Why is Professional Photography so expensive?

Pro Photographer Pricing, Production Rates & Creative Fees Explained

So I get this question a lot:

“Why is professional photography so expensive?”

And:

“Why are your rates so high?”

Or my favorite:

“I love your photos, but I can’t afford your prices - so I’ll just find someone cheaper on Craigslist!”

This is a really valid question and one I’d like to answer as honestly and efficiently as possible…

Because I know you value your time as much as I value mine!

So that’s how I’d like to frame my explanation - in the context of: Time

So here’s the 3-second “Quick” Answer:

I don’t actually make $250/hr - I make about $30

I ask $250 for shoots starting at 1-Hour in length all the way up to $2,250 for full-day shoots (+/- 10-12 Hours On-Location). But that doesn’t mean I get paid $250 per hour - although some pro lensers actually do get paid a LOT more than that if you can believe it.

No, that $250 for a 1-Hour, natural lighting shoot breaks down to about 8-9 Hours of actual work. So when I do get hired to shoot photos, I “make” ~$30/hour.

It’a also important to note that I charge $150/Hour for “Property (Real Estate / Commercial Job Site) Content versus $250/Hour to work with people.

Why? Because buildings don’t get nervous when the camera comes out!

For comparison, my fellow IATSE Local 600 ICG Camera Operators (The guys who shoot all those fun Netflix and Amazon shows you like to watch…) earn ~$650/Day-Rate or roughly $65/Hour for a “8-10” Hour day.

Now that 8 Hours is actually more like 12 on set. (This is a very sore “Industry” subject so I won’t get into it…) And roughly 14+ Hours when you factor in traffic and coffee-stops. In other words: A lot less than $65/hr.

If you want more details - and quantifiable proof I’m not “over-charging” you - please keep reading. But just for fun, before you read any further:

Google: “Why is professional photography so expensive?”

* I already did so all you have to do is click the link below :) *

Google’s search results…

Now that you saw those posts, you can see I’m not the only one writing about this subject - or attempting to explain it to my Customers.

But now if you want to hear how a national association called the Professional Photographers of America - or PPA suggests professional photographers charge for their services, click this link below.

That way, you can browse what an industry authority has to say first before hearing my spiel…

Here’s how PPA suggests Professional Photographers price their photography services:

Commercial Photo Licensing Explained

If you’re still stumped on pricing, here’s my two cents…

(Sorry, bad Dad joke!)

Simple Case Study

And a cheesy Wizard of Oz reference…

Take a look at this “Before & After” shot above. You’ve seen a million of them. Yes, this is really my photo and yes, I am really the little man behind the green curtain who turned it from a “RAW .tiff file” into the fully mastered photograph you see. In other words, there is nothing magic about this shot! It’s 100% trade-craft.

When Dorothy visited the Wizard of Oz, she had no idea what she’d find: The whole place was a bunch of smoke and mirrors and the Wicked Witch of the West was really in control of everything…

It was only when Dorothy learned to believe in her own abilities that she stopped thinking magic would fix everything. Instead, she had to fix everything herself by dumping a bucket of water on that nasty old lady so the Munchkins could keep doing Munchkin things! (If only the rest of life were that easy…)

A professional photoshoot is no different. It takes hard work and TIME (there’s that word again!) to get the results you want. But I’m not going to preach to you all day about stuff you already know.

Instead, I’ll just break it down for you with this easy-to-understand timeline:

To create this simple headshot of Elspeth (These are RAW images by the way - so you can see the TRUTH!), here’s what I actually had to do:

Spend ~2.5 Hours doing “Pre-Production”

• Charging Batteries

• Clearing & Archiving Memory Cards (Because I NEVER clear source files off used cards before they’ve been delivered to the Customer and backed up 3X in three different formats. Yes. “Anal.” But that’s why I never lose photos!)

• Cleaning my DSLR’s Sensor (So dust particulates inside the camera itself don’t create chromatic aberrations that are impossible to Photoshop out… Or add an extra 5-10 minutes of work to every image I create.)

• Driving over to my secure storage unit to get my ProFoto strobes, C-Stands, sand bags and 240W utility power cables etc.

• Driving back to my place to organize, pack then load all the gear for transport to location.

