It's wedding season already and it's crazy in the land of little avocados. Plus I am sitting at the computer trying to work and this little boy inside of me is kicking me so hard. Maybe I shouldn't have eaten jelly beans. Oh well, just thought I would share these.
So I went to Salt Lake City for a Rock that Off Camera Flash workshop. I had such a good time and met so many neat photographers. I am just going to post one for now because I want to just be with my sweet little girl...but it was hard not to work on these. 
I think this is on the top of one of my favorite weddings. This couple was so much fun and so easy to work with. I woke up worried about the fog, but it turned out to be a beautiful day. I love this couple and was so honored to be a part of there special day. Congratulations and enjoy your sneak peek.
This guy is so special. This is my cousins little guy. He is 2 weeks older than my little girl and is turning 3 years old. Nathaniel has a very special relationship with his Great Papa. I love my Grandpa and he is just so in love with Nathaniel. I think that Nathaniel has an old soul and it shows through some of the pictures. I hope you enjoy the sneak peek. 
This couple is just too cute and sweet for words. I loved being able to capture some moments with them. The wedding was a beautiful green and coffee brown color. I just love the combination.
Here are just a few for you to take a look at. I hope you guys enjoy them. 
I am looking to find a win win situation with someone in Eugene or Lane county with a really neat property that I can use for sessions this summer. What's the win win you ask? I will trade a completely free session for your family or child if the property suits my needs.
Leave me a comment or email me at stacey@littleavocado.com if you are interested.
This is a great article that I was glad I read. It makes me feel better about charging my clients. Mind you I don't charge as much as they are talking about but it sure helps clients have a better understand about what goes into being a professional photographer.
Why are Professional Photographers so expensive?
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.
Shawn, Pamela & Gavin Richter
Caught on Film Photography
Link to source and their other links:
http://www.caughtonfilmphoto.com/costofphotography.html
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