Experience
Since we've both been wedding photographers for going on a DECADE (almost 10 years now), run a legitimate registered L.L.C. business that pays taxes, have formal degrees from one of the best photography schools in the nation as Masters in Fine Art Photography (like a PhD for practicing fine art photographers) and Bachelors of Fine Art Photography specializing in Commercial Photography, AND have been in together going on 5 years this year, we've grown through the years as certified experts on what Professional Photographers and co-business owners need to charge, provide, and need to know to be qualified and sustain a full-time business in this industry. At this point after nearly a decade of business AND formal degrees in the subject (formal degrees also including a university degree in Entrepreneurship itself), we can confidently say that we're a couple very qualified to chat about proper pricing and photography business practices that you should expect of your photographer.
In this article/ blog, the sample price charts and such that we give you were well-researched for years and the example price charts in this article are Samples from well-charging, successful peers in the Professional Photography Industry. A problem now-a-days is that people don't want to treat photography like a real business. It used to be that only true professional photographers photographed everything important from Commercial Photography projects to Wedding Photography. That's sadly not the case anymore. Any t-shirt wearing, unprofessional middle school educated human who doesn't know how to work their camera can walk right in to the industry, photograph clients, hand over terribly photographed digitals for $50 for an hour Session, and call it a day with cash floating around in their pockets and the client getting sub-par digital photographs (that they won't back up on their computers and will eventually lose altogether or print horribly at CVS or Shutterfly). That's well & fine, but it's eventually going to kill the Professional Photography Industry from the inside out and means that someday no one will know how to work a professional camera, how to run a Competitively Charging photography business, and No One will have a Professional Degree in Photography. ((Why get a degree when you can slack off and not learn the most important things about business and photography (and still make money)...?)) For the rest of this article we'll be sharing with you Standard, COMPETITIVE real pricing for Professional Photography of those in the Industry whose entire household income comes from their Registered Professional Photography Business and that alone.
Sitting Fee Portrait Pricing
There are standard fees for the service of Professional Photography and for Portrait Sessions, there is a thing called a "Sitting Fee." This is a Flat Fee for the photographer doing their service of scouting locations, showing up, sometimes bringing props, driving the distance needed, working, having business insurance, paying Business Taxes, having a studio, having an office, having an editing office, using $20,000 worth of gear that the photographer financed themselves (and must get fixed at times), etc.
Here is an example from a Professional Photographer's website on the Sitting Fee/ Session Fee:
This flat fee (i.e. "Sitting Fee") ranges depending on the experience of the photographer, but for a One Hour Family Portrait Session, that fee will cover only a certain number of people (additional charges for more than about 6 people) and should be expected to be around (or more than) $350 for an hour ((and Maybe up to 2 or 3 locations and maybe 2 outfit changes allowed)). This Sitting Fee pays the photographer for working and doing their job as well as functions as a retainer to book your time. This fee does NOT cover products such as digital images, Print Rights, photo products, etc. If you have a photographer who does include products with their packages, then the photographer is often losing money and needs to bank on QUANTITY of clients rather than QUALITY clients and photographs. What does this mean...? They have to photograph more Sessions for more clients (thus cutting quality clients, high quality service, and high quality products) because the amount they're charging isn't enough to sustain a Real Professional Photography Business full time that FULLY supports themselves and their business necessities, let alone their families.
For Infant Sessions, Senior Portraits for high schoolers, and Boudoire Sessions, this sitting fee OR the Package Pricing may be higher. This is because much more goes in to Infant Sessions, Senior Sessions, and Boudoir Sessions because they all require props, a studio, often take more than an hour (taking up to 3 hours), and a higher level of expertise. We specialize in Wedding Photography, but many Professional Photographers specialize solely in Senior Photos, in studio Infant Sessions, or in studio Boudoir Sessions.
**Here is an example of a Professional Photographer's Sitting Fee pricing and advice for booking a Portrait Session (below):
Traditionally, Portrait Studios would always charge an additional fee for the creation of work outside of their studio "On Location." Over the past few years we have become more lenient with out travel charges in regards to local locations (within one hour of South Bend), but we do most often require additional travel fees for most jobs outside of this range. This helps us to cover the costs of gas, travel, car insurance, and wear and tear from the usage on our vehicles i.e. all overhead costs that effect the final value of our services.
