Why are professional photographers so expensive?

Here’s an interesting article originally posted at Caught on Film. It gives a little insight to the amount of work that goes into producing “professional results.” The author says…

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…

You can read the rest of the article here.

wedding promo completed

I’ve completed my wedding promo, it’s now off to the presses! It is a 5×5 tri-fold.

Here is the front

The view when you open the front flap,

Then open the right flap,

Then close it and turn it over,

I’d love to hear what everyone thinks

still need a calendar?

Did your friends and family overlook getting you a calendar this year? Or did you not get enough–still need one for home, the home office, or work?

You are in luck! There are a few calendars still available for purchase. Below is a small sampling of images in the calendar.

If you would like to purchase a calendar, or two, or three, send an email to info@tameerenae.com. Please include how many calendars you would like and where I should send them to.

Calendars are available for $20 for the first calendar, and $15 each for every calendar thereafter.

Please send cash or check (made out to Tamee Renae Photography) to:  125 Near Court #518, Walnut Creek, CA 94596

happy new year!

Ok, so I know it’s a little past the turning of the new year…but better late then never I suppose. I took a two week winter vacation, and boy did I need it! I did a lot of laying around on the couch, eating, and hanging out with friends and family.

But now I’m back in full gear! I’ve been looking for models so I can build upon my portfolio, working on pricing, and marketing. I’m currently working on creating wedding packages and a promotional piece to send to prospective clients. Below is the cover I will include in this piece–but it may change before I send it to press.

My new year’s resolution is to do more shooting for myself. It’s so easy to get caught up in work, but I am going set aside a day (or part of a day) every month to do some shooting for me. So far, that day of personal shooting hasn’t happened