Why do photographers "charge so much"?

   I will be trying to answer questions that have been sent from potential clients. I will try my best to answer them as best as I can, and in no way, shape or form constitute a fact for photography, just to my business. Some photographers might agree, and some won't agree, but again, this is what I feel on the matter. Without further ado:

"Why do some photographers charge so much when others charge so little?"

   This question even when it sounds a bit "hard" to answer is one of the easiest questions that a photographer can answer. The matter of the fact is that we as photographers set our own prices depending on a lot of factors. Not all photographers use the same factors when pricing themselves, and that is why you will find different kind of prices out there. In my personal opinion the prices that I offer are on the cheap side, even if a lot of people think that paying what I ask for what I do is too high and it should be less.

    Like I said, there are a lot of factors that make up that "magic number" so to speak. For example the quality of the products, the quality of the service, the end product, the equipment used, the amount of hours needed to do a shoot, etc. Yes, you can print images in Wal-Mart for $0.20 because Wal-Mart (and any other non professional lab) just sells you the paper and the ink, out of convenience so you can walk all the way to the back of the store (where the photo lab is usually set up) so you buy stuff from the store. Again they just sell a print, photographers sell the image that is printed. These non-professional labs don't care if the images are overexposed, or they have a green tint on it, or that it is too dark, they just print what you tell them and that's it. Also you don't have any guarantee in the product, they don't care if the picture fades after a month, you can always come back and print it again right? A good photographer will treat the images so they can last for a long time, making sure that your investment lasts. Because photography even if it is a luxury it is still an investment not a cost. You invest in your memories that will be passed along trough generations.

  Another thing is that you are paying for the end product, the final piece, and you are paying to have that special photographer that you always wanted take your picture. A Picasso is a Picasso because Picasso painted it. I am sure that he used the same materials as every other painter, he didn't have a "magic" brush and "magical" canvas paper to paint on. If you were going to pay for a Picasso you are paying more because it is a Picasso.

    Not all photographers are the same, and yes I am sure that a lot of painters tried to emulate Picasso's style, but at the end every single one is different. Every style is different, even if they look alike. Not to mention the experience that you have on the photo shoot with that photographer. It is a customized experience, made just for you on that particular day at that particular time. Also some photographers have a studio, so they got extra utilities to pay, not to mention employees, insurance, equipment, gas, and still get paid.

    But don't let the price fool you either. Just because a photographer charges a lot doesn't mean he is better than the one who charges just a little. There are a lot of good photographers out there that under valuate their work, because, frankly, they are not educated on it. And with the boom of digital cameras and CD burners people think that just because a few "amateurs" charge $20 for a session plus a disc with all the images then all photographers that charge more than that are pricey. I personally do not sell Image discs. I include them for free when you buy a certain amount of prints and products. Why? Because what is the deal of having your picture taken to just show it on facebook, or just on your computer? Portraits need to be printed and hanged around the house. Imagine that electricity ceases to exist all of a sudden, then those images where lost in time because no one will look at them again. But a print, you can hang, you can put in your wallet, you can hide it in a book, and generations from now it will be still showing what you looked like.

    That is why photographers charge so much, because you are paying for an experience, for exclusivity, and for quality. Yes, you can pay less, but will the images be the same?. People could have payed less to a painter who was just beginning, but the final work wouldn't be a Picasso.

    My advice to you is that when you are looking for a photographer you should look at their work, and then check their prices. Why would you pay for something you don't like just because it is cheap? And on the other hand maybe a photographer is charging an arm and a leg for their work but you don't like their style, and you like the style of the one that is just beginning. Which the saying "You get what you pay for" sums up, you pay what you wanted for what you wanted. You wouldn't pay someone that only takes black and white pictures to take your pictures when you don't like black and white pictures, right?