Some folks may balk at the cost of photography services, so I’ve decided to tackle this problem be simply explaining to people why those pictures are worth the cost. Basically, it all boils down to one phrase any small business owner should know, the cost of doing business.

The inescapable….Taxes

The first huge point to understand when hiring any kind of a freelance photographer (wedding, editorial, sports, etc.) is the high tax rate we all have to pay as small business owners.  A 40% tax rate.  So what does this mean?  If you pay a photographer $1,000 for a portrait session, he/she will have to give about $400 of it to the Gov.  Yes, 40%, look it up if you want to.

Equipment or why you shouldn’t hire somebody with just one camera

The cost of good camera equipment is astounding these days.  Remember, your hiring a professional so that Canon Rebel DSLR you saw at Best Buy for $500 just aint going to cut it.

Camera – A decent professional camera body (without even a lens or spare battery) cost about $4,000-$6,000.  But camera’s break (often at the worst of times) so a good photographer must have more than 1 camera.  Preferably 3-4 bodies.  Plus, Murphy’s Law will eventually take it’s toll within 2-4 years.  So for 3 cameras, at an average of $5,000 a piece and a lifespan average of 3 years, that’s an annual cost of $5,000 a year just for the cameras.

Lenses – This is a cost that can vary widely for photographers.  A wedding shooter might not need the same lenses as a sports shooter so I’ll try to explain a bit of it all.  A good lens (capable of low light photos) cost anywhere from $1,500-$3,000 a piece.  A photographer needs several lenses to cover different ranges (wide photos, tight photos, close-ups, etc).  Telephoto lenses (widely used in sports photography) can cost from $4,000-15,000.  Yes, one lens can cost more than a used Kia.  There are other specialty lenses but to keep it simple lets say a photographer has 5 normal range lenses at $2,000 a piece and 1 telephoto lens at $7,000.  Lenses last longer than cameras usually, 5-10 years depending on use, so lets even that to 7 years.  Thats a years cost of about $2,450 a year.  This cost could be and probably is higher for most photographers, but it’s a good ballpark to start with.

Lighting Equipment – Most photographers have some sort of lighting equipment, be it a simple on camera flash (shame shame shame) or a half dozen studio lights with modifiers.  Either way the stuff isn’t cheap (of course).  Between stands, lights, and modifiers, lets say the average cost is about $2,000 a year.  Again, just a ball park.

Computers and software – We all need it.  A good computer is about $3,000.  It’s got to be fast if you want your pictures fast.  Plus you don’t want your memories lost because an old computers hard drive decided to catch on fire.  Software varies but lets say a new version of Photoshop cost about $1,000 with all the bells and whistles and a new version comes out every other year.  Don’t forget all the gizmos that you just have to have.  Add to that others editing software and the average yearly cost is about $1,000.

Accesories – Tripods, memory cards, batteries, sync cords, gaffers tape, more gaffers tape, cases, straps, rain covers, reflectors, monopods, filters, gels, blimps, blowers, cleaners, chargers, caps, hoods, light meters, triggers, remotes, etc, etc, etc……..  So yeah, there’s a lot of little things that most photographers need to do their day to day job.  These little things all ad up.  This will vary but I would say $500 a year is a good ball park again.

Travel

Whether it’s driving a few miles to the local high school stadium or flying across the country, it all cost money.  This varies of course but the government rate is $.555 a mile, so if your asking a photographers to drive 200-miles for your wedding, that photographer has to pay for that gas to get there, so they will probably forward that cost to you.  The same way the cost of transporting any good is configured into the cost of that good.

Insurance

Equipment & Business insurance – You wouldn’t drive a $20,000 car uninsured so why would a photographer walk around  with $20,000 worth of gear uninsured.  There are a few companies that offer great insurance for equipment and small business insurance combined.  A had a plan a few years ago for $1,200 that offered new replacement off all my gear ($250 deductible of course) and up to $500,000 of liability insurance as well.  Trust me, you want your photographer to have this.

Health insurance – Every working person deserves good health care.  Just because the job is fun sometimes (trust me, not as often as you might think) doesn’t mean it isn’t a skilled profession that requires lots a talent.  It’s not a teenagers job in other words.  We need health insurance.  We work long hours, carry heavy gear, lots of stress….yeah we need health insurance.  This is another cost that is hard to figure because it varies so much.  I’d put an decent plan at about $6,000 a year for a decent shape 30 something.  Of course it goes up with age and other factors.

Advertising & Promotion

Did you hear about your photographers services through an ad of some sort? That cost money.  A website? That cost money.  A postcard promo piece? That cost money.  A magazine ad? That cost a lot of money.  You get the point.  You can’t find us unless we’re out there.  Between the cost of running a website, an online archive with plenty of space for online print galleries and the occasional ad campaign the cost can be about $1,000-2,500 a year.  Lets round it out to $1,750.

Legal fees & Professional services

It cost about $600 to set up a small business through an LLC or other type of corporation.  Also the use of an accountant is almost a necessity considering the high amount of purchases and varied payout rate.  So add an additional $600 and say $1,200 a year.

The Cost of Living 

Food, water, shelter, ya know, all the stuff you need to survive we need as well.  I know we talk a lot in numbers but I promise, most of us are not robots.  Think of this as a photographers salary.  Before we can get any money for ourselves, we’ve got to first make enough to pay off the early cost mentioned above that amount to $21,100.  So I want to make say $30,000 a year, I’ve really got to make $51,000 a year.   Oh but wait, don’t forget that 40% tax rate.  Let’s look at that more closely.

Lets say a photographer brings in $100,000 in a year and has $25,000 in expenses.  That’s $75,000 worth of taxable income.  Taxed at 40% thats bringing home a salary of $45,000 a year.  That’s right, the photographer who looks like he’s bringing home a 6-figure salary isn’t even hitting 50k after expenses and taxes.

The Final Note

Remember, this isn’t the end all cost for all photographers.  It’s going to vary greatly.  Some photographers will use a tremendous amount of specialty gear out of necessity and charge a huge sum of money.  Others will use simpler gear if they specialize in 1 or 2 things.

But these cost reflect the difference between a professional photographer and your Uncle Ed with a new shiny Canon Rebel with a kit lens.

Besides all the shiny gear, a professional photographer should and hopefully will also have work that reflects there creative ability.  They will act professional, be easy to work with, show up on time, deliver photos promptly and give you a good experience.  This is why you pay them.

My hope is someone seeking a photographer will read this and understand why it’s going to cost more than $500 to get good wedding photos.  Or understand why they maybe should rethink hiring that kid for $250 that is “working on a portfolio.”  Or a photographer will read this and understand shooting that quick portrait for $50 isn’t really worth it at all.

Either way, to keep good photography alive, the people making the photos need to eat.