The True Cost of Custom Photography

This is going to be a long one, but … it is also long overdue.

Over the past decade and a half that I have run scruffy dog photography, I have linked to various other professionals’ articles on the ‘reasons custom photography costs more’.  In some cases, those photographers have left the industry, because – let’s be honest – this can be a tough haul.  In other cases, if those articles are still up, they are outdated, as business and equipment costs go up and up and up.

Nowhere online can I find any public article by a fellow pet photographer breaking down the true cost of running a full-time pet photography business and what actually goes into just one session.  And, as a mentor, an educator, and someone who has been working as a full-time photographer since 2007, I figured maybe it was time that I be the one to write this.

So … what are you really paying for when you hire a professional photographer?

REPUTATION & EXPERTISE
Of course, it should go without saying: when you hire someone who has been in the field at least a few years – and who has specialized in one particular niche, like pets (vs. a general photographer) – you are investing in far more than their talent.  You are benefitting from the experience of someone who has shot thousands of sessions in different locations, under varying conditions, and – in this case – thousands of dogs.

Now, sure … some dogs might be relative pros.  However, most possess only a rudimentary understanding of obedience and lack the ability to quickly adjust to new settings and new ‘asks’ from their guardian in order to be an effortless model.  And when you hire a pet photographer with experience you are hiring someone who can guarantee they can get the best out of your dog.

… and the best out of the light, the location, and the situation.  If they are a true pro and have put their years in, they have seen it all.  No matter how crazy the dog or the situation, no matter how challenging the lighting or the location, they’ve already dealt with it before and managed it with expertise.  And if you do throw something completely new at them, their vast experience provides them with the ability to adapt, to think outside of the box, and still create stunning images of your dog for you.

When you hire a seasoned professional – especially one who has focused all those years on a singular niche – you can hire with confidence.  No matter what you throw at them, they will be able to create consistently amazing images, and at a high level of quality so that your images can be beautifully laid out in a custom-designed album or printed as large artwork for your walls.

ACCESSIBILITY
As I enter my 15th year in business (and more years than that using professional equipment to photograph dogs) I’m not here to justify my business’s pricing.  In fact, all things considered, I’m actually undercharging the majority of my clients. Why?  Because, I have always wanted to remain accessible to any client who loves their pet and wants those photographic memories and artwork.  At the same time, like most other self-employed adults, I have to live; I have to put away for retirement; I have health costs and carry a mortgage.

And yet, I continue to encounter people (including hobbyist and part-time photographers) who seem to think a photography business is merely a hobby for us professional photographers, and not our sole source of income … people who simply have no concept of what actually goes into creating those images you see on a photographer’s website, and no clue as to the true costs of running a business – incorporated or otherwise.

So let’s take a look at the reality of running a professional photography business … the costs and all of those unseen hours.

Every professional has overhead and ongoing costs.  For a professional photographer, these are many.  The following are merely a few…

BIG TICKET ITEMS

• • cameras and lenses:  $25,000-30,000
    In order to capture high-quality images for each session – regardless of the location, lighting, weather, etc., and especially shooting dogs and high action – you need top-end professional equipment. My own camera bag at a session never holds less than $30K worth of professional cameras and lenses.
  • other lenses and backup gear:   $10,000-20,000
  • peripherals (memory cards, filters, batteries, etc.):   $500-700
  • session gear (camera bag, trolley, etc.):  $900
  • handling gear (long lines, tie lines, and a myriad of equipment to manage your dog):  $500
  • computer equipment + professionally calibrated displays + peripherals:  $20,000
  • software:  $1,000
  • a sound, reliable, and appropriately-sized vehicle including all dog related gear and riggings, as well as branding (and in my case, the vehicle belongs to the business):  $45,000
  • office furnishings:  $2,000-4,000
  • sample artwork:  $3,000

… and none of these costs are one-time expenses.  Equipment needs to be regularly upgraded, gear needs to be replaced, etc.  In the span of my own business, I am onto my second vehicle, have upgraded all of my camera gear 5 times (including a complete switch in brands), and upgraded my computer systems 4 times.

ANNUAL COSTS

• • insurance on all of that camera gear, office equipment, and office space:  $2,200
  • security system (and I’m not talking the scruffies; they actually cost much more!):  $1,200
  • rent, utilities, extra-high-speed internet, etc. … (even if your photographer is working out of a home studio, a good portion of their space is dedicated solely to their business):  $8,500
  • vehicle insurance:  $1,650
  • vehicle expenses including fuel:  $6,000-7,000
  • routine cleaning from client dogs:  $600
  • computer IT / support:  $1,000
  • marketing and promotion (business cards, brochures, tradeshows, artwork displays, etc.):  $5,000-6,000
  • website and server fees:  $1,500
  • website maintenance etc.:   $3,000-5,000
  • point-of-sale fees and bank charges:  $3,000-6,000
  • off site backup:  $1,500
  • office supplies:  $1,000-2,000
  • session supplies (treats, toys, etc.):  $650
  • accounting and filing corporate taxes:  $1,500
  • professional fees & memberships:  $600
  • cell phone + fees:  $1,200
  • professional subscriptions:  $800
  • annual software fees:  $900

I’ve been at this pretty-much single-handed for 15 years and have always felt confident in addressing my clients, handling their dogs, and shooting at the same time.  However, some photographers require assistants or dog wranglers, and this adds another level of costs.

