Why is Photography so Freaking Expensive?

As our business is growing, we are getting more and more inquiries from businesses wanting to hire us which is great, but along with that comes many uncomfortable conversations about money and pricing. I know that not everyone struggles with this as much as I do, and I’ve gotten better over the past couple years, but it’s still not easy to send quotes. It’s even more challenging when potential clients question the quote that we provide.

I think that the most frustrating part is that often the questioning comes from people who sell products that have set prices. There is a cost to design and manufacture a product, and businesses set prices for products based on the cost to produce them as well as the value. If a customer wanted to purchase a product, and asked the company to lower their prices because the price didn’t “fit their budget,” the company is not just going to change their price. If they did change their prices for everyone who thought their products were too expensive, they would quickly go out of business, but they then expect other businesses to change their prices just because they ask.

The idea of negotiation is only really acceptable with service-based businesses, and it seems like it is more common with some services than others. I’m not saying that negotiation should never happen, I just think that there is a way to negotiate that is respectful and reasonable. I also think that many companies should place a higher value on the services like graphic design and photography (among many others) that make it possible for them to sell their products in the first place.

I want to be clear that this isn’t a post meant to call anyone specific out, or bash anyone who has ever questioned our prices. I’ve just realized that so many people have no idea what goes into running a professional photography agency, and I hope this will help shed some light on why photographers price the way they do. I also think it’s important to mention that there are many different types of photography, and not everyone runs their business the way that we do which means that prices for photographers will vary for many reasons.

equipment and the cost of doing business

For us, photography is our business. It is how we pay our rent, buy our food, and put gas in our cars. There are also two of us which automatically doubles our living expenses. I think the fact that many people do photography as a hobby sometimes makes it hard for it to be seen as a business. With phones taking better and better photos, it’s kind of turned everyone into a “photographer.” There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking photos for fun, I think more people should, but it does make it challenging for those of us who are trying to generate income through this medium.

Because this is our business, the majority of what we earn goes directly towards our business expenses. To start, we have to set aside about 30% of our income to pay for taxes which means that a large portion of what we charge will never even touch our pockets. The next largest portion of our income goes to our rent and equipment. I recently watched a video of Jessica Kobeissi sharing why her prices are expensive, and how much her equipment costs. You can watch the video here:

While the cost of her equipment is high, she does not have a lease (and the extra expenses that come along with that), and product photography can require more equipment than portrait photography. In order to be completely transparent, I wanted to share some of what it costs to run our business.

Arabela and I spent some time calculating this, and so far we have spent over $20,000 on equipment which includes her camera, our lights, laptops, c-stands, soft boxes, seamless, memory cards, batteries, cords, and much more. For product photographers, this is actually on the lower end. We keep our setups pretty simple, and there are photographers who use a lot more equipment than we do. On rent and related expenses (security, insurance, utilities, etc.) we’ve spent over $33,000 just this year. We’ve spent over $5,500 on other essential business expenses including marketing, education, software, and legal services like our CPA. We’ve spent $4,000 on shoot props and set items including custom backdrops, textures, and wooden boxes we keep on hand to save future clients’ money. This doesn’t include our office furniture, meals when we shoot, travel expenses, coffee (a high priority), and many other expenses that come with running a business.

Without thinking about taxes, we need to make at least $60,000 a year just to keep our company afloat before we even pay ourselves. While we don’t spend quite that amount on equipment each year, we do need to make enough to set aside money to replace it or upgrade in the future as each shoot causes wear and tear. When you factor in taxes, the cost to run a photography business jumps up significantly.

When you see a quote from a photographer, it can be easy to assume that the money all goes directly to them, but in most cases this is far from the truth. When we set our prices, we are not only thinking about how much we need to pay ourselves, but what we need to make in order to pay our company bills. We can only take on so much work in a year, which is why we have minimums for all our shoots. We want to keep our services as affordable as possible, but we also have to live.

I don’t want to scare off any aspiring photographers with large numbers. We definitely did not have all these expenses when we first started out, and it’s not necessary to purchase fancy equipment right from the beginning. However, as your business grows, and you take on more professional work, your expenses will naturally grow as well.

there are many, many unseen hours

When drafting a quote, in addition to thinking about the bills that we have, we think about how much time it will take to bring your vision to life. All photography has many unseen hours, but the prep hours are greatly increased for us because of the services that we include. 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 can include research, shopping for and/or making props, casting models, booking a crew, scouting locations, acquiring permits, sourcing and styling clothing, building sets, creating shot lists and call sheets, emails (oh so many emails) and much more. This is all before we take a single photograph.

Once everything is prepped, the time we spend shooting generally takes 8-12 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. We’re thinking through every detail, if the shots accomplish the goals you set, if they will fit the correct dimensions for your website header, if there is enough space for text. We’re cleaning dust, making sure your labels are straight and legible, and so much more than just clicking a button.

After the shoot, it’s time for post production. 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. Then it’s finally time to edit. Post production time can greatly vary depending on the kind of photography, but for most of our shoots, Arabela will spend between 30-90 minutes per image. This means that for a 15 image shoot, she will spend anywhere from 7-22 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. I’m not complaining about any of this, it’s so much fun, but it is a LOT of work. While we have gotten faster at many things, and have worked to streamline our process over the years, it’s taken us a lot of practice to get to that point. In addition, there are also many things that you just can’t rush.

photography takes more than just time

Speaking of things you can’t rush, when you hire us, you are not only paying for our time, but also for our experience. 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. This is why you should expect that a photographer’s price will grow over time. 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. It’s important to look through their portfolio before hiring them to make sure that their style meshes well with your brand. 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 brings value to your business

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. The more uses that the images have, and the more eyes that will see them, the higher the cost of licensing because they have more value. Quality photographs will drive more sales, they will increase brand recognition. Beautiful photos will not only encourage follows and purchases, they can tell the story of your brand, can set you apart as a leader, and can change industries. Photography is powerful, but only when done well.

Poor photography with weak styling can hurt your business as much as good photography can help. When companies don’t invest in quality images, not only are their products not allowed to shine, it can come across as apathy towards quality in general. Trust me as a millennial consumer with many millennial friends when I say that this is something that will hurt your business. Photography may be expensive, but so is not hiring a professional.

ways to lower the cost

Ok, so if photography is expensive, what are some things that you can do if you have a small budget? The first thing I would suggest is to get quotes from several photographers before you even create a budget to begin with. When talking with them, think about anyone else you may need to hire as not all photographers do art direction and styling.

The second thing that you can do is change the scope of the project. Maybe you can purchase less images and use those images in more ways. Talk to the photographer about ways that the shoot could be simplified, and how you can cut out additional costs such as models (a major expense) while still accomplishing your goals.

You can also lower the licensing. Photographers license because it saves you money. Instead of spending thousands of dollars to purchase full rights, you can purchase only what you need. In general, most companies will not need the full rights to the images. If you are curious about licensing and why it is so important, theres a really good article by Illumination (formerly Luke Studios) that you can read here.

At the end of the day, you get what you pay for. I know that’s really cliche, but it’s true. I’m not saying that photographers are good because their prices are high, but their prices are usually high because they are good. Photography is an investment, and the definition of an investment is something that you put money into for profit. As with anything you want to invest in, you may need to set aside money or save up, but purchasing quality will be worth it in the long run. Remember that we are on your side, we love creating beautiful content for you, and we love when our clients become partners in a shared goal. So let’s make some magic together (but also pay us ;)).

Is it the weekend yet?

Elle