photography costs
I am often asked why photography costs are so high just for "an hour shooting pictures", so a brief explanation is here for those interested.
It's just an hours work!
While the actual photography side of the business doesn't take that long, and you may only see your photographer for an hour or two, the work doesn't actually stop there. Let's go through a typical day for a shoot lasting one and a half hours as an example.
Set Up
Making sure all the equipment is working prior to leaving home. Charging all batteries, cleaning equipment, then travelling time to the shoot and set up at the location chosen by the client.
The shoot
The important part, getting the shots, posing the client if needed. Showing the images taken and any special requests the client may have.
Back home
A typical shoot lasting and hour and a half will need about 5 hours of work on the computer. Downloading the images from the camera or multiple cameras. Sorting those images and culling those that are going to be rejected. Professionals have their cameras set up to take the images in a format called RAW, this is a digital negative as such and needs some processing to make it useable by the client. Sometimes images need to be retouched, especially if the client has asked for something to be removed from the images, such as a tattoo. Images then need to be saved, sorted and added to a USB stick, made ready for printing or uploaded to an online service for the customer.
The end
Contacting the customer. Deliver goods or email link for online service. Added to this are the extra costs involved in running photography as a business.
Wear and tear on equipment also needs to be accounted for. In some cases, if you contact the photographer through a third party website (i.e Bark or Star of Service), the photographer needs to pay to send you messages, this will also undoubtedly be added.
All in all, a typical one and a half hour shoot can take a whole day for the photographer and hence the reason their skills are charged at the rates shown.