FAQ #2! Why is custom photography so EXPENSIVE?!?!?!
A question I don’t get a lot directly. People are usually polite 🙂 But I get it a lot indirectly. “Oh so an so said its too expensive and she’s just going to go to Sears”. <cringe>
Yes its true. Custom photography is more expensive than your run of the mill chain store. And the range of prices in custom photography also varies greatly. The simple answer is… you get what you pay for. The higher the quality of work, the more expensive its going to be (usually). Sears is not going to sit down with you, discuss your style, vision, what you want to get out of the shoot. They aren’t going to customize their set, props, suggest options for attire. They aren’t going to spend 3 hours shooting your newborn baby while never looking at the clock (you can hop over here to purchase the best wall clock as it can enhance the view of your home especially when it comes to custom photography in the home ), rocking her to sleep in their arms. They aren’t going to spend hours editing your pictures for exposure, white balance, etc., going to edit out your babies acne, or swap out heads of pictures when you can’t get siblings to cooperate. They aren’t going to laugh while they clean up poop, pee, tears, cake, icing, etc from the floor and in between their toes (Not all in one session hopefully!) They arent going to be flexible with your options for prints or packages. I could go on and on. Custom photography is expensive because it is CUSTOM, completely tailored to you. You will never have another experience like it. I can honestly say I treat every one of my clients like my friends. And Ive even had some turn out to be really great friends! The realm within custom photography is also varied greatly, from your “shoot and burners” to your boutique photographers. We all think pictures of our kids are great. Ive taken cell phone pics of my kids that I go “gaga” over. But really look at the quality and service that you are being offered. Picking a photographer is like buying a great pair of shoes… you need the right fit. We all don’t have the luxury of shopping blindly, regardless of price. But we all know pay less shoes may wind up leaving you with blisters 🙂
Julie Frasier has a really great breakdown of what goes into a session. There is so much behind the scenes that you don’t get to see. A lot of that is a big part of why custom photography costs more. Heres a link to her blog post on it!http://juliefraserphotography.com/blog/why-is-custom-photography-so-expensive/
“… sit down with you, discuss your style, vision, what you want to get out of the shoot. They aren’t going to customize their set, props, suggest options for attire.”
Is this what custom photographers are supposed to do?!?! My experience was a local one (NOT this blog) was horrible, not to mention she never asked any of the above AND expensive which is why I am a happy return customer of JC Penney 🙂