This past weekend was the fabulous Triangle Wine Experience event. The event is hosted by the International Special Events Society, an association of great people that I am really excited to be a part of. The photographers in the group volunteered to photograph the event for a slide show that played during the evening.

Here is an excellent description of the event by Carol Klenke, President, Greater Triangle NC Chapter of ISES:

"The first weekend in February is the date for our chapter's annual fundraiser, the Triangle Wine Experience Gala.  I am grateful to so many of you for donating products, expertise and time to help with the continued success our clients at Frankie Lemmon have come to expect.  Not only is this our chapter fundraiser but it is also their fundraiser allowing them to operate their school for disabled children, right here in Raleigh."
"The Triangle Wine Experience 2010, Hollywood & Vine! What an amazing night!  We transformed an empty warehouse off Discovery Drive into 2 great hot spots.  Upon entering the warehouse through a raised tent into a "Speakeasy", the guests were treated to 7 of the Triangle's hottest caterers preparing delicious appetizers and 42 of the country's leading wine makers were on site to offer tastings of their wines.  All of this was set in a room dressed in reds and blacks with gobos and red accents.   Hot hot hot!  Once it was time for the live Auction to begin our guests entered into the second phase of the evening, Hollywood Glamour!!!  54 tables were dressed and decorated with beautiful linens, candles and candelabras topped with floral arrangements.  18' black velour pipe and drape dressed the walls and a classic Hollywood themed back drop dressed the stage where Marvelous Mark once again was on site to dazzle the guests until long after midnight!"

Why are Professional Photographers so expensive?
This article has been very well received by the photography community, and is published in the December 2009 edition of Professional Photographer Magazine.

In this digital age where everyone has cameras, scanners, and home "photo printers," we hear this all the time: How do professional (or personal) photographers charge $X for an 8x10 when they cost just $1.50 at the drugstore? Simply put, the customer is not just paying for the actual photograph; they're paying for time and expertise.

The average one-hour portrait session

First, let's look at the actual work involved:

• Travel to the session
• Setup, preparation, talking to the client, etc.
• Shoot the photos
• Travel from the session
• Load images onto a computer
• Back up the files on an external drive
• 2 - 4 hours of Adobe® Photoshop® time, including cropping, contrast, color, sharpening, and backing up edited photographs. Proof photos are also ordered.
• 2 - 3 hours to talk to the client, answer questions, receive order and payment, order their prints, receive and verify prints, package prints, schedule shipment, and ship.
• Possibly meet clients at the studio to review photos and place order. Meeting and travel time average 2 hours.

You can see how a one-hour session easily turns into an eight-hour day or more from start to finish. So when you see a personal photographer charging a $200 session fee for a one-hour photo shoot, the client is NOT paying them $200 per hour.

The eight-hour wedding

A wedding photographer typically meets with the bride and groom several times before and after the wedding. And it's not uncommon to end up with 1,000 - 2,000 photos, much more than a portrait session. Many photographers spend 40-60 hours working on one eight-hour wedding if you look at the time that is truly involved. Again, when a wedding photographer charges $4,000 for eight hours of coverage, clients are NOT paying them $500 an hour!

(Don't forget that the photographer runs the wedding day to some extent. A comfortable, confident wedding photographer can make a wedding day go more smoothly.)

The expertise and cost of doing business

Shooting professional photography is a skill acquired through years of experience. Even though now some DSLR's  cost under $1,000, taking professional portraits involves much more than a nice camera.

Most personal photographers take years to go from buying their first camera to making money with photography. In addition to learning how to use the camera, there is a mountain of other equipment and software programs used to edit and print photographs, run a website, etc. And don't forget backdrops, props, rent, utilities, insurance, etc!

In addition to the financial investment, photographers actually have to have people skills to make subjects comfortable in front of the camera. Posing people to look their best is a skill by itself. You could argue that posing is a more important skill than actually knowing how to use the camera. A poorly exposed photo can be saved, but a badly posed photo cannot.

The chain store photo studio

Chain stores do have their place. For a very cheap price you can run in, shoot some quick photos, and be done with it. But you get what you pay for.

Consider the time and effort that a personal photographer puts into photographs, compared to a chain store. Store sessions last just a few minutes, while a personal photographer takes the time to get to know the people, makes them comfortable, makes them laugh. If a baby is crying at a chain store, they often don't have the time (or the patience) to wait because everyone is in a hurry.

The truth is that many chain store studios lose money. In fact, Wal-Mart closed 500 of their portrait studios in 2007 because of the financial drain. What the chain stores bank on is a client coming in for quick, cheap photos...and while there, spending $200 on other items. They are there to get you in the door.

The real deal

Professional, personal photographers are just that--professionals. No different than a mechanic, dentist, doctor, or electrician. But a personal photographer often becomes a friend, someone who documents a family for generations with professional, personal photographs of cherished memories.

Maybe we need to help clients look at it this way: A pair of scissors costs $1.50 at the drugstore. Still, most people will gladly pay a lot more to hire a professional hair dresser to cut their hair.

The added attention and quality that a personal photographer gives is worth every penny.

Conclusion

We hope that those who have taken the time to read this page will have a better understanding of why professional photographs, created by a Personal Photographer are so expensive.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Shawn, Pamela and Gavin Richter - cofphoto@aol.com

Our website - Caught on Film Photography

Our photography forum - Learning Digital Photography Together

The beautiful wedding of Jennifer and Jason took place at the Blockade Runner in Wilmington, North Carolina. The ceremony was dampened by a passing thunderstorm, as you will see from the photos, but that did not stop the party and Jennifer and Jason finished the ceremony in the rain thanks to some big umbrellas! Jennifer incorporated some special elements into her wedding like using her mother and father's wedding cake topper on her cake and using real goldfish in the table centerpieces to carry on the beach theme. The evening ended with a sparkler send off and the couple leaving on a boat in true coastal North Carolina style! Congratulations Jennifer and Jason!

I am excited to share the beautiful photos of our fun couple, Kathy and Mike. Their fall wedding was rich in oranges, browns and yellows. We loved the unique flower choices, interesting details, and the candle light that created a very romantic atmosphere. What a great evening with close friends talking, dancing and celebrating! Congratulations Kathy and Mike!

The wedding of Hollis and Wyatt took place at the historic First Baptist church in downtown Raleigh. You will see that the church played a central role in the wedding of Hollis and Wyatt because it is so important in their lives and in their courtship. Hollis grew up her whole life attending this church. She made such good, lifelong friends in her youth group, that all of the bridesmaids grew up going to church together. They have all been bridesmaids in each others' weddings! Hollis even met her husband through attending church at First Baptist. Wyatt started attending when he came to college in Raleigh. He met Hollis and ended up proposing  to her on the front of the church steps! Hollis and Wyatt had the largest group of guests that I think we have ever photographed at a wedding. I think the number was close to 400. It was a very big party held at the State Club on the campus of North Carolina State University. It was truly amazing to see all of the love and support this couple had as they start their new lives together! Congratulations Hollis and Wyatt!  

Here are a few samples of the bridal portraits we took of Hollis at the First Baptist Church downtown. The church has some really cool architectural details like these arched doorways, and I loved the black and white marble floor. The stained glass is very beautiful, and I think Hollis looked quite angelic standing next to it! My favorites are the photos of Hollis in front of the flowered tree on the front steps of the church. With all of the concrete, streetlights and cars, being able to capture the beautiful color of the tree in the background was a happy surprise! We also took photos at the State Capital across the street from the church and we were able to get some photos with gorgeous light. So pretty!

I am very pleased to announce that one of my images will be on the next cover of The Bride's Book Magazine! This is very exciting news that I totally didn't expect, especially since my photo is on the current issue.
I love the way it turned out!

What a perfect day to put photos of my 'winter bride' on the blog! We woke up to 4-5 inches of snow this morning and a temperature of 9 degrees with wind chill! Very usual for Raleigh, North Carolina!
These photos were taken in Wilmington with much milder temperatures on a pleasantly warm day in late November. We decided to create our own 'snowfall' on the steps of the courthouse. My mom and assistant Jill each had a bag of snow that they threw at our lovely bride. Elena was the perfect person to represent our 'winter bride' because she is gorgeous and also from Russia. This girl understands cold! The lovely dress is and Enzoani from A Carolina Wedding. The moment I saw this dress, I knew I wanted to accessorize it with a black sash. I decided to go for a glamorous 'Imperial Russian' feel once I saw the incredible necklace that Jan with Amuse Artisanal Finery offered to let us borrow. The color of that necklace with smoky sapphires became our inspiration. The make up was expertly done by the talented Amy Kennison of Mac and the lovely bouquet was designed by Salt Harbor Designs.  We shot on location at one of my favorite locations- The City Club.