The Cost of Family Photography & How to Make It More Affordable
Hiring a professional photographer is an investment. It certainly isn’t an everyday purchase and the fact that you commit to something you can’t feel and touch before makes it a little unnerving. What if we don’t like the photographer? What if our kids act up and we don’t get nice images? Why does it cost that much? In this blog post I’ll aim to answer the questions above and give you some advice on how to find the right photographer for your family, how you can make it more affordable and explain why family photography comes at a certain price.
How to find the right photographer to capture your family memories?
Finding a photographer you are aligned with is probably the most important factor for getting some candid family photos. You want to hire someone that can relate to you, someone that shares similar interests and of course someone that delivers the style of photography you want. Ask yourself the following questions when looking for a photographer:
What style images do we want to capture? Candid, documentary style or more styled photos? Or possibly a mix of these?
What finish do you like? Same as with fashion, photo editing goes through trends. Do you want to follow one of these trends and receive images that are reflective of this era i.e. vintage style edits or do you prefer a timeless edit?
Do you want to do an in-home, studio or outdoor session?
Once you have answered these question start your search. Try to find someone that matches your answers for the above questions. Don’t be afraid to contact a photographer you are interested in via Instagram, email etc. and ask them for a phone call if you prefer to speak to them prior to the session. Speaking to your photographer can really help build a relationship ahead of the session and make you feel at ease when you meet them in person. Follow your chosen photographer on Instagram, they might share personal insights that help make that connection as well.
Why is it expensive?
The work you see your photographer do is during the shoot. You see them spend about 2 hours with you but what you don’t see is the amount of work that goes into it before and after. Before a session your photographer will be doing lots of admin tasks, from setting up contracts, invoicing, pre-session questionnaire and answering any questions you might have. A good photographer really pays attention to your answers in your questionnaire and preps for the session based on the answers you have given. During the session your photographer is working hard to keep everyone engaged, manage lots of different personalities, the light as well as camera settings. But the bulk of the work comes after the session. During a typical session I take between 1,500 - 2,000 pictures. All these photos need to be backed up, culled (sorted through and only the best chosen), and edited. All of these tasks take hours. Then it comes to uploading the final gallery, creating a slideshow and sending it out. In the background there are tons of running costs for a small business from insurance, tax, software and not to forget the equipment itself.
I hope this explains where the cost for the service comes from.
How to make it more affordable?
There are a few ways to make family photography more affordable/make it easier to commit to it.
Book a date in advance and save a monthly amount towards it
If you book your session for just a couple of week’s time it might feel like a large junk of your monthly disposable income is going towards it or you have to dip into your savings to afford it. You could book a session for let’s say 6 months’ time and save certain of money each month to pay towards it. This way it’s not one major cost but you are spreading more manageable payments over some time.
Payment plan
In line with the above you could ask your chosen photographer if they can set up a payment plan for you. This could be prior to the session or after. I.e. You could decide to pay for the lowest package upfront and then you would have only a smaller upgrade price once the gallery is delivered if you decide to purchase more images. Images are typically only released, once full payment has been made.
Frame it differently / Make trades
Think of all the coffees, takeaways, random buys you have spent money on. If you add these up over the course of a year you are probably not far off a family photoshoot. Make conscious choices of forgoing let’s say a takeaway and put the equivalent you would have spent for it in a pot for your family photoshoot. You’ll be surprised how quickly you’ll have the funds ready.
Gift vouchers
Birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries… you name it. There are lots of occasions to celebrate. Ask your loved ones to get you a gift voucher from your chosen photographer. This is also a great idea for your child’s first birthday etc. at this age your child will not really care about presents and is often overstimulated by the amount the receive. Ask your family instead to get gift vouchers and give your child the greatest gift of some family memories to look back on.
I'm Maria O’Connor, a family & newborn photographer based in South West London, England. I am a mum of two boys and love capturing natural family moments in my clients’ homes. Are you ready to get in the frame? Contact me today!
