Why I do not shoot TFP.......

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 $$$ for an 8x10 print and a digital cd.... when they cost just $1.50 at the drug store and email is free?

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.For example:

For a two hour portrait session:
- 1 hour of travel to and from the session
- 2 hours of shooting
- 30 minutes of setup, preparation, talking to the client etc.
- 15 - 30 minutes to load the photos onto a computer (2 - 4 Gb of data)
- 15 - 30 minutes to back up the files on an external drive
- 1 - 2 hours to talk to the client, answer questions, receive their order and payment, order their prints, receive and verify prints, package prints & schedule delivery.
- 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.
- 1 hour burning a customized cd
- 1 hour travel to and from for delivery (local customers)

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.


Thanks for sharing... a repost clip from:

by Jennifer Ilene Photography on Thursday, July 29, 2010 at 9:06pm