Not included in this annual breakdown is:

• • cost of goods sold to clients, which annually ranges from $30,000-45,000
  • business / corporate taxes

In the end … my total annual operating costs can run anywhere from $45,000-80,000 or more.

Any self-employed professional will tell you:  as a small business, you’re lucky if even half of your gross income goes to you as salary … while the other half (or more) goes to the cost of equipment and running the business.  In fact, looking at my last Income Statement from my accountant, my Net Income was barely 25% of my business’ sales.

UNEXPECTED COSTS
And on top of all of those costs and expenses, there are so many unseen and, yes, unforeseen costs … like, in my own business history, well over $25,000  spent internationally on trademark applications, and then legal fees to protect that trademark, IP infringement, and my brand and reputation over the years.

But hey, I get it.  Everything I’ve presented so far is just business numbers.  What if you’re a client and you’ve never run a small business?  All of the above may mean little or nothing to you.

So let’s look at the hours … the breakdown of actual physical hours that a photographer will spend just on your images.

THOSE LONG, UNSEEN HOURS FOR THE CLIENT
Let’s say your photographer charges $500 for a session aimed to capture a huge variety of images for you so that you can order a stunning wall piece, fine art prints, and a custom-designed album.

For this type of session – to achieve incredible variety for an album – your photographer would typically shoot at least 3 hours.  Wow!  $167/hr.  That’s not chump change.  But wait …

The time that you actually spend with your pet photographer – out in the field with your dog – is only the very tip of the tip of the creative iceberg.  What a lot of clients aren’t aware of is all of the other hours that go into your session and your images.

Here is a typical “album” session, designed – as mentioned – to deliver huge variety for a fabulous, one-of-a-kind album and artwork:

• 1-2 hours pre-session admin (emails, phone calls, answering questions, invoicing, contract, etc.)
• 1 hour pre-session consult
• 1 hour travel to and from the session at no charge
• 3 hours session (although this typically would end up being 5 hours as we move to various locations and take the time needed for your dog)
• 2 hours sorting and culling images and backing them up
• 5-10 hours of editing (in my case I do far more than just basic editing on each image in the finished gallery so that clients can see the full potential of each image)
• 1 hour exporting finished images, watermarking, backing up
• 1 hour admin: gallery upload and emails
• 1-2 hours in-studio or phone ordering consult
• 1-2 hours admin: reviewing order with client, answering questions, making suggestions, doing up storyboard mockups, etc.
• 3-4 hours final prep on images to go to print – leash removal, removing any other distracting elements like debris, dandruff, tear staining, shaved areas on a sick dog, swapping heads, etc.
• 2-4 hours of prep and design
• 1 hour of emails, arrange time for pickup of order, etc.

All totaled, the hours put into your session alone, your images, and ultimately your fine-art products and album can run anywhere from 23 to 36 hours total.  That’s twelve times the hours you actually spent with your photographer at your session … and the equivalent to almost a full week of work!

Now, on the other hand, for a client looking at just a short session for a few good prints and a wall piece … a 1/2 hour session … the total hours for this type of client would be approximately 7 to 8 hours.

Please understand though, these long and unseen hours are only ‘client hours’ … hours that are dedicated to you and only you.

The non-client hours are vast …

• initially creating the website, the brand, and frequent upgrades to those over the years
• maintaining the website
• compiling and creating client information and materials (and having just updated all of my client materials, I can tell you that this was at least two weeks of 12-hour days including light updates to the website)
• social media posts and blogging
• developing promotional materials
• developing and maintaining connections in the pet industry
• learning new editing and photography skills
• troubleshooting website, software and hardware issues
• maintaining and field-testing equipment
• location scouting

… I could go on.   And to be perfectly honest, these long hours spent building, launching, and then maintaining your own small business, are almost always incalculable.

What I can say – in the end – is that an average of 25% of my business’s gross income is salary, and more than 50% of my hours are non-client / non-billable hours.

Don’t get me wrong though.  I LOVE this work.  I LOVE navigating my way through this world as an artist, with clients’ dogs at my side, no less!  And I LOVE creating these lasting memories for my clients of their beloved dogs.  As long as I can keep shooting, there’s no place I’d rather be!