07/23/2026
Remember this ? It still holds so true . For those that don’t know me , I’m a photographer who also mentors other photographers ( because I want them to win too.. no competition here.) I found myself explaining this to a young aspiring photographer this morning and I touched on it a little in a local fb group the other day as well. I feel it’s worth a reshare . Not just because I feel this still holds true almost 6 years later but to remind other photographers of their worth .
Hey friends ! Can we talk for a second ?
I’m gonna tell you something that happened to a friend of mine recently. While no, this did not happen to me , it is a very common thing that needs to STOP happening.
Now, I’m not here to complain and I’m not here to really school anyone ... but if you learn something from this post then I have accomplished what I set out to do .
We ,as photographers , are a luxury service . It’s good to remember that going forward.
So with that in mind , our prices are what they are for a reason . I don’t speak for all of us , but the ones truly running a profitable business have run a CODB calculation. For those that don’t know CODB stands for Cost of Doing Business . We know all of our day to day expenses and have calculated out just what we need to charge for a certain amount of time to cover those costs plus make a living ( which is kind of the point of having a business 💁🏼♀️) .
Our job is not a one click and done ordeal. Please , and I mean this , PLEASE stop telling photographers or other custom services that they are charging too much when you have no clue what their CODB is . There are unseen factors you may have not considered 💁🏼♀️.
For a photographer, those are as follows :
Props- quality props are not cheap ! If you want that magical Christmas photo outdoors on that pretty vintage settee, an enchanting Christmas tree behind you , and beautifully wrapped presents galore... think about what it cost the photographer to get those decorations, transport to venue , the venue may have even had a rental price , and the time it took to set up.
Equipment- a Canon 5d Mark IV costs a little over $2,000 . That’s not including the hundreds to thousands worth of lenses needed for you to even be able to shoot .
Lighting equipment ranges from about $50- $1,000 depending on the quality .
Computers - we require computers with a strong processor and high storage capacity to even be able to run our editing programs and upload our photos . These computers are $3,000 and up.
Photoshop- I pay Adobe monthly at $20
ShootProof-this is one of the many gallery delivery sites we use to more efficiently and quickly deliver your galleries. I purchase the high storage package to better suit the needs of my customers . $30 monthly.
Insurance- a lot of us carry insurance to cover the unexpected. Varies -$15-$50 monthly .
Business license fees - self explanatory 💁🏼♀️
Fuel- to the shoot ,from the shoot . Mandatory for us to add this in our CODB because it’s necessary for us to run business. Price varies.
Taxes - varies .
If we do prints - material prices and shipping .
Time - not just the 15 minutes for the mini or the full hour that was spent taking the photos but the days and weeks of editing that followed.
Our time is valuable. We price accordingly. CODB is different for everyone so comparing based off of price is unfair .
(Example : “ so and so photography only charged me $60 for a session, you’re charging too much at $300.)
Please remember this when you’re looking into luxury services such as photography in the future. We’re not price gauging , we’re running a business.
Thank you ❤️
