Why Are Photoshoots So Expensive? What Actually Goes Into the Price

From the outside, a photoshoot can look like an hour of work for a fairly hefty price tag. Once you see everything that actually goes into it, it makes a lot more sense.

Before the shoot

There's messaging back and forth to plan the session, working through your booking form and any specific requests, and thinking through locations, timing and what will work best for your family.

Travel

Getting to and from your chosen location, sometimes well outside Belfast, takes real time out of the day, on top of the session itself.

The shoot itself

This is the part everyone sees, the actual hour or two in front of the camera. It's also usually the smallest piece of the total time involved.

Editing

Culling through hundreds of images, choosing the best ones, then retouching and colour grading each photo individually takes far longer than people expect, often several hours for a single session.

Everything running in the background

• Camera bodies, lenses and other equipment, which need maintaining, repairing and eventually replacing.

• Editing software subscriptions, running every single month whether or not I have a shoot booked.

• Tax and business admin, the same as any self employed business owner.

• Time spent managing bookings, invoices and general admin that never makes it into a photo.

Add it all up

A session that looks like 1 hour on your calendar is often closer to 6 to 8 hours of my actual work once you count planning, travel, shooting and editing, on top of the ongoing running costs of the business itself. That's really what you're paying for.