These are called Travel Fees and are added on to the cost if your location is further away. A travel fee is relatively low and is justly charged for different distances for different photographers, but may be charged for anything from a half hour away, over an hour away, or for anything over 2 to 3 hours away. Like we stated, this covers thing such as gas and lodging required to get to the location of your event. Often this isn't something that people take into consideration when looking to hire a photographer. Say for example that your event venue is three hours away from our office. Usually, we will ask an additional fee to cover lodging due to the fact that we do not want to also drive 6 hours the same day as a full day wedding that we'll be photographing for a whopping 10 hours. It's unsafe to work for almost 20 hours straight including the driving, so we always get lodging if a wedding is 3+ hours away.
Professional Wedding Photography Pricing
Jenny's amazing Professional Fine Art Photography Mentor from 2014 (who practiced alternative processes) in California told us earlier this year that in the 1980s (about a whopping 40 years ago now) that she charged a fee of $3650 as a Service Fee in Indianapolis to show up to photograph a wedding. This fee included one 20 image final album, and no negatives (i.e. what are now-a-days "digitals"), etc. Adjusted for inflation this equates to about $8,700 in current value.
Did you know that photographing 12 weddings a year qualifies a company to be full-time Professional Wedding Photographers...? Yep! The numbers are about 12 to 25 weddings a year to be full-time. The reason for the range is that some photographers charge more and photograph fewer weddings a year (Quality over Quantity) while others charge fewer and need to photograph 25 in order to make as much money the other photographer did during their total of 12 weddings (Quantity of clients over Quality clients). For weddings in this day-and-age (2018), the standard fee is at Least $2,000 to $2,500 photograph for 6 hours of a wedding day. Why do we say this...? Well, a whopping 10 years ago after finishing our FIRST college degrees we started as Professional Wedding Photographers and the starting fee was a standard $1,200 to $1,500 for ONE photographer to show up to photograph a certain number of hours of a wedding. Jenny in 2010 (for example) was relatively new to Wedding Photography (though she had completed Dark Room Photography coursework in high school and college and had 2 University degrees). Back then in 2010 she charged $1,200 for an 8 hour wedding and $1,500 for a 10 hour wedding for just herself to photograph (hourly that was about $150 an hour for the Luxury Service of wedding photography). You could charge hourly or as a flat rate, but back then 8.5 years ago in 2010 your Wedding Photographer should have cost you at least $1,200 to $1,500 to photograph for the day. As everyone knows, luxury items such as houses, cars, etc. raise in price as the dollar evolves i.e. as the dollar is worth less through the years, so the standard STARTING price in 2018 is now at minimum $2,000 to $2,500 for ONE good Professional Wedding Photographer and that price isn't even on the high end. It's just a standard minimum required. **Below is a snapshot of a Professional Photographer's minimum lowest level price for Wedding Photography (though hers DOES include many products AND Engagement Session which accounts for why the wedding coverage starts at $4,000.)
The pricing of Wedding Photography does vary slightly from location to location, but does take into account many of the same costs associated with running any other business. While tax laws and percentages do vary from state to state, all photographic businesses need to take into account the losses to gross income due to city, county, state, and federal taxes. As an LLC, we conservatively lose 30% of all net income to taxes. This fact coupled with our product costs (COGS), subscription and licensing fees for computer programs used to edit AND services that charge us to host our galleries that clients can order products from, business services and advertising, website and email costs, etc. means that we have many things to take into account in pricing our products and services. Analyzing all of these costs helps us to establish a starting point as to where to begin pricing our services and products. An inexperienced photographer (much like any other business) will often choose their prices arbitrarily not taking into account the costs associated with running a legitimate registered business. In most cases these arbitrarily chosen prices undercut the market of other photographers in their area and hurt not only the photographer themselves, but the entire area market.
