What exactly are you paying for when you hire a photographer?
Well, first of all their talent. As we talked about in yesterdays blog you want to hire someone who is an artist. The more talented and well know an artist is the more value they will have.
Next you are paying for them to operate as a business. Most photographers are the business owners also meaning they are self employed. Meaning, in the USA they get smacked with self employment tax, on top of having to pay taxes most of the business you work for pay for you being their employee. Then there is general operating costs, which I wont bore you with.
Thirdly you are paying for your actual products and services. It seems to be that in our society the more you pay for a service the better service you will receive.
Let’s take restaurants for an example. You decide to dine at, lets say, Chili’s. You expect to get served, and you probably will. The waitress will set menus in front of you as you sit and you’ll go about the typical restaurant experience. Oh, and you’ll probably drink out of a thick clear plastic cup and use paper napkins.
Now lets say you go to a 5 star restaurant. You make reservations, you get seated quickly, and the same as with Chili’s. But here instead of laying menus at your place setting, they pull out the chair for you and place a napkin on your lap. They may even bring out a sorbet between courses to clear your pallet. Not to mention they will probably have crystal wine glasses and fine china dining sets. Who knows they may even use gold silverware!
Well, you get the picture. The more you pay for a service or experience, the more you expect from it. The same should be so for photography.
With Searching for the Light Photography I strive to make your experience and products closer to the 5 star end. I say towards the 5 star end because I don’t have the 5 star prices. Mostly because I don’t work with gold or crystal. 😉
While I do not set your prints in gold I do offer real photographs. My 8x10s, for example, aren’t under $10, because they are photographic prints, chemically treated, the old school way. They are real. I don’t print your photos at Walgreens and charge you 500% more for them. These are specially made, thus the cost of them.
Same goes for all my designed products. I don’t use templates, “plastic wear.” I hand craft each product for you, think “hand crafted crystal-wear.”
Now, remember when you’re looking for a wedding photographer, or any photographer for that matter, think about what you value it at, and what type of photographer you’d want. Your local Chili’s photographer with plastic wear and ok service, or the top of the line 5 ****** restaurant with crystal-wear and napkins laid in your lap. 😉
