This is a rant and for those not interested in this subject please, please, please have a look at my other blog's around photography as you may learn something you didn't know before!
Firstly let me explain the reason why my pricing is the way it is. I'm a professional! My job is to encapsulate my clients needs within a few or even a single frame in a way that is convenient, efficient and high quality.
To do this you need to really understand very different aspects of photography, editing and client delivery. Anyone can take a picture, but not everyone can make an image! Let me explain.
Let's start with a theoretical problem. You're a photographer on a commercial shoot tasked with producing a range of shots of a clients product. Your client is based in another country and would like to observe and interact with the shoot whilst it takes place live, they do not have access to the internet, you want to have the ability to share files whilst protecting images which will be used in editing later, you also have a tight deadline as the shoot needs to be completed today with very little time for editing, needing the shoot signed off before being able to send an invoice for payment.
Any shoot requires a space, it also requires appropriate insurance, you also need to have a reliable dedicated payment system, a way to invoice, produce receipts, equipment to light the product, camera to shoot the product, a way of sending files, a way to enable the client to view and interact with the shoot live, a way of negating issues with the clients internet access, a way to edit live to reduce editing time later for a faster sign off, a computer to send the files through, standardised editing software which can be used by any assistant, a person to manage and send the files live, a retoucher, stylist, gaffer, the list goes on and on!
How do you solve all these problems whilst taking into account the need to create the imagery in the first place like understanding resolution, difference between optical focus and true focus, lighting techniques, circle of fifths, composition, dynamic range, colour accuracy, gradation and many more other aspects of image creation!
My pricing is up front and the cost of producing imagery is more than money, its knowledge, its understanding and its the ability to put all those elements together in a convenient, efficient, reliable manner whilst being able to match the clients needs in the first place. Yes you can find someone who can do it cheaper, but can you find someone who can do it cheap whilst taking everything mentioned earlier into account? Unfortunately the real answer is no, good photography isn't cheap and cheap photography isn't good!
The next time you are looking for a photographer to shoot something important remember to ask yourself the question of will this photographer bring me value or will they waste my time and money!
Rant Over!
