This is one of the most searched questions online regarding photography. It is understandable as this industry is a niche and the cost of making photos to a high professional standard is not evident.
Let’s think about restaurants. There are obvious characteristics that make you pay higher prices without hesitation. You clearly expect to pay more in a restaurant with some Michelin Stars than a fast-food store. Well, photography is the same, but it is not clear what makes the difference between services because the answer is not simple or obvious. By the way, once I heard a scientist saying: “if the answer is easy, it is not the right answer”. Therefore, to reply properly this question we need a wider approach.
So, let’s start to clarify some concepts to improve the knowledge about this topic.
Photography through the eyes of a client
Long time ago, I found a portrait of a friend with her son in Facebook, and I loved it. It was a picture done in a studio and I was impressed with the quality of the image. Of course, I didn’t have idea what was a good picture by then and I wrote a message to my friend congratulating her for this “incredible image”. To my surprise she told me that the photographer was super cheap as well, WOW! She also replied, you should book a portrait session too! I didn’t book a session with him, but I couldn’t forget the photo either. Years later, after some photography and Photoshop courses, I was revising that image to get inspired by this good portrait…oh, my! I was shock to see that photo, believe me, it was horrible! He tinted the whole picture with a brownish colour making the teeth and the sclera (the white part of the eye) tinted as well. Why I didn’t realise about that grotesque mistake before! Simple, I didn’t have the knowledge.
The photographer was honest, he was charging little money because he was starting. We all start charging little and as we get better, we increase our prices. We know the quality of our work, knowledge, the quality of our products and the equipment that we use, and we charge accordingly.
“Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst. ”
You Don’t Pay for Having Your Photos Taken. You Pay for Far More Than That
The photo session is a small portion of our work, that start far back in time from your photo session and far beyond that as well. I am also going to provide some cases scenarios to be clearer.
One of the main reasons is that you pay for the expertise of this professional. There are hours of work and study to make the kind of images that you feel drawn to. But when someone mention this, it doesn’t mean much, right? I am going to give you some examples of what that means. Let’s talk about knowledge in practical terms.
Knowledge
This means, for example, someone who knows how to control the light in different environments. Therefore, if the photographer is taking pictures outdoors using just natural light, you are not going to have photos fully squinting your eyes because the sun was annoying you.
Furthermore, the professional is going to advice you when is the ideal moment for the session to avoid that hard light from the sun. But let’s add another problem to that, you only are free to take your photos during this time with harsh light. In that case, the professional has the knowledge to find places or recourses making the light soft and flattering for you. Therefore, the photographer has the knowledge to find solutions to this and other inconvenient situations.
In Scotland we normally have soft light because it is usually cloudy, however I had sessions in bright sun light, and it was very easy to fix. The difficulty was photographing in the tropics, very close to the Equator at midday. That was challenging!
Street photography in Ghana under hard light condition. By Leticia Gaidon Bradford Photography
Another case scenario. I was hired to photograph the end of the year private party for the top executives of a very important multinational corporation. Therefore, not many people were going to be in the party and the chosen place was a nightclub with walls painted in black (no way of bouncing the light to illuminate the subjects because black absorbs the light) and there were very few colourful lights to illuminate the place, which didn’t help to give a nice atmosphere. The possible result was end with very bland pictures. My solution was using a photography technique to drag the few lights making them to spread and fill the emptiness of guests and decorative items. That made the images colourful and fun. The effect was created in camera without Photoshop.
“You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.”
The Photographer’s vision
Another aspect that makes you like one photographer over other one is its vision. The ability to think the future with imagination to take a unique photo session for you. Collecting your thoughts and give shape and even expand your expectations.
Probably, you are attracting without knowing completely why you like that image so much, it is such a nice photo but maybe you love the colour palette chosen, the light, the poses, etc. It is something unconscious that makes sense to you and pleases you. However, there are a lot of thoughts together in order to create that pleasing view.
When you see consistency and even the wardrobe looks cohesive, there is a lot of work behind that sessions. The photographer is taking the time to organise and plan each shoot. Let’s be clear, those photos are made, not taken. Also, the location and the light was taken in consideration. You pay for that extra labour and experience too.
The Edition
This is another big difference among the service we provide. There are some professionals who just edit in Lightroom (or other programs) for colour and light correction and the work finish there. The reason could be the price for the service does not justify more edition than that. Time is money and if the price for the session was low, there is no point to do more.
Another possibility of making a basic edition is that not many photographers know how to use Photoshop and they can’t fix things like flying hairs, eliminating tiring look in the eyes, correcting make up, erasing blemishes, soften wrinkles, etc. There are so many possibilities with that program, I even pulled up trousers with Photoshop!
Yes, I love Photoshop. This program helps me in the more diverse ways. I tell you just one funny story regarding this: I had a gorgeous family who hired me for a family portrait, and they knew that I normally applied some Photoshop in my clients, so they said to me that they wouldn’t need Photoshop edition. Now, I confess to you that for some mysterious law of the universe, the people who tell me that no Photoshop is needed, they are the ones who need more Photoshop. The day of the session appeared their daughter with a massive bruise in her chin. It was a big reddish bruise as there was dry blood involved. The evening previous our session she was doing gymnastic and landed with her face on the floor. The mum looked at me and said, ANNND BY THE WAAAYYY…WE ARE GOING TO NEED PHOTOSHOP. I copied pore by pore and reconstructed the skin of her chin. You can’t tell that she had a massive bruise in that area…and their portraits are in my Instagram.
The Products
This also influence the price. It is not the same to print your images in a shop that sells groceries or medicine and provide the service of printing your photographs, than to do it in a professional lab.
I personally print my work in one of the best labs in the world and the photos are done with museum quality standard.
To me things must be versatile and practical, for that reason one of my favourite products is The Portrait Box. I choose goods that I would select for having in my house. This box is also a frame that contained the collection of your photo session and you can change the front picture and never get tired of what you see. I am a person who needs freedom and variety and the possibility of changing the front picture resonate very much with my personality and way of life.
The final characteristic that convinces me to add this item to my products is that The Portrait Box is made by hand and it comes in Italian leather or leatherette. It feels so chic and contemporary, with its clean simple lines.
This box stand by itself making a sophisticate frame to hold your images. You can keep the box private in a bookshelf or exhibit on your favourite furniture. It comes with different capacities to add more photos in the future.
Therefore, next time when you contact a photographer, take the time to ask for more than a price. It is important to have a good balance between price and quality for your budget.
Bye for now.