I have had a lot of people ask me this question lately:
Why are your session fees & print prices so high?
I can go to Olan Mills or Sears & get the session plus 1-8x10, 2-5x7s,
8-wallets, etc. etc. etc. for $10.00.
WELL, Here is my answer:
I AM NOT OLAN MILLS OR SEARS!
Okay...here is a more detailed answer:
You
can no longer go to Olan Mills or Sears & get those prices, they are all out of
business now or in the process of going out of business. WELL, at least all of them in my area are. This is probably because they have been selling these
packages for only $10.00! HONESTLY, My Prices are NOT high at all! I try my best to keep my prices as low as I possibly can,
while still paying my bills & covering all the costs of running this
business. I know there are other photographers out there that charge less than
me, BUT my life motto is: you get what you pay for. TRUST me if I could charge
$50 for a session fee & include 50 prints with it, I would! BUT I cannot do
that while still being able to pay my bills & run this business. I used to
work for Olan Mills & they sold you that $10.00 package to get you in the
door. We were trained that once we got you in the door, you would buy more, we
were told to really push the sale of a package. WELL I did not push people
there & I am not going to do that to you with my business either. I am not
going to beg for your money. I think of it this way: If I provide you with a
great experience during your session & then offer you high quality, gorgeous
images, along with excellent customer service, the images will sell themselves. If charging so little for a session &
print package put a 100 year old company like Olan Mills out of business, think of what it
would do to a small business like mine. I have to pay for so many things just
to operate my business, I have to pay taxes, gallery hosting fees, website
fees, then have to pay for car maintenance, camera equipment, props, the
maintenance of camera equipment & props, & THE LIST GOES ON! IT ALL
ADDS UP QUICK! PLUS I have bills to pay for personal things. NONE of this is even counting in the time it takes me to communicate with clients online or on the phone, get to & from the session, complete the session, edit the images, get the gallery uploaded, take print/product orders, prepare/crop images for the order, place print/product orders, package the orders, & then either make a trip to the post office to mail the order to the client or to go meet the client with the order. I put ALOT into this business. A personal life is literally not an option for me when running this business. I try to keep my weekends open as much as possible to spend time with my boyfriend, family, & friends, but this is RARELY possible. I charge what I do
because it is just enough to get me by with bills & business expenses. SIMPLY PUT: I
cannot charge less or I would also be out of business.
I did not post this to offend anyone, I just think that photographers these days get NO CREDIT, where ALOT of credit is due. I mean if you total up the # of hours I spend on a single session (usually around 16 hours from going to the session to delivering/mailing the print order, then divide my session fee by the # of hours, I make around $4.69 an hour. I am basically working for pennies. MOST PHOTOGRAPHERS ARE!
I am making some HUGE changes in my business. Prices are changing, Branding is changing, EVERYTHING will be different! Kelsy Rogers Photography will NEVER be the same!
IT IS TIME FOR A CHANGE!
GREAT THINGS ARE ABOUT TO HAPPEN!
Owner & Photographer
Kelsy Rogers Photography
www.kelsyrogersphotography.com
info@kelsyrogersphotography.com
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