Why Is Photography Expensive?

A Lifestyle Pet Photographer in Burlington, Ontario explains her pricing and why photography can be expensive.

Press play on the video below. Transcript is available at the bottom.

Transcript:
Hey, so some people want to know why photography is expensive. So I'm just going to talk for myself here. But, for example, my half an hour session is $197 before tax. And people think that I make $197 for half an hour of work or, or like an hour of work, they think maybe it doesn't take too long to edit, or I'm not quite sure what people think. But I understand that $197 isn't a small amount of money, that's a pretty big ask for me. So why would I ask for that much for half an hour? Well, $197 divided in half, because I have business taxes and expenses. So half of it goes, at least to that. So now I'm really only charging 100 bucks for myself, and then divide that by a minimum of five hours for editing for talking to you and planning the session explaining things for the travel time. And that the session itself, it's half an hour, but then the editing time, it all really adds up really quickly, and 5 hours is me being a(t a) minimum. So I'm not charging $197 for half an hour, I'm charging $197… So I can afford to do this at all. I get paid, maybe, 20 bucks an hour for what I do. And most of the time, that doesn't leave much for me to reinvest into the business to grow it more. So I can actually, maybe find ways to make cost cutting moves, you know, I can't do that if I'm not making any money. Because I can't grow. And I also don't get booked up all the time. I only have a few sessions a month. And so I have to find other ways to make money. So I offer digital services and whatnot. But I honestly if I could literally give everybody a $50 session and give them all the pictures and pay my bills. I seriously seriously would. But it's impossible. So, I understand that photography is expensive, but there are legitimate economical reasons why. And sometimes you can find a cheaper photographer who's new or just like looking to sell some sessions. I know I still do that, like mini sessions, you can usually get a good a good deal. I definitely respect if you don't feel like you can afford the price. I just would ask you to not undervalue photography. When we do tell you our prices, maybe just consider how much time it actually takes. And that's before even considering how much time it took us to gain the skill. You know, like it took me 10 years to be able to take good pictures and half an hour. I shouldn't get paid less because I'm better at my job if that makes sense. So that's why photography cost money, especially if you want it by a professional and not like a weekend buddy. So yeah, if you have any other questions, let me know! :)