Why does quality portraiture cost more than a chain photography store?

First of all, most professional photographers are the owners and single employee of their small business. Yup, we’re a small business. We have fees like any other business does:

insurance
business taxes (which can be up to 40% for a small business owner)
membership fees to groups such as the PPA (professional photographers of America)
website costs
blog costs
merchant/banking fees
marketing
designer for logo
accountant or accounting software

Now most photographers also like to keep current with their work and attend workshops, seminars, etc so that we can grow and continue to serve the families with high quality portraits.

Its not uncommon for a workshop to be at least $1000+. Then we’ll add in travel, lodging, etc. Many photographers try to go to a workshop once a year to keep learning and growing. This last spring I went to an Audrey Woulard conference in Chicago. A great trip – expensive trip – but one that helped my skills grow.

So we’ll add

workshops/seminars
books
online professional photography forums

The photographer’s equipment is also critical to his/her work as well. The type of lenses, the focal lengths, the camera body, … its all necessary. For anyone who has dabbled in photography as a hobby or has a business, you know its not inexpensive. A camera body is an easy $2,500+. High quality portrait lenses can easily run $1000 – $2000 each. The additional equipment doesn’t end there though. The computer and the editing programs also run very expensive as well.

Camera
Lenses
reflectors
other equipment
props (hats, blankets, baskets, etc).
computer
editing programs

So now your photographer has the necessary small business items, their continuing education, their equipment and NOW they need to figure out how to make any income aside from minimum wage in order to run their business.
On average, I’d say I spend about 10 hours on each client. Consultation time, traveling to sessions, shooting the session, editing the session, answering phone calls/emails, ordering the session (each image is also individually prepared for print), packaging the prints, delivery and follow-up.

Add in:

My cost for products from professional lab
packaging items
shipping/delivery

When I consider in all my expenses, this is how I decide on my session fee and product costs. This type of business is not a money-making business.
Sure, its cheaper to go to a mall, chain photography studio or a less experienced photographer. You get what you pay for as with anything else you’d purchase.
Its not realistic for a family to always choose professional portraiture. Times are tough for a lot of people – for everyone in some way or another. But when you’re researching a professional, please understand why their prices are what they are. They’re there so that I can be a photographer in the future as well. So, I’m not burned out and making minimum wage for something I put my heart and soul into.
Its not unusual for me to be awake at night thinking of new locations, images and styles. I prepare for sessions. I care about doing my best and offering the best. I pay attention to detail and I truly want to leave my clients very pleased with their works of art.

And its not a photography blog without a photograph of this adorable ‘almost’ 3 month old… 🙂