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Sweet and Sassy Photography ~ Beaumont Alberta Photographer ~ A Common Question

Posted on January 17, 2010

Why are Professional Photographers so expensive?

By Shawn Richter at http://www.caughtonfilmphoto.com/costofphotography.html

In this digital age where everyone has digital cameras, scanners and home “photo printers”, when people upload their photos to a local drug store website and pick them up a few hours later, we hear this all the time – How in the world do Professional Photographers charge $55 for an 8×10 when they cost just $1.50 at the drug store?

Here’s why. Simply put, you’re not just paying for the actual photograph, you’re paying for time and expertise. First, let’s look at the actual time involved. If you don’t read this entire page, at least read this first part.

For a two hour portrait session:

- one hour of travel to and from the session

- two hours of shooting – 30 minutes of setup, preparation, talking to the client etc.

- 30 minutes to load the photos onto a computer (2 – 4 Gb of data)

- 30 minutes to back up the files on an external drive

- 3 – 4 hours of Photoshop time including cropping, contrast, color, sharpening, saving a copy for print and a copy for the internet and backing up the edited photographs

- 2 – 3 hours to talk to the client, answer questions, receive their order and payment, order their prints, receive and verify prints, package prints, schedule shipment and drop package off at Fed Ex.

- For local customers, we also print a set of all of their photos, and meet them at our studio to review the photos and place their order. Meeting and travel time averages 2 hours. You can see how one two hour session easily turns into more than ten hours of work from start to finish. So when you see a Photographer charging a $200 session fee for a two hour photo shoot, you are not paying them $100 / hour.

For an eight hour wedding: – I won’t bore you with the details, but an eight hour wedding typically amounts to at least two to three full 40 hour work weeks worth of time. Again, if they are charging you $4,000 for an eight hour wedding, you are not paying them $500 / hour. Now for the expertise. Shooting professional photography is a skill, acquired through years of experience. Even though a quality camera now costs under $2,000 taking professional portraits involves much more than a nice camera. Most Professional Photographers take years to go from buying their first decent camera to making money with their photography. In addition to learning how to use the camera itself, there is a mountain of other equipment involved, as well as numerous software programs used to edit and print photographs, run a website etc. And let’s not forget that you actually have to have people skills, be able to communicate, make people comfortable in front of the camera – and posing people to make them look their best in a photograph is a skill all by itself. Think of it this way – the next time you pay $X to get your hair done, a pair of scissors only costs $1.50. But you gladly pay a lot more to hire a Professional. What about the cheap studios at the mall? Please don’t compare us to the chain store studios. But if you must, consider all of the time and work that we put into our photographs, compared to what they do. Good luck getting a two hour photo shoot at a chain store. Not to mention they won’t come to the beach! And of course, look at our work compared to theirs. You get what you pay for. The truth is, most of the mall and chain store studios lose money. In fact, in 2007 Wal-Mart closed 500 of their portrait studios because of the financial drain they were putting on the company. What the chain stores bet on is that you’ll come in for some quick and cheap photos, and while you’re there, you’ll also spend $200 on other things. They don’t have to make money, they are just there to get you in the door. Conclusion We hope that those who have taken the time to read this page will have a better understanding of why professional photographs cost so much more than the ones that you get from your local drug store. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

This question is asked a lot and I though adding this here would answer the question globally for those that are interested.

Thankyou

Rhonda

Sweet and Sassy Photography ~ Beaumont Alberta Photographer ~ Valentines Special

Posted on January 16, 2010

Its Sweethearts Day!!!!!

Got a special someone?  Its time to show them how much you care.  Book your sweethearts session by Jan25, 2010 and get 10% off your order and 15 Valentines!  This is the perfect opportunity to show your special someone how much you care.

Or book your Engagement Session with your sweetheart and receive a free accordian album of session!

Sweet and Sassy Photography~Beaumont Alberta Photographer~What a cutie

Posted on January 11, 2010

I cant even tell you how cute this little guy is so you will have to see for yourself. He came in the door checking me out a bit which is A ok because it didnt take long to warm up to me at all. Baby R had his first birthday last week and so we had to get a session in. When he sat down the smiles came out. I can honestly say baby R was a delight. Full of smiles and a charmer for sure. I met R’s mom in Beaumont my place of residence. His mom has started a home based business making custom frames. Her etsy shop can be found here http://www.etsy.com/shop/polishedproductions She has a whimsical touch that would look wonderful in an upcoming nursery or as gifts for friends and family. Here are some pics from our fun session.

Sweet and Sassy Photography~Beaumont Alberta Photographer~Family Fun Contest

Posted on January 5, 2010

Lets start the new year off with a giveaway! Why not I can do that right? So here is what I need you to do. I want to see you having fun. Send me one photo of your family having fun. Fun your way that is. It can be family game night, camping, swinging in the park or reading a story. Whatever qualifies for fun with your family. Here is the best part you get to have a free session and a $50 print credit! But wait it gets even better! Since we just had Christmas and its always the season of giving for me I want you to wrap up one more gift. When you send me your photo I want you to nominate a friend for the same star treatment! So not only will you get a session by Sweet and Sassy Photography but 1 friend will too! So here are the rules.

1 Limit of one photo per entrant. Immediate family only.
2. They must not have been photographed by Sweet and Sassy Photography within the last 6 months.
3. Entries can be in B&W or Colour and taken within the last 3 months.
4. The winning entrant must be willing to travel within 30 Km’s of the Beaumont area.
5. Winning entry must agree to allow Sweet and Sassy Photography to post publicly their entry.
6. Winning entry will receive a free portrait session of family and a $50 print credit. Nominated friend will also receive a free portrait session and $50 print credit.
7. Entries may NOT be taken by a professional photographer.
8. The session must be booked within 2 weeks of contest finalization.
9. Both sessions will take place in the month of June.
10. Entrant must send one photo by email to Rhonda@sweetandsassyphotography.com. Subject should be Family Fun Contest. Please state in email that you allow Sweet and Sassy Photography to post photo for public to promote the Family Fun Contest.
11. All Entries must be in by Feb 28, 2010.
12. To nominate friend simply state their name in your entry email.
13. Voting will be done on blog and commence on March 5, 2010 and end on March 15, 2010.
14. Winner will be announced on March 16, 2010.