session fee, it’s likely not a long-term venture.
#4 Some Photographers Aren’t Paying Taxes
Some photographers are flat out not paying taxes or operating as a legal business (LLC).
I won’t get on my soapbox about the exorbitant tax rates for sole proprietors — because it really is tempting to not pay taxes — but here’s what does matter: I want to run my business with integrity.
Sales tax and income tax take a huge hit on my revenues. So do contracts, my business registration, and legal fees. But we’re supposed to follow the law. And sometimes we encounter really bad clients who don’t pay or who use our images illegally, forcing us to pay for the things that protect our intellectual property.
If your well-established photographer is being shady with payments or brags about avoiding taxes, it’s possible they’re finding ways to cut corners everywhere else. Do you really want to be on the receiving end of their business practices?
#5 Some Photographers Charge less Because Their Work Isn’t Good
There’s a saying that the combination of good, cheap and fast is an impossibility the size of utopia. So, clients are forced to choose among two of the options.
If you want budget-friendly photography ($300 or less), there’s a high probability you’re hiring a photographer who’s early in the game or lacks experience or education. You might luck out and find a really fantastic photographer at this rate before they dig into their finances or self-worth.
Every photographer starts at the same place. But the artistic acumen and skilled customer service of the best business owners require years of skill-building and cultivation. For some photographers, those skills just never seem to click (no pun intended). And so they stay stuck in a low price range because clients just don’t think their work is worth more.
Some photographers may never get that creative eye. And some will continue to have bad bedside manners or a prima donna complex.
Unfortunately, the result of working with a subpar photographer results in a mediocre experience at best and a potentially bad batch of photos. So, the poor recipients of the budget photo shoot hate their photos and learn to never trust another photographer again. So when they encounter a really good photographer who’s charging their worth, it’s a much harder sell.
A really gifted photographer will constantly invest in their talents, business operations, and artistic talents AND improve over time. If you aren’t seeing a progressive growth with the quality of their work, the experience they deliver, and their growing notoriety, hang onto them for dear life. Because you’ll get images worth every penny.
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To inquire about a session or connect with Michelle, please contact me.
