A while back I was having a conversation with another photographer that I considered a mentor when I first stepped into the photography ring. We were discussing the finances of photography business and when I tried to explain why my rates were what they were and the response was that I was robbing people, that what we do just isnt worth that much, to be fair my rates are more than triple theirs, and I am only beginning my third year of business, while they have more than 2 decades under their belt. For as many photographers that turn their noses up and call high end photographers extortionist for making $1000 a session while others are charging $25 with a full disk of images, many of those photographers are charging those rates because they dont know how to move up and market themselves in the more expensive range, and even if they can, they just arent bringing in the amount of business they want and they fall victim to booking 5 $200 sessions instead of 1 $1000 session. My first photo session was for $25.00 too, in my bedroom, and my first wedding I shot for $250. My averages now are $750-2000 for a studio session, and I’m averaging about $5000 a wedding. That’s not where my prices start but what most of the clients end up choosing to invest, because they love the products and services. So how in less than 3 short years, with no formal photography training and no education in business management have I grown on that kind of scale? I’m not very good at math but lets say I do only 12 weddings a year, and 2 studio sessions a month. At the minimum of $750 a studio session that still equates to $78,000. If you are charging lower, say $150-250 a session and handing over images and we’ll say you shoot 335 days out of the year, you’ll make about $50,000-85000. Right around the same amount I’d make shooting 36 days a year. Now keep in mind that I keep weddings to 35 a year, and I wont shoot more than 3 days a week, that puts my projected rates for 2011 at $292,000. Want to know why I make that much? Good Marketing, a husband who happens to be brilliant at math and accounting, an amazing assistant, good networking, and amazing clients that refer me to their loved ones, a background in artistry that lends to good images, capturing precious moments. Yes all these things weigh in, but stack them all against the one thing that really makes the difference and it doesn’t measure. I care. I genuinely and completely care about my clients, and my craft. I consider it an honor to be included in these moments that are so important in people’s lives. I consider our craft a sacred duty, we are preserving the things that matter most in the world to people. I think when people know that the things that are most precious to them also hold value and meaning for you they are more than willing to let you be the one to capture those moments and people in a beautiful and artistic way, and will pay you happily for what you do. I have some really amazing stories that I share a small part in with my clients, and get to retell through my imagery. I have a new favorite on that list. On valentine’s day I received a call from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. My heart always drops when they come up on the caller id… I know why they are calling, they only ever call for one reason; because I am a Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Photographer. Basically if you haven’t heard of them, or read my posts about this organization, we are a collection of photographers across the states that go in and offer complimentary portrait sessions for newborns with terminal conditions… we provide the only portraits these families will ever have of their loved ones. It is a bittersweet thing we do, I am grateful for whatever small part I can give to the healing process, but my heart aches for these families in a very strong way, and I have shed a lot of tears over these moments, these newborn little angels, and these families; I am a very sensitive person by nature and I am a mother, any mother knows: from the moment you see your baby for the first time you love them more than you have loved anything in your life, and that love inspires every other emotion more fiercely than you have ever felt it. You go in, you focus on the family and the baby, you remind yourself that it’s not for right now, its for 6 months, 6 years, 60 years from now… there is some record of these brief and sacred moments for them to hold onto the love when the grief dissipates a little bit. To some extent the ‘photographer mode’ takes over and it goes similar to a session with any other baby, maybe that’s just a defense mechanism we use to cope. For me it’s afterwards. When I get in my car and drive home all I can think about is hugging my kids. About how lucky I am that they are at home with their little star lamps and lullabies, and I can sit by their beds and just look at them, listen to them breathing peacefully, and wish them sweet dreams. Going through the images the next day is hard, a lot of times I download them but wont touch them for another day. For me all the images I take when I look at them they inflict the same emotion viewing them, that I had shooting them. I’ve become familiar with the scenario and how I handle and cope with it from beginning to end, it starts with a phone call, and ends with me giving a DVD of images to a family that will always have a special place in my heart. It’s true with any kind of photography that you click with some clients more than others. I am very lucky that I have so many amazing clients. I really value all of them, and one of the fringe benefits of moving into the the higher end market is that if you don’t click with someone you can recommend them to someone else, because meshing well really does give you the advantage in capturing better photos of them. From the moment I walked into CHOP on monday, I just adored Sharon and Joel. They were sweet, kind, and amazingly personable and hopeful despite their situation. Their beautiful baby boy was inundated with wires and tubes in the NICU. I photographed them with their son in the tiny space around his bed that they were tethered to. Sometimes the families will wait until they are ready to take