My pricing

In a wedding consultation the other day I was asked a question that I had never been asked before, "Why are your prices so much lower than other photographers?"

It caught me off guard, not because I suddenly realized I wasn't charging enough but because the answer to that simple questions is somewhat complex.

I thought about it for a second and told them that mainly I wanted to provide people with quality photographs that don't cost $3,000-$4,000. I know when I got married our wedding budget was $5,000 (It was a gorgeous wedding if I do say so myself...so it can be done!) and a photographer that took up the entire budget was out of the question.

That being said I understand why photographers charge what they do. There is A LOT of time that goes into wedding photography. It's not just 8 hours on the day of the wedding. There are consultations and emails to answer, engagement photos to take and edit and then wedding photos to take and edit. Editing takes up a ton of time.

One of the reasons I can charge less is because I keep my marketing and packaging simple. As much as I would love to spend money on fancy CD cases & cute bags to deliver prints in, I cannot justify charging someone more so I can spend more on fancy schmancy products. I myself would rather spend less and get an ugly plain CD in the mail so that is what I offer my clients. The photos should be the star, not the packaging!

I also buy new equipment sparingly and do not pay for actions (plug-ins for photoshop to make the editing process go faster). I don't attend $200 photography workshops...I just use google and flickr to answer questions I have. Photography can be an expensive business to be in!

Another reason why I charge less is because I don't need to make a lot of money. Ever since my husband and I sold most of our possessions and took a trip around the country (see Who I am or simplyonelife.org) we've learned to live on less. Much less. I don't need fancy things to make me happy which means I don't need a large income to support myself and my family. I hope I don't come off sounding arrogant but that's just how we live. We are very careful when it comes to spending money. We only have one car, one cell phone (hah, I can't believe I admit this:)) and we live in a house that we bought for $10,000 and are rehabbing.

I earn enough to support my family and I think I keep my prices low enough that even those who don't have a huge budget can receive quality photos.

I would love to hear your comments on this philosophy.