For the folks following this blog with baited breath waiting to find out what my 2022 prices would be, you might have seen a month ago when I posted my updated price list! I was so excited! I was going to make actual money this year and maybe be able to have some leftover after paying for those exciting things my income covers like camp, the pool membership (aka our summer home), and kids sports, and car repairs, and doctors visit copays. And therapy and drugs and take out on weeks I’m working full time amounts of editing or freelance. More importantly, I was going to be more in-line with DC area photographers who charge on average between $500-700 for a family shoot. Yes, you read that right. Sure they may say their “session fee” is only $200 but then you have to buy a print package that starts at $300 if you’re lucky and gets you a handful of edited digital images and that’s it. “Mini sessions” Might get you five edited digital images and still set you back $400.
To be fair, a lot of these photographers hire Santa Clauses or reindeer for their Christmas “minis” or have bunnies and chicks for spring. Or have client wardrobes and deliver your images in bespoke boxes with organic seed paper tissue and hand calligraphic thank you notes. I’m thinking of the scene in “Bridesmaids” where Kristin Wiig opens the box that’s actually an invitation to the bridal shower and a butterfly flies out, Then when you get to the shower you’re escorted in on horseback and at the end, after Kristin Wiig tries to push over the chocolate-converted garden fountain (if you haven’t seen the movie, SEE IT NOW), everyone gets a puppy as a favor. I am Kristin Wiig. Every other photographer is Rose Byrne.
So, new price list will be coming soon. As soon as I can whip it up and make it pretty all over again. For now, consider yourself special if you’ve read this far. Event pricing will be a flat $300/hour for all your digital images, minimum of two hours. Families, seniors, engagement, anything else will be done hourly with $250/30min and $375/60min again for all digital images. For established clients, yes, this is a jump for last year. For new clients who have priced out other photographers this is still a big deal. I will cut my own costs in other ways. Investing in technology and software for instance. Maybe I’ll break my “say no to presets” code of honor and build a couple that match my editing style – some time investment in the beginning that will pay off this fall in cutting down editing time. Also plan on doing a lot more online – forms and billing for instance – that will keep my own administrative tasks minimal and help with end of year accounting. And while I want to encourage print orders because I believe in having tangible photos in hand for posterity, I’ll still leave that up to clients to print via their online album through the professional photo lab I go through. But, depending on hours shot I’ll offer a percentage off of a print order. Everyone loves a discount code, right?
Lastly a big hint: FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA! That’s where I’ll be posting deals and specials throughout the year.