What happens if your Professional Wedding Photographer is lower than $2,000...? Well, generally if your photographer is less than that, then they've either JUST started as a Wedding Photographer within the past 1 to 3 years (and they don't feel confident charging more/ maybe don't have the highest skill set yet) OR don't know how to run a successful business that pays taxes, sustains up-to-date programs and equipment, and sustains their family/ business fully. They likely don't back up your images (i.e. save them on External Hard Drives and "the cloud") and instead turn your images over to you and say "Good Luck!" effectively washing their hands of responsibility for your "digitals." Those who charge under $2,000 to $2,500 don't know how to price correctly for the industry or run a registered business effectively. They likely don't have in-person meetings with you, don't know how to put together a Wedding Day Schedule, have likely never sold any physical professionally printed or designed photographs or photographic products, don't know what "formals" are, and in general very highly likely don't have any formal education in Professional Photography. Why does this matter...? Well, for one they won't know a whole lot about professional photography as an industry or craft. Their photos may try to be trendy, heavily filtered, off-kilter, or sized incorrectly and they may be focused on popularity than running a business that can sustain itself and them as a person that needs to eat. They won't know how to photograph in certain lighting, maybe won't have the professional gear needed in certain situations, and definitely won't have the 10+ years of experience working with clients and a photography income. Likely they depend on a significant other's income and rent an apartment or lower priced housing, so pricing better won't be a priority for them, nor will getting a formal education in Professional Photography.
Why Does This Matter...?
This is not to bash those starting out in the Professional Photography industry- this is to educate you and others about the hard work that goes in to running a REAL, registered business and the years of study that goes in to becoming better and better at the craft of photography Every Single Day of your life. Many become lazy and stagnant because there is NO Barrier to Entry for this profession. Had we chosen to become lawyers or doctors our highest level formal degrees would be respected, but in this industry the degrees are sort of laughed at since they're not "required." It's a shame. With our degrees we're legally allowed to teach courses on professional photography, fine art, and business at universities and high schools, but that fact often gets lost in the sea of Unprofessional or Low Level Almost Professional photographers that the industry is saturated with. Sure, you can always find something cheaper, but most markets such as Plumbing, Professional In Home Chefs, etc. ALL generally have a Reasonable Market Price that accounts for the Cost of Doing Business (CODB). Many in this industry are ignorant and hungry for the "good pay" they think they can get from photography and bypass educating themselves on the Professional Pricing and CODB. That's honestly what causes Vogue photographers and other professionals who've been in the industry for 30+ years to finally quit or move on to teaching: Unprofessional people undercutting Professionals at literally HALF or 25% of the cost of a True Professional. This sad shift has caused the quality of professional photography to drop dramatically (especially in the realm of Image Licensing) and it's 100% due to ignorance and low standards.
A general rule of thumb for business owners: Lower pricing attracts lower quality clients. By this we mean that lower pricing generally attracts clients that are looking for a deal and thus do not respect your pricing structure or the uniqueness of your work. The transition to digital helped to perpetuate the notion that everyone is entitled to a high quality photographic product at a low price. From a model focusing on sustainability this simply is not true. Photography in itself is a luxury product catering to an area of the market with some level of expendable income. This is not to say that all clients that come to you looking for photography are made of money, but approaching your client base from a standpoint of quality over quantity leads to greater satisfaction for both you and the client more often.
A Professional Photography Business should be able to edit photographs better as well. Below are a few examples of some sub-par images made into gorgeous photographs solely through the usage of editing. Jason is our prime editor (while Jenny is the fine artist curating and creating many of the beautiful photographs) and we can confidently say that he can create ANYTHING through his editing skills. These photos below are examples of what other photographers have done to create gorgeous photographs much better than their starting images:
Another piece of the puzzle of running a real business is Professionalism. There are photogs out there who don't know better (oddly) and don't even dress as well as the servers at your Wedding Reception. In our opinion, no one should be wearing tank tops, sandals, leggings, or even skirts or dresses really to photograph a formal wedding in. To encourage movement, one needs to wear professional pants: Grey, brown, black, navy blue, or a subtle color. You shouldn't wear your amazing bright yellow linen pants at a wedding (yes, I own a pair of these). A wedding is the moment for the bride and groom to shine... not you and you should blend right in to the formally dressed crowd. Women photographers (if professional) should try to avoid wearing all white of course to respect the bride. The shoes need to be Professional i.e. closed toe and formal shoes that the likes of The Fab Five of Queer Eye would recommend to a Professional. This is a wedding for Pete's sake... not a music festival. A professional, comfortable button-up shirt is a must (or at Minimum a black formal shirt) and you must conduct yourself like a wedding professional: Moving quickly, catering to the needs of your clients, and looking like you could belong in a Black Tie affair. No one cares if you're sweaty- the bride and groom are sweaty too and they dropped a good deal of money on this classy occasion. You're to add to their day, not detract from it. **A helpful tip is to either just wear the fanciest button-up shirt you can find (long sleeve) or find a great suit coat made of spandex ((OR a nice vest))! These will come in handy in the fall or winter months.
