Hello! I wanted to take a moment to explain a question that occasionally comes up...Why don't I get all the digital photos from my session?
There are several reasons for this. The pricing of my sessions includes prep work, session or sitting fee, post processing, and session follow-up activities.
Prep work includes activities involved with booking the session such as sending contracts, sending invoices, and session planning. Your session or sitting fee is the time you are actually at the session having your photos taken. Post processing includes editing of the images.
In addition to all of the above photographers have equipment costs, insurance fees, marketing fees, gallery hosting fees, website fees, studio space costs, and more. Did you know the camera body alone generally costs 3-5k? Then lenses can be anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars each.
I fall between what is called a shoot-and-burn photographer and IPS/Full Service (or print/product focused) photographer. Shoot-and-burn photography typically delivers all images, but editing is bulk processed and minimal. IPS/Full Service is focused on print products and a great customer service experience. I provide my clients with a fully edited gallery that they can select their preferred digital images from. I highly value print products too because I believe your memories should be hung on your wall or in an album you can feel and touch. So, I offer the option to purchase print products from a professional printer. But, I also understand the modern desire for digital images, so I offer a specified number of digitals included with each package. The best of both worlds! Great customer service is also a must for me. My clients often return, and I love seeing families grow and change over the years. I offer additional digitals for purchase with all my galleries.
Quick side note...Why order prints and products through your gallery? I use a professional printer. What is so great about that?
First, quality archival (long lasting) materials and quality control. If I were to hand you a print from my professional printer and one from a box store you could tell simply from the paper quality and thickness that they are very different. Beyond that, you have so many options for what type of print paper you can choose.
Second, the print quality and consistency. Photographers work hard to edit your images with beautiful color and tone which is often not represented properly from box store printers as they don't stay true to the digital file.
All of that to say I try to balance the best of both worlds while keeping costs at a reasonable place. I hope this helps explain my session fee set up. If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to reach out! I hope to work with you soon.