their baby off life support to do the photos, in many cases it is the only time they get to hold and see their baby without all the wires and tubes and just be close to them. I remember specifically Sharon being overwhelmed by how close he was to her without his immobilizer. They werent aware of the option to photograph him off life support, but they werent planning on taking him off for another few days. Later that night I received an email, followed by a phone call in the morning by the social worker asking if I could come back in and photograph him again. Technically the NILMDTS foundation allows for one session and a CD of high res images for them to keep. I of course could not say no. So again I drove all the way down to Philadelphia. It’s the first time I’ve gotten the chance to spend more than one day with a family, and that of course strengthened the emotional connection to both the family and the baby especially, and I knew it was going to be a hard day. I remember being moved by the fact that the sides of the baby’s bed were wallpapered with index cards with different bible verses and quotes of hope and healing. He was just cradled and surrounded by love. The moment they pull the respirator tube is just heart wrenching, and as photographers in this realm we have seen it many times, it never gets easier… This time was different. This time when they removed it, he started breathing on his own… and kept breathing. And no one knows why or how. It was such a rare and unexplained blessing, and I got to be there to snap a few photos of a cautiously hopeful family, and I remember just being overwhelmed watching his little chest rise and fall all on it’s own. The nurses and drs. were all baffled, but excited, and we heard a reassuring “he’s breathing better now than he was with the tube in.” At one point his dad joked with me about whether or not the session would still count for my organization…I dont know actually, but if not it most certainly is my humble gift. I am not an intensely religious person, but it is hard to not believe in god, or a greater power when you witness a completely unexplained and unexpected miracle. How do you not feel an amazing sense of joy and wonder and love, how could you not pray that little chest continues to rise and fall steadily throughout the night, and in the morning be thankful to whoever is out there listening to your prayers? These sessions… they’re everything. What price could you put on them? What would people be willing to pay? They’re priceless. Both sides know and feel that way, that’s why we dont charge, and why if we did, no matter what the price, we would be paid for the service. I have met clients with $15,000 budgets and $0. People who have written me checks in full, and people that have stretched out payment plans over the course of 3 years to be able to afford me. Why people will pay so much? Because they know that genuinely what I do I do because to me the moments and what I am doing is priceless. It is worth everything, for the people I work for and for the people that love them, for their future generations. I do it for them, for those moments, not for the money, and that is evident in my artistry and my service. People are intelligent, and they are intuitive, they know when they are a job and when they are cherished. I sincerely believe that when you love what they love, when what matters to you is them and not their wallets, they sense that. Every now and then, when you continue to be genuine and passionate and treat each client as the gift that they are to your craft and career, you are rewarded. Yes part of that is making a very good living with your craft…. but if that is your sole motivation you will not sustain. I am extremely grateful for the growth of my business, it allows my family our lifestyle, lets me spoil my children, build my dream home and studio, and spend time with my family that I am so blessed to have. I love photographing the high end clients and the fashion and artistry that come in the photos, and yes when I am enjoying a quiet morning on my deck with my family and 7 checks come in for over $1000 piece it is amazing to feel the sense of accomplishment from breaking the starving artist routine… but I still genuinely would have traded all the income I’ve made this year so far to be here for this moment:
How and Why I make so much Money in Photography
February 18, 2011 by Jessica Lark
one who wants to be a businessman should have a VISION: 1. you can / need to think simple. 2. oriented small, get small. 3. oriented big, get big. 4. pray for family, close family / other people and our country.5.regenaration your client,that’s can be more good.((( commended ))) I said :thank’s for you and your husband.
one who wants to be a businessman should have a VISION: 1. you can / need to think simple. 2. oriented small, get small. 3. oriented big, get big. 4. pray for family, close family / other people and our country.5.regenaration your client,that’s can be more good.((( commended ))) I said :thank’s for you and your husband.
Thank you for spending such a special time with my good friends Joel and Sharon. The only reason that little Owen continued to breathe was that his maker worked a miracle in his life. There were hundreds of people praying for that little chest to rise and fall. Our God answers prayers. He is real and he works in our lives. Thank you for giving such a special gift to these families in need.
I don’t know you, but I do know them. 🙂 Sharon and Joel have been friends of mine for over ten years. I received a phone call when they got engaged, sat in the church at their wedding, and attended her baby shower just a few months ago. It’s killing me to be so far away as they wait and watch and weep over Baby O. Thank you for being there in that moment, for my friends and with our God who does miracles!
Kristin
Thank you for this gift you have given to my cousins Joel and Sharon – thank you for sharing in this miracle with them. Owen is a miracle baby – his life has a greater purpose and meaning than we can understand because he is made in his Maker’s image. To God alone be the glory and praise for what He is doing. And may He bless you for what you have given to them.