Hello and Happy Wednesday!
Alright guys, I love you all so lets sit down and have a little loving talk. Grab yourself a coffee and really have an open mind when I chat briefly on this topic.
I had to set a little time aside to go over this as it seems to be a huge head scratcher for some people. I hear it all the time so why on earth does it cost so much for digital files?!?
I’m not going to go through what is cost to run a business – it’s just common sense, right? And the equipment costs (holy moly!)
So lets go into why there’s such a big cost for that. Remember this, a lot of photographers charge a “sitting fee”. This is to cover all costs it takes for them to get there, as well as their creative talent, running a business etc… In my case I need a babysitter. Trust me ain’t nobody watching my four kids for FREE!
So after your shoot the photographers work is just beginning. All of your images have to be viewed closely and the best of the best are kept. And I do NOT want to lose ANYONES images so I pay a lot of money to save your files in 3 locations (yeah, I know, I’m crazy). From there we detail edit your images. Meaning clean them up, adjust colors, toning, sharpening, retouching etc… And that takes time. Once that is complete we put the images from your session up in a gallery (which costs us dolla-bills yo!) –
So now to the “it costs WHAT?!”
Ok here we go … Now just because you were charged a sitting fee which in my case is $200.00, that doesn’t cover all business expenses and my kids do not like to starve. I’m not that mean of a mom 😉
Now, prints – these cost us green paper! As well as all products. Lets talk digital files. I get a lot of inquiries that are flabbergasted that my sitting fee does not include digital files. Am I Crazy? NO!
Everyone wants “their images” of course they do. So they can have them, print them whenever, wherever etc… I am the EXACT same way, friends! And no offense Walgreens BUT I put a lot of time, effort, MONEY and heart into my work for you to get a profit from it. You guys following me? And in order to have a career as most of you I need to make sure I am compensated so that my kids aren’t just eating white bread for dinner.
“Shoot, I’ll just go to JCPenny’s for my pics. They’re CHEAP.”
JCPennys! They charge (their current promo for a limited time! ($19.99 + tax for a 3 image CD *reg. $69.99*. That’s roughly $6.67/image *reg. $23.33/image*). Just for 3 images.
Alright, so lets say I delivered 100 images (that’s not uncommon and sometimes a lot more _ I’m an over-deliverer) to you. And my digital file rate is $800 for the entire collection. $800/100 = $8.00/image.
And I’m not really going to go into the difference between a custom photographer vs. a JCPenny employee taking the photos because if you can’t tell the difference then head on over to Pennys! Seriously.
So while there’s most certainly sticker shock, when you break it down it’s really not all that bad. And honestly digital files ARE the MOST expensive (unless you order a pretty amazing album in which I highly encourage). The next time you’re ready for a portrait session, do NOT panic at the pricing! Don’t let that sticker shock (for digital files) freak you out.
There’s so much more that is offered and to be honest, I’d rather see you have a tangible product to display (Canvases, albums, matted prints) for your friends and family then a USB sitting in your drawer for years. I hope this little pow wow was as good for you as it was for me. And seriously from the bottom of my heart really try to understand what it is that we do behind scenes and to run a business that justifies our pricing.
Much Love, Sarah
