Have you ever wondered why photographers charge that much?
Well, to say it clearly, as a photographer myself, I probably know the reasons, won't I? Let me tell you from the perspective of a photographer:
1. Equipment cost
Let's start with the cameras. A camera can cost more than RM4000. That's only the camera body. To get the camera snapping, you'll need lenses, batteries, and a memory card. A lens can cost thousands or upwards of tens of thousands of Ringgit. That's on the camera side of things. How about the lighting setup? A lighting setup like a Speed-lite, a soft-box, and a tripod mount is needed whenever there's an indoor shoot. Furthermore, right after any shoot, everything needs to be exported through a capable device. I use a Dell XPS 13 for my editing.
2. Time
My standard time for a photography session usually lasts about 4 hours. Though, I usually hang around an hour more than the agreed time between my client and me. To make sure I won't miss anything. What most people don't realise is the time the photographers work after the shoot. For example, a photo will take around 10 to 20 minutes of editing. Imagine editing 50+ photos? Those photos will take time. Just like any other creative job, you'll need to take a step back to see whether the editing is good. I had a case where a photo I was editing seems to look great, but after a short yoghurt snack break, it looks like a deep-fried meme. That's why it's better to take more time to perfect it. Ultimately, the number of time photographers spend learning and honing their skills plays a huge factor. Like any other technical job, the skills that came from experience and knowing them inside and out will affect the charge. You can't buy a baker's pastries based on the ingredient itself, but you
have to pay for their skills too!
3. Other costs
Some things need to be paid for by photographers. The editing software and cloud storage fees need to be monthly. The transportation cost also plays a factor. For my business, as an example -I am currently registered under Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (TR0245722-U), so what I make for my photography needs to be paid in taxes.
Lucky for my clients, I consider myself an affordable photographer. Just like my website states, I believe in getting high-quality results for an economical price. So I hope you guys understand the reasons we charge what we charge. Don't forget to comment below your thoughts! Thank you for reading :)
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