Is professional photography expensive?

This is a common question, alongside “how much do you charge per hour”, or “can you give me a quote to shoot xyz”.

We have been conditioned to accept that anything is relatable to a price … “lower prices are just the beginning”, or “down, down, prices are down”. Wages are benchmarked around hourly hire, with no real equality for output generated.

Professional photography has traditionally commanded relatively high fees for service, given the equipment cost to entry, the technical requirements to gather content and to deliver the outputs.

As the rise of digital photography has evolved and with many now having access to phone cameras with their inbuilt technology to “fix on the fly” their inbuilt limitations, there has been a shift in sections of the commercial photography pricing landscape.

It’s a buyers market given the saturation of photographer supply, the lowering of commercial demand and the acceptance of average imagery (social media style).

For instance in Tasmania, from my perspective, it is rare to have a usage fee as the market refuses to accept this cost and seeks lower prices (hourly rates) and volume (lots of random shots) rather than focus on quality and value.

Overall for the midstream market, prices have fallen although clients expect more for their budget. That said, the mindset remains that professional photographers are expensive. I doubt this will change.

As a professional commercial photographer, I prefer to look at value driven outputs.

Real estate photographers (and I started my career there) are paid crumbs for doing the heavy lifting of property sales presentations. While vendors collect massive equity profit from property sales and agents “earn” generous commissions for posting properties on the internet, photographers are generally paid a few hundred dollars for their time and trouble. If they were paid a percentage of the sale price like the agents, then competition would rise and so quality would become a differentiator.

I digress.

I like to look at what is the best portfolio I can provide for a client’s budget. Yes everyone has budget, although it can be a matter of trust to find out what that budget is. Once a budget is established, then it becomes a collaboration to come up with a brief, a shot list and a run sheet. No surprises, no hidden extras, no wasted time, just images crafted specifically for purpose. This is a value driven workflow and is my preferred method of working to create the best result.

So is photography still expensive for my clients? Of course “expensive” is a relative term and if you’re a mum and dad corner shop, then most likely, but still worth the expense. If you’re a state or national brand, then I represent outstanding value for the investment.

Now more than ever, investing in my professional commercial photography makes perfect sense for any business owner wishing to showcase their service or products.

Reach out as I’m always up for a chat and would love to hear your story!