The end of photography as I knew it.
For the first time in many years, I feel like the business of photography is ending. Not dead but forever changed. It has changed in a way that I feel that being profitable is next to impossible the way I do it. You see I am just a good old-fashioned, no-nonsense, photographer who cares about customer service, reliability and accountability. I know my craft because I have honed my skills to not only recognize every possible situation but to be able to handle every situation with the confidence of 20-plus years in the business. I carry three full bags not to look cool but to always be prepared for whatever situation may present itself to me on any given day. I may not need any of it but if I do, you can rest easy knowing that I have you covered.
Having everything you need to ensure that your day goes off without a hitch costs money, a lot of money to be honest. Pricing out two reasonable Canon cameras like the R6 MKii, four speedlites, four light stands, and four memory cards just enough to get you in the door to get started is going to set you back about seven thousand dollars. Also keep in mind you have the cost to acquire your customers and a host of other costs to account for like website, software, computers, internet access, print cost, and online gallery hosting for your clients, just to name a few. All of this is necessary if you intend to provide the client with an experience they will continue to talk about for years to come with their family and friends. You see it is because of these experiences that my clients will continue to recommend me at every turn which is the biggest reason I have not advertised in many years but rather live off the countless referrals I receive from past clients.
I now find myself in a bit of a rat race as they say. It is not a race I would consider running for a lot of reasons. I would be a bit naive to believe that I am somehow above it and think it could not affect me, but the truth is that it is. As much as I try to separate myself from it the more I see myself falling into it. For many photography is just fun and I am OK with that, what I am not OK with is others misrepresenting themselves as being knowledgeable when in fact they don’t even know their basics. I sometimes have to compete with others charging $300 or $400 dollars for a full-day wedding. I think it is crazy they would even be hired.
My question is why even charge if that is going to be your price, might as well do it for free as a friend. Most weddings are 8 to 10 hours on the date of the event, and if you are applying a kind of personal editing it can take you another 8 to 10. Let’s not forget the preparation time before and take down at the end of the night 2 more hours. Also aside from the cost of the camera what about storing those photos, the computer to edit on, the cost of software to edit, and Dropbox to deliver your final images on is not free either. All this is just a sample of the unforeseen cost involved. I can spend anywhere from 40 to 50 hours on a wedding from start to finish so at $400 you would be making less than $9 an hour and even less if you add in all the added unseen costs as well which in my case would bring you down to about $3 dollars an hour. Not bad for a professional photographer trying to put food on the table.
