Why does custom photography cost so much?

Custom photography provides a highly personalized experience in which the client gets to pick many pieces of the puzzle that creates a wonderful piece of artwork they can cherish for years to come. That being said, the amount of time and cost to put this together drives the price of this experience.

Chain stores bring in a lot of people for a short cookie cutter experience which creates a product with their artistic stamp. You, as the client, have very little say in what they can actually do with your short period of time and then they go on to the next client.

When you decide on a custom photography experience, the photographer goes through the entire experience with you to bring your vision to life.  To do this requires a lot more time and effort from the photographer. Your actual photo session may only take an hour, but your photographer has probably invested around 12-18 hours for a session per client. They do this to create the stellar customer service you may have come to know.  They really want to focus on quality and not quantity.  They also have the ability to offer many different high-quality products.

You have also selected your photographer based on their artistic abilities.  Like many other professions, there is a great deal of education and artistic exploration to create their vision.  Unfortunately, the professional equipment is not cheap either.  Have you ever wondered how much time or expense your photographer has invested to accumulate their props?

This client education series continues, please read:
Why are you scheduling, and what do you want to do with your portraits?

 To see all postings in this client education series, please click on the label to the right on this blog, "Custom Photography".

Wishing you the best of everything!

Susan 

Bethlehem, PA, December 2011