• Inventory Check: So I don’t show up and realize: “Crap, I forgot the 105mm prime! All I have is an ultra-wide 18mm that will make Elspeth’s face look like she weighs 300 pounds!”

Spend ~1-2 Hours DRIVING to and from Production Location

All Shoots within this green “Service Area” are included in every Service I provide.

But if you know Los Angeles, traffic is not nearly as bad as they say… IT’S WORSE!

So I basically bite the proverbial bullet and just “volunteer” my time getting to and from your shoot location.

“Cost of doing business?”

Yes - if you’re on salary - with benefits! But I am not. I am a sub-contractor so I MUST charge standard IRS Mileage and CA Minimum Wage for all extended travel to location.

Otherwise, I cut into my margins.

And depending on where your shoot is, I might actually end up shooting your stuff for “free.”

Spend ~2-3 Hours in “Production”

• Arrive. Greet: Be the “Laid-back Photographer Who Makes Everybody Super Comfortable By Giggling At Bad Dad Jokes But Still Professional Enough To Get All The Critical Stuff Done” (Usually without an Assistant)

• Unload, unpack, setup, start-up, test, set exposures, re-test gear / camera / answer all Life’s deepest, darkest existential questions like: “Does Elon Musk really think Teslas will actually survive on Mars?”

• Start Shooting. Notice how I said “Start?” Just because we start pressing buttons and “taking” pictures doesn’t mean you’re actually capturing anything worth keeping. Gotta get warmed up!

• Keep Shooting: Every shoot has this classic bell-curve of creative trajectory before you hit the inevitable point of diminishing-returns when clicking another 50 shots of the exact same frame provides zero more value to the Customer. In this game, LESS is definitely more…

• Keep On Shooting! See that glimmer in Elspeth’s eye? No - That’s not my reflector perfectly positioned to fill every shadow in her face while naturally illuminating her gorgeous green irises! That glimmer is definitely my Bad Dad Jokes finally paying off. I knew I’d get her…

• When I finally get enough variety of looks and basically given twice as much time on-location than I’m actually getting paid for, it’s time to wrap.

• Break-down, pack-up, high-fives all-around.

Spend 2.5 Hours in “Pre-Post Production”

• Before I get to actually make my selects and start working on the photos I intend to give to Elspeth, I have to basically reverse every step in Pre-Production…

Spend 2+ Hours in “Post-Production”

• The Hardest Part: Finally sitting down at my computer to browse the memory card for the little diamonds in the rough that I know will make Elspeth jump for joy. Or at least not demand a refund :)

• Waste 15-20 minutes beating myself up for all the poses I forgot to suggest - or the angles I should have captured, but forgot to even though I’ve been doing this for 20+ years…

• Have a third cup of coffee…Because… COFFEE!

• Struggle to arm-wrestle my ADHD into submission so I can focus long enough to find the 10 decent, “not-so-cringeworthy” shots of the 500-1000+ I snapped. (Yes, those are the real ratios.)

• Whittle down the 28 shots I just can’t not select to the 8-10 I actually want to spend the time “Photoshopping” (I actually use a combination of programs from Lightroom to Photoshop)

• Spend about 3-9.37 minutes on each photo - because every second counts and because LinkedIn or that crabby TV Casting Director could care less about my “Art.”

• Export the fully retouched images in 8-Bit Color TIFFs, Full-Res JPGs and Internet/SEO-Optimized, properly compressed, key-worded, ALT-texted freakin’ MASTERPIECES!!!!

• Create a dedicated webpage on my website that only Elspeth can see or share with all her special people.

• Compose a friendly, but very professional email to Elspeth with a couple samples asking her to go ahead and submit her final payment for the private gallery link…

Spend next 96+ Hours in “Post-Post Production”

a.k.a. “LIFE” (Waiting to get paid…)

• Ask myself all the other really deep, dark existential questions I didn’t answer before - stuff like: “Yeah, Dan, once upon a time, you may have won the All-American High School Film Festival and had Oscar-winning Producers inviting you to lunch at The Ivy in Beverly Hills when you first came to Hollywood… But how do you really intend to pay rent this month?

Convinced?

Nope, let’s keep unpacking this!

In Part II, you can see a break-down of the real-world costs that make booking a Professional Photographer so expensive.

Or you can just log into Craigslist right now…

Log into Craigslist instead…