19 Reasons why a Professional Photographer won't come cheap

Photography is not just a click of a button. A professional photographer will know the expenses that are involved in considering an assignment. Unfortunately, professional photographers are treated in a bad way and not given the respect that they really deserve here in India.

There is a famous saying these days - every monkey with a camera is a photographer and this is very much true. Create a page on social media, ask your friends to like it, upload 100 pics and you become a professional photographer. Few even get paid likes. And there are many new photographers who work for free or who undervalue their work.

What I have seen is that these so-called professional photographers do not survive for long. They attend some tutorials, buy a camera, start a business, and shut down their startup in no time. Before, you hire a professional photographer for an important day like a wedding check their website and work. Don't try to save a bit and end up getting poor-quality shots. These are very important events and they remain as memories that will last a lifetime.

Also, read - Hiring Wedding Photographer? 5 common mistakes to avoid

Why a Professional Photographer won't come cheap?

Now getting back to the main topic. Here are a few reasons why a professional photographer will charge a lot.

• Skills - When an image is captured, it is not just a click of a button. The images are made and to make this an interesting shot, the composition, lighting, focusing, quality, etc everything has to be perfect. All these are skills attained over a long period of time not overnight. Professional photographers attend training too, it is a continuous learning process.
• The images that are captured are in RAW and there is much more time involved in editing each of the images. Again, they spend a lot of time learning and updating these skills of photo and video editing.
• Album designing takes a lot of time, with multiple feedbacks and re-corrections in the design and layout.
• Printing each of the images, the cover shot, the paper quality, selection of these takes time. Even if this work is outsourced, a professional photographer has to continuously interact with the third-party company and client.
• Expensive cameras and lenses. Those f2.8 lenses are costlier than the camera body. Each of these f/2.8 lenses can cost around one to 1.5 lac rupees. Even renting a camera, will cost a lot. The rental is on daily basis (24 hours), this is the reason why even if an event is for 2 hours, it will cost more. Insurance cover (not available in India) will have to be paid and if it is not available then the risk is taken by the photographer.
• The camera service isn't cheap.
• Editing software is not cheap. Getting a licensed copy of software like Photoshop, Lightroom, Creative Cloud, etc is important for a professional photographer when he is running a business.
• Has to pay taxes for the income earned out of photography.
• Travel and accommodation costs for an event.

• Assistants - They don't do charity work. Photographers have to pay their assistants as well.
• Studio rental, office space, etc.
• Office expenses - hardware like printers, computers, storage - a lot of storage, cloud storage, backup of those important photos, etc, contracts, agreements, files, etc.
• Client/ Customer interactions before and after the event.
• They make a living out of it.
• Albums are not freebies, it will cost a lot. Even while printing an album there is so much work involved like album design, layout, album cover, paper quality, print quality, etc.
• Deliverables like albums, pen drives, DVDs, DVD cover designs, courier and shipment charges, etc.
• Time of event - Indian marriages happen even at midnight, early morning 3 AM, reception event on the same day afternoon, etc. This is overtime work and photographers are humans and not robots. Marriage happens once and staying overtime is manageable, whereas professional photographers do it on a daily or weekly basis and overtime is not something you should be expecting.
• Website maintenance, money spent on ads, promoting business, etc. A lot of time and money is spent on building a personal brand and on social media.

Even after reading all these, there are many who will still go with a photographer who has no clue how the camera works and charges less. Remember one thing. You get what you pay for. A cheap car is a cheap car and a Benz is a Benz. Don't expect Benz quality when you are ready to pay only for a cheap car. Photos and events are once in a lifetime. Opt for the best professional photographer that you can afford.

Hope you have learned something today by reading this blog post. Buy me a coffee to support my work or you can go to my store to buy some of my images. Also, do not forget to join my FriendZone by signing up for my newsletter. Consider subscribing to my YouTube channel.

Hiring Wedding Photographer? 5 common mistakes to avoid

When you engage a professional wedding photographer, the majority of people hunt for a well-known brand that will cover the event or be handled by an event management organization. Based on my previous expertise as a professional wedding photographer. I've compiled a list of typical mistakes people make when hiring, as well as what you should look for when picking a cameraman.

Mistakes people make while hiring a Photograper

1. This photographer's rates are very exorbitant; he must be well-known and really professional.
2. Choosing a huge brand that has a photo studio in every part of the city.
3. Allowing the event management firm entire control over wedding photographs while not knowing who the cameraman is.
4. Bargaining excessively with a wedding photographer.
5. Not investigating the photographer's creative professional work.

Expensive doesn't always mean better

Do not pick a cameraman just based on the price or the brand name. I've heard from a few older relatives that we engaged professional photographers from the XYZ brand for thousands of dollars. A larger price tag does not necessarily imply the best of the best results. Some photographers charge based only on what others charge, without considering how qualified they are.

Huge Brand doesn't mean better photo

The so-called brand XYZ will have many branches both within and outside of the city. These brands may have begun with a few photographers and photo editors and may have been successful until they acquired the brand name. They will undoubtedly have all of the necessary camera equipment to cover the occasion. In order to expand, these brands recruit more photographers and editors as they grow. These photographers and photo editors cover many events each week and are paid on a monthly basis or on a contract basis.

All of the above are OK, but I do not suggest them since the cameraman engaged for the event by the major companies will not be concerned with the final product because he is working for someone else rather than his own brand. The same is true for photo editors.

These brands are not worth paying for the quality of images or prints they provide. Most assistants and photo editors are underpaid, and these companies are more concerned with earning money by billing clients than with quality when compared to individual photographers.

I see college and high school students being employed as cameramen by big businesses and these college students like doing it during their free time. They just press the shutter button without even learning the fundamentals of photography, and the rest is taken care of during post-processing. Imagine how effective the unknown photographer's work would be in capturing those crucial moments.

Wedding photography by Event Management Firm

In many situations, event management companies strive to keep as much profit as possible for themselves. Many people just leave it to an event management company to handle. It should be noted that even if you choose a cameraman of your choice, there are situations when changes are made at the last minute for a variety of stupid reasons.

For example, the reason given would be something like, suppose the requested cameraman did not show up and we had to choose our own cameraman; in reality, this will be pre-planned, but not always. The best thing to do in this situation is to make direct contact with the wedding photographer offered by the event management firm.

Bargaining excessively with a photographer

You might just ask him if there is any kind of discount once before the event. And that is the most you can do. Comparing your cameraman to other photographers, haggling after the event, asking the cameraman to cover smaller events at the time of the event when you were not notified beforehand, and requesting a complimentary album are all a no-no. The more you bargain, the more irritated the cameraman will be, and the image quality will suffer.

Check photographer's work

The work of a cameraman is typically posted on his or her own website and social media profile. You never know who the cameraman is or how skilled they are when you hire a cameraman from a brand. Individual photographers, on the other hand, concentrate and focus on their projects because they do not work for anybody. Individual photographers often cover 20 to 30 events per year and are more focused on their work. They execute the majority of the job themselves; they have their own way of catching those key moments, as well as the retouching/post-editing work.

You may look at an individual photographer's work before hiring them for an event. So, unlike the brand, you will know precisely what to expect and how wonderful their job is. By chatting directly with the cameraman, you may interact, modify, and plan. When compared to the brand, the terms and conditions are a little more lenient.

Hope you have learned something today by reading this blog post. Buy me a coffee to support my work or you can go to my store to buy some of my images. Also, do not forget to join my FriendZone by signing up for my newsletter. Consider subscribing to my YouTube channel.