Professional Photo Products
A huge piece of the puzzle to a real Professional Photography Business is being a true Photography Studio: Owning a Studio, having a Consultation Office to meet clients in, and having a separate Editing Office. The Consultation Office is of utmost importance. Here clients can check out your Photo Product Options physically hanging on the walls of the office, check out high end Sample Albums that you offer (that are so nice that the likes of CVS and Shutterfly don't offer things of that caliber), check out color and texture options for album covers, and check out the amazing quality textured prints that you sell.
Below are some Studio Samples of just a few of our Photo Product sample things: Cover materials and textures, debossing options (those shown are just for colors and tones of Silver), and a debossed, linen album cover sample. We have many physical sample albums that we've designed and made, then placed in our office for clients to see. We won't include those.
At a Studio you will also see Price Catalogues for the photography products offered. Prices do vary dramatically! We charge $5 to $12 for our smaller textured (professionally quality printed by a photo studio NOT CVS), whereas many Studio Professionals charge $50 to $150 for an 8x10 Print and do not offer anything smaller than an 8x10. (To be fair, we see their reasoning! Even 8x10s are very small and don't really let the gorgeously created Luxury photographs shine through.) Below are some catalogues we've seen other Professional Photography Studios provide over the years:
You may think "But I can just use CVS, Shutterfly, or any of those consumer websites!" This is a sad mindset and the products offered on those websites are extremely subpar. They do not provide quality photo products whatsoever and because of that, the gorgeous images aren't given the justice of being displayed in a respectable way. As photographers who have used many papers, mega printers, and experimented year after year, just leave it to the professionals and NOT mega corporations who sell food, nail clippers, medicine, etc. Trust us, they're NOT THE EXPERTS on QUALITY Professional Photographic Products. They'll get you something cheap, flimsy, glossy, and honestly very crappy that will likely fade, get lost, and be destroyed by time. All of the photographic prints and products that we create for our clients are made using archival papers and inks. This ensures the highest quality products that are guaranteed to last a lifetime.
Photography STUDIO & Consultation Office
As we stated, a HUGE part of being a Professional Photographer is having the Professional Spaces where you can meet with clients for consultations or ordering sessions, having an Indoor Physical Studio, and having a separate Editing Office. Many photographers who do not have a true legally registered business do not (unsurprisingly) have any of these spaces nor do they prioritize getting them. If a photographer is full-time and serious (AND pricing correctly and competitively), then said photographer should have dedicated spaces for all of these things i.e. a indoor Studio, Consultation Office, and Editing Office. It doesn't matter whether these spaces are cost- effective and in-home or whether they're separate spaces (i.e. a huge warehouse space OR small apartment re-structured to be a Consultation Office with a separate room for the studio), it just matters that a professional photographer has them. A world-renowned Fine Art Photographer (true Fine Art- not of people or weddings) who shows in the most well-known museums around the world talked to Jenny and a few of her previous MFA classmates about 5 years ago at her gallery show and told everyone that she has always had her Fine Art Studio in her garage. The whole garage was converted to a Fine Art Studio. She still advocates for this as it's Cost Effective AND gives one a professional space in order to create. For Professional non-Fine Art Photographers it's also necessary to have a Consultation Office to show clients or potential clients your Print Products and samples as well as show them on a mega screen the photographs you've created for them (so they can order products)! Having a dedicated space to meet with your clients also creates a feeling of importance to your skills as a photographer and helps avoid distraction. Nothing like a barista pulling a shot of espresso while steaming milk and calling out orders to distract from or possibly ruin your potential sale.
Thank you so much for taking a few minutes to read this post. We hope that you found at least a bit of information that can help you know when you are working with a professional photographer. In this era of visual content driven media there are more images created than ever before and more photographers than there have ever been. Knowing that you will be well taken care of and have all of your needs accommodated on your most important of days is something that we take great pride in.