The average one-hour portrait session

First, let’s look at the actual work involved:

• Travel to the session
• Setup, preparation, talking to the client, etc.
• Shoot the photos
• Travel from the session
• Load images onto a computer
• Back up the files on an external drive
• 2 – 4 hours of Adobe® Photoshop® time, including cropping, contrast, color, sharpening, and backing up edited photographs. Proof photos are also ordered.
• 2 – 3 hours to talk to the client, answer questions, receive order and payment, order their prints, receive and verify prints, package prints, schedule shipment, and ship.
• Possibly meet clients at the studio to review photos and place order. Meeting and travel time average 2 hours.

You can see how a one-hour session easily turns into an eight-hour day or more from start to finish. So when you see a personal photographer charging a $250 session fee for a one-hour photo shoot, the client is NOT paying them $250 per hour.

The eight-hour wedding

A wedding photographer typically meets with the bride and groom several times before and after the wedding. And it’s not uncommon to end up with 1,000 – 2,000 photos, much more than a portrait session. Many photographers spend 40-60 hours working on one eight-hour wedding if you look at the time that is truly involved. Again, when a wedding photographer charges $4,000 for eight hours of coverage, clients are NOT paying them $500 an hour!

(Don’t forget that the photographer runs the wedding day to some extent. A comfortable, confident wedding photographer can make a wedding day go more smoothly.)

The expertise and cost of doing business

Shooting professional photography is a skill acquired through years of experience. Even though a DSLR now costs under $1,000, taking professional portraits involves much more than a nice camera.

Most personal photographers take years to go from buying their first camera to making money with photography. In addition to learning how to use the camera, there is a mountain of other equipment and software programs used to edit and print photographs, run a website, etc. And don’t forget backdrops, props, rent, utilities, insurance, etc!

In addition to the financial investment, photographers actually have to have people skills to make subjects comfortable in front of the camera. Posing people to look their best is a skill by itself. You could argue that posing is a more important skill than actually knowing how to use the camera. A poorly exposed photo can be saved, but a badly posed photo cannot.

The chain store photo studio

Chain stores do have their place. For a very cheap price you can run in, shoot some quick photos, and be done with it. But you get what you pay for.

Consider the time and effort that a personal photographer puts into photographs, compared to a chain store. Store sessions last just a few minutes, while a personal photographer takes the time to get to know the people, makes them comfortable, makes them laugh. If a baby is crying at a chain store, they often don’t have the time (or the patience) to wait because everyone is in a hurry.

The truth is that many chain store studios lose money. In fact, Wal-Mart closed 500 of their portrait studios in 2007 because of the financial drain. What the chain stores bank on is a client coming in for quick, cheap photos…and while there, spending $200 on other items. They are there to get you in the door.

The real deal

Professional, personal photographers are just that—professionals. No different than a mechanic, dentist, doctor, or electrician. But a personal photographer often becomes a friend, someone who documents a family for generations with professional, personal photographs of cherished memories.

Maybe we need to help clients look at it this way: A pair of scissors costs $1.50 at the drugstore. Still, most people will gladly pay a lot more to hire a professional hair dresser to cut their hair.

The added attention and quality that a personal photographer gives is worth every penny.

Conclusion

We hope that those who have taken the time to read this page will have a better understanding of why professional photographs, created by a Personal Photographer are so expensive.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Thanks to Caught on Film Photography for a great article!

Factory at Franklin – www.factoryatfranklin.com
230 Franklin Rd, Franklin, TN‎ – (615) 791-1777‎

The Factory at Franklin is an incredible spot for photos of any kind. It is a national historic factory with 15 buildings with dozens of shops for shopping, dining and entertainment along with special event facilities – and of course beautiful photo spots! While some locations are dependent on weather and time of year The Factory is a special place no matter if it’s bright and sunny or the dead of winter. There are always wonderful places for photos with everything from fun stairs, broken down walls, courtyards, trendy hallways, and retro buildings for limitless possibilities for your photos.

Winstead Hill – www.franklin-gov.com
Columbia Ave Franklin, TN 37064 – (615) 794-2103

Winstead Hill Park is located south of downtown Franklin on Columbia Highway and consists of 61 acres with a walking trail, parking area, and restrooms facilities. I love taking photos here. Winstead Hill seems to be an undiscovered gem of a park where sometimes we can do an entire shoot and never see another person. It’s especially beautiful in the fall with the gorgeous color leaves that we can play in while we shoot. In the spring and summer the green grass is lush and walking along the paved trails we can find wonderful photo opportunities. Alongside the park is a beautiful road with interlacing branches that form almost a tunnel with the light shining through the leaves.

Pinkerton Park – http://www.franklin-gov.com/parks/pinkerton_park.html
405 Murfreesboro Road, Franklin, Tennessee (615) 794-2103‎

Pinkerton Park is located on Murfreesboro Road and is the most popular park in Franklin. The Harpeth River is along the west side of the park while Fort Granger lies to the north. There is also a playground with perfect places for family photos and children’s photos. There is a one-mile paved pedestrian track that goes around the entire park. There are great places for photos along the river, bridge, and the fort. If you’re up for a short walk there is a pedestrian bridge that connects Pinkerton Park with downtown Franklin and some great railroad tracks for more photos!

Historic Downtown Franklin – http://www.downtownfranklintn.com/

Downtown Franklin should count for about 20 favorite photo spots! There are fifteen blocks that are listed in the National Register Historic District with more than 70 unique shops, restaurants and antiques. Franklin has been cited as one of the most beautiful downtowns in the South. There are old churches, the downtown square, sidestreets with historic buildings and homes, railroad tracks, old trees, the historic movie theater, benches, and of course Starbucks for a little coffee break if needed! There are so many places for photos downtown that many of my clients will take a walk around the area prior to our session to pick some of their favorite spots.

Downtown Franklin Wedding Photos by Allison Hendrickson

We’ve kicked off this year to a great start with lots of photography sessions and an exciting wedding season coming up! Last month we launched a new website and new packages for the new year, this month to celebrate such a great start to the year I’m offering my own version of the stimulus package especially tailored to brides! As I’m talking with couples about their wedding plans, I know that for some the economy and their wedding budget are bigger factors than normal in planning their wedding right now. I don’t want concerns about budget and finances to be something that gets in the way of any couple getting the photography coverage that they’ve dreamed of.

From now until March 31st, book photo coverage for three hours or more and receive an additional one hour of coverage for free! This is a $250 value and applies to any new booking for 2009 weddings that mention this promotion at the time of booking their coverage.

For more wedding photos go to our main site and click the numbered boxes on the lower left hand side of the photos!

March Studio Promotion