Why Does Pro Photography Cost So Much?

I've posted before here, here and here about why we charge what we do, but I thought it was worth adding a section specifically about bespoke studio work. This is inspired by another blog I read. Have a read yourself here if you fancy it!

Everyone has a digital camera these days and it's getting easier and easier for anyone to produce reasonable quality photos with little or no experience. You can pop down to Max Spielman or even Tesco and get them printed for less than a quid. Or get the right website at the right time and all you pay is the postage! Which is why people are often forcing me to justify charging upwards of £15 for a single print...

It comes down to a few factors which can basically be split into 5 categories: time, equipment, premises, advertising and expertise.

Time
There is a lot of time and effort that goes into a shoot that most people don't realise...

• Booking the shoot: 15 - 30 minutes - chatting with the customer, answering questions, filling in the calendar
• Shoot preparation: 15 - 30 minutes - tidying, putting the heating on in advance, checking equipment, switching on, etc...
• The shoot itself: 1 - 2 hours
• Clearing up afterwards: 15 minutes
• Uploading photos from cards: 15 minutes
• Editing the photos and creating a slideshow for the client to view: 2 - 3 hours
• Sitting with the client to view their images: 30 minutes - 2 hours
• Finalising and ordering prints: 30 minutes - 1 hour
• Ordering handmade frames: 1 hour
• Delivering photos when required: 1 hour

OK, these are approximate times, but a single shoot can take anywhere between 6 and 11 hours to complete! And that doesn't take into account difficult customers...

Equipment
A professional photographer won't be using an iPhone. Not for taking photos anyway. They also won't be using a £250 point and click camera from Jessops.  They'll be using a dSLR which is likely to cost upwards of £1,000. They'll also have a selection of lenses costing at least £500 each. A good set of studio lights will set you back upwards of £2,500. There'll be a computer that won't be cheap and a genuine copy of Photoshop costs in excess of £700! Then there's the smaller things like background papers, props and reflectors. All of this needs servicing and/or repairing every now and again. Not to mention insurance costs...

Professionals will also not get their photos printed at Tesco! They will use pro labs which are infinitely better quality. They are also a lot more expensive...

Unfortunately, as a business owner I have to pass these costs onto you, the customer.

Premises
I may have mentioned it before but I have a studio. I think it adds an extra special something to the whole process and lets me take photos that amateurs or pros without studio space can't take. It's the style and method of photography I've chosen and it's why my clients come to me rather than anyone else. That all costs (a lot of) money though. I have rent, electricity, phone, broadband, water, business rates, and insurance to pay. And again, this has to be passed onto the customer...

Advertising
I do a lot of advertising, online and in the real world. The online stuff is mostly free but can be very time consuming. The offline advertising can be very expensive. Wedding fairs can be upwards of £100, leaflets are £50 a batch, newspaper or magazine adverts can be anywhere between £200 and £600 and networking can cost £1,000 a year! And all of this has to be done on an ongoing basis...

Expertise
This one is a little harder to quantify. I have studied, been on courses and gained years of experience. Over my time I have developed a particular style which is unique to me. I think that's something worth paying for!

And let's not forget I'm doing this for a living! Yes I enjoy it, but I still need to make a profit from what I do...

So next time you're paying for some photos and wondering why a small piece of paper costs £15, please try and bear some of this in mind.

Merry Christmas!!!

I'd just like to wish all of my clients new and old a massive Merry Christmas! And another Merry Christmas to those of you who aren't customers. You're all very welcome!

Thanks for reading my drivel over the last couple of years. I hope 2013 is as successful for you as you hope it will be!

Another Fab Wedding!

Here's a few album pages from another beautiful wedding from earlier this year. A little reminder of how nice the British summer can be.

Congratulations to Claire and David!

Taking Better Photos - Part 3

This is the last part of my mini tutorial. And it's the least obvious and intuitive tip.

Use the Flash in Bright Sunlight
What??? Why would I do that? The sun provides all the light I need! Well yes. But not always from the right angle. The camera exposes a photo for the average brightness in the shot. It's not as good as our eyes at seeing bright and dark at the same time. So you have to help it out a bit.

2 situations to look at are a good background with a dark foreground and a good foreground with a bright background.

In the first photo below, the camera has exposed for the sky, but Liam in the foreground is in shadow. Turning on the flash won't affect the sky, but will brighten the subject making him stand out much better.

In the first photo below, Luca is fairly well exposed, but the sky is over exposed and bleached out. Turning on the flash allows the camera to expose for the sky and the flash lights the foreground. And bam! Fab shot!

So that's my 3 top tips for taking better photos. Whether you're out walking the dog or on a sunny beach somewhere, try to apply 1 or all of these to your shots and see the difference it makes!

Taking Better Photos - Part 2

So we've looked at the Rule of Thirds. Now it's time to add a bit of a dynamic edge to your photos. A good photo will tell a story, but it will also take the viewer on a journey...

Lead In Lines
These are a great way to lead the viewer's eye around the picture. Look for diagonal lines that will lead you to the main subject in the photo. Take a bit of time to walk around and move your shooting point to make the most of things like stairs, railings, footpaths and tree lines.

It adds a bit of movement to the shot and makes it a bit more interesting. And if you can combine this with the Rule of Thirds, even better!

Get out there and give it a try!

Taking Better Photos - Part 1

People often say to me that they'd like to be able to take better photos. Well, it's really not that hard! It takes years of experience to be a good professional photographer, but there are a few tips and tricks you can use to improve your photography, whether you're an enthusiastic hobbyist or just want better holiday snaps!

You don't need a big expensive camera. A phone is usually perfectly adequate! I won't talk about exposure or shutter speed here as most cameras will deal with all that for you. Have a go at these tips and see how your photography improves. This is part 1 of 3. Keep an eye out for the rest...

Rule of Thirds
Composition is a very important part of making a good photo. Think about where you want your subject to be positioned within the frame. Should it be in the middle? At the top? Where do you put the horizon???

A simple rule is the rule of thirds. Imagine the photo split into thirds horizontally and vertically. Something like this.

Try to place straight lines in the picture on one of the imaginary third lines. That's things like horizons, trees and towers.  Moving them off centre slightly adds a bit of interest to the picture and avoids it being split down the middle making 2 halves of a picture.

For an extra bit of interest, try to put interesting objects on one of the intersection lines as well. That's things like faces, rocks and anything else you want people to notice!

Give it a go next time you get your camera out and see the difference!

A Fantastic Wedding!

It occurred to me that I've never put up any photos from a wedding. Every once in a while a wedding really sticks out in my mind as being really good. From the bride's preparations in the morning, the group shots, the weather to the speeches and all the bits in between everything goes smoothly and it's a really happy occasion.

I won't write much more as I think the photos speak for themselves. Congratulations to Sami and Martin!