Why is portrait photography so expensive

Because we are a full-service agency, we take on more roles than just photographer and act as art director, producer, stylist, and more. We spend time creating a mood board , coming up with concepts and figuring out how to execute those concepts.

This is all before we take a single photograph. Once everything is prepped, the time we spend shooting generally takes hours. Some shoots will take more than one day to accomplish. On set we are adjusting lights, moving heavy equipment, styling props, fixing clothing, and making sure everything stays on track.

This process starts with culling , which is going through every image that was shot to choose the best ones for editing. This can take a few hours depending on how many photos were taken.

Post production time can greatly vary depending on the kind of photography, but for most of our shoots, Arabela will spend between minutes per image. This means that for a 15 image shoot, she will spend anywhere from hours on editing alone, not including any adjustments that need to be made after the images are delivered. As you can see, it takes time to execute a quality shoot. While it is not necessary to be formally trained to be a successful photographer, Arabela and I both have degrees that we use in every single shoot.

We have invested in many other forms of education, and we have spent countless hours learning how to take better images. We learn and grow from every single shoot that we do, and the more experience we have, the better we can serve you. Not only will their expenses increase, but their expertise will as well which means that their services are worth more. You are also paying for our creativity. When you hire a photographer, you hire them for their specific style and creative ideas.

Creativity has value. If you are looking for images that will set your brand apart from others, creativity will be one of the key elements. Photography not only brings value to your company, it is essential to marketing your products and getting them into the hands of more customers.

With social media continuing to grow, scroll-stopping images are more important than ever. Without photography, what will you use to populate your website? Without photography, how will anyone know what your products look like, or what they are used for?

This is why licensing is so important for photographers. Under US copyright law, photographers own every image that they take. They have the choice to sign over full rights to the client, or to license them for specific uses.

This keeps costs of doing business low in return. And instead of handing over their artwork , they are selling products to their clients. This can include prints, frames, canvases, albums, and any other professional photography product that is high quality. Do you plan on having a studio with a studio manager?

Do you plan on doing things from home and wearing all the hats? How often would you ideally like to be spending time with clients? This goes in hand with what your business expenses are and what you will need to earn in order to cover all of your business expenses. This could be three to four times a week for sessions, one day a week for consultations, and another for administrative tasks, like post-production and workflow.

Make a plan and work towards hitting those goals so that you can set up your photography business to be the right fit for the life you envision. This is dependent on many factors. All photographers must figure out the best way to market their own photography business as no two businesses are the same.

Portrait studios can also expand into the commercial realm and make additional projects and income. This means perhaps headshots , restaurant publicity photo sessions , advertising , or editorial shoots. It includes anything outside of regular portrait photography. You can also make an additional income by photographing stock images and selling those online. There are various websites that offer photographers this opportunity. Everyday consumers can use the photographs that you take and you make a profit.

Workshops for the more skilled portrait photographer can give way to more earnings. For any or all additional portrait photography earnings or opportunities, make sure that you have solid contracts. State your terms and conditions fully so that you can make the most out of these opportunities without running into legal problems.

It seems like every day there are more and more photographers competing for more work. In the beginning stages of your business planning, asses what makes you different from other photographers in your area. Asking yourself this question will also help set you apart.

Do you specialize in a certain type of photography that no one else does? Do you have a killer product that wows your clients and is the most requested item? Or are you giving your clients the best experience while getting great images of them? This creates more photography sessions and opportunities for you that turns into more earnings and profit in the long run.

There are lots of courses available for you to learn the business side of photography. Everything was clinical, procedural, and bland. The photos were all pre-staged. There were no questions about the type of portraits I wanted. There were no options to change the lighting to get a more dramatic or moodier image.

This is the experience of a volume studio. Volume Studios are designed to minimize the amount of work needed to deliver a set of images.

Because of this, volume studios tend to be relatively cheap. They may have a studio option or suggest you shoot on location based on the portraits you want to capture. Studio Agencies are factories. Individual portrait photographers cost more so they can create something unique and special for each of their clients.

These photographers will run the gamut on pricing. Portrait photography costs can be quoted in a few different ways. The three most common quotes are Hourly, Packages, and Session Fee only. Hourly options are what they sound like; you pay the photographer based on how long you work with them. Some photographers will also guarantee a certain number of digital images per hour as well.

Instead of charging per hour, some portrait photographers will charge a flat fee for their time to photograph the session. In this instance, the session fee does not include any digital files or printed product deliverables. Some photographers may include studio rental along with hair and make-up services with their session fee, though, so be sure to ask about that. High-end photographers will sometimes charge based on half-day 4 hours or full-day 8 hours rates.

Make sure to ask for a complete price list before booking a session photographer to know what your possible total spend might be. Most commonly found with wedding photographers and often newer photographers, packages are when the session and some deliverable are all included in a single fee.

Deliverables in packages can be anything from digital image files to printed product to albums, or a combination of all three. One additional item — many photographers will request a non-refundable booking fee to set up the session. Not all photographers offer digital files. Usually, newer photographers will offer only digital files. More experienced photographers may only include digital files when you purchase a printed product.

Depending on your intent for the digital files your social media or marketing a product or service , you may have to pay a premium for usage rights to the images. Retouching those images may also be an additional fee instead of being included.