We like to document with annual(ish) professional photography sessions. Having just moved to CO, I received a gift certificate for Modera for Christmas from my sweet parents. Everything with the session was fine- it took place in a public park that anyone can go to and lasted an hour. The photographer was friendly and I was even able to change my original session date due to high winds that would have ruined my photos.
The session price, photo voucher, + 20 digital photos came out to be around $550 including tax. The 20 digital photos were $500 alone. I received around 40 edited photos to choose from- some were a little blown out because of the sun, some had semi-awkward faces, etc. I really wanted 17 of them, but that would have weirdly been $375 + $30/extra picture = $585 (aka- more expensive than just buying 20 pictures), so I sucked it up and added on 3 pictures that I didn't particularly like to save $85. Would I have paid that myself if I was choosing a photographer? No. Was there anything particularly wrong with the company/session? No. However, I prefer photographers that turn over all edited photos- especially since they're digital- and I have previously had no issues finding photographers that I like with policies that support that. Typically, we have paid between $300-$500 for an hour session and around 60 digital edited photos, so this session felt disappointing and unnecessarily expensive.
Be informed upfront about what you are getting vs. what you are paying
Réponse de l'hôte
Apr 2022
I have spoke with this client and made every attempt to rectify the situation. I tried re-editing the final selected images, offered a reshoot, and ultimately refunded the majority of the photoshoot cost. We don’t expect clients to love every image presented to them, but I do believe this gallery was up to par with our typical selection of finished images. This client did say "These are great!" when placing their order for a larger collection.
I believe the primary issue with this client’s experience is that they were gifted a photoshoot that did not fully cover the cost of images. I will be creating a policy preventing the purchase of gift cards that don’t, at least, include a small digital image collection. We never want our clients to feel pressured into a photoshoot with us.
As the owner of a small business, in a highly undervalued field, it’s difficult to hear criticism about pricing. Our pricing is determined by an average of 7 hours invested in every photoshoot, our years of experience, park permit fees, equipment costs, software, marketing, and other various business expenses. We offer collections that cater to a wide variety of budgets and also offer payment plans. Most of those collections are well under the average price for a photographer in Denver's market. I cannot speak about pricing for markets in other states with