October 4, 2006

• "Why do photographers cost so much?"

  When planning a wedding, the question of photographer fees often come into play. "Why do photographers cost so much?"

  This is my little informative essay to help consumers understand photography costs better.

  Photography Costs

  Did you know that small business owners pay 15% small business tax, on top of State and Federal taxes? This is our version of Social Security. When you add all the taxes together, this means that about 33.3% of what we charge goes right to taxes. So if a wedding photographer, for example, charges a client $2500, then $825 goes to taxes, leaving $1650.

  Many Photographers have assistants for the day. The average cost of an assistant is $175 for the day (this is for assisting only, not for second shooters). $1650 - $175 = $1475

  Most wedding photographers offer a proof set. My proof set generally costs me about $300. $1475-$300 = $1175

  These are just immediate costs. In addition, there are overall costs such as : Business Liability Insurance, Errors and Ommisions Insurance, Advertising fees, Accountant Fees, Cell Phone, etc.  The average Midwest wedding photographer shoots about 25-30 weddings a year (since not many get married here in the winter). If I pro-rate the insurance costs, etc, between the weddings, that would come to about $150 per wedding. $1175 - $150 = $1025.

  $1025 x 27 weddings = $27,675 annual income.

  Not exactly a millionaire. And this doesn't even take into consideration a lot of other things, such as purchasing photography equipment.

  My point is, I don't want potential clients to feel that they are being taken advantage of. It costs a lot of money to run a photography business. I think that there is a feeling that the wedding industry charges clients more just because it is a wedding event. From my standpoint as a wedding photographer, this is simply not true.

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