My Pricing Changes
My Wedding Photography Changes
I shoot wedding and portrait photography to push my creative limits and challenge what my work has been like and see what it can be like now and in the future. Getting stuck repeating the same pictures in the same way over and over again would destroy my mind. So I do pictures mostly for the sake of doing pictures. Yes, I want the couples to be ecstatic with my work. That really makes me happy.
So at my odd job at the Athletic Club outdoor pool today I did something I haven’t done in a long time: I went through the top photographers, looked at their work, gave that work a ranking, and looked at their pricing.
One thing I noticed, and this comes from the harsh editing my professor of photojournalism gave me back in the day, the harsh treatment my photo editor gave me at the Telegraph Herald in Dubuque, Iowa, the sort of harsh editing my photo editor at the Bend Bulletin gave me here, and the harsh editing I’ve given myself here working on my own pictures: a lot of local photographers charge WAY MORE than their work indicates. I’m sorry, probably pissed off the five people who read this blog, but it needed to be said. There’s a couple photographers whose work I really love and admire. They’re Benjamin Edwards and Tony Gambino here in town. Their prices are what I would think would be the gold standard of pricing here in Bend. But there’s people charging way more than them. So if I’m pissing people off, so be it. This needs to be said.
As a result of combing through the sometimes cryptic websites of local photographers here in Bend I’ve basically doubled my pricing to still be less than just about everyone in town. But at least I’m in the mix now.
Pricing Question: Why Do People Not List Their Price?
What’s up with “Contact me for pricing?”
If we go to Safeway we know the price of Milk Duds. If we buy a car the price is right there on the window. If we buy a house the price is right there in the listing.
So the price for wedding photography is somehow a top secret mystery? If I was looking for a wedding photographer and saw that I would immediately go to the next website. No questions asked.
A Sincere Apology
I would like to extend my most sincere apology to the other Bend wedding photographers about my low pricing. I hadn’t looked at the local prices in a very long time because I was busy with training and racing, shooting pictures, and taking care of the kid.
That said, some people are thinking their work is on par with Annie Leibovitz and I assure you it’s not. I’m not apologizing to the people who are way overpricing their mediocre work. Take a class at a university. Work at a newspaper. Learn how to be harsh on your own work and then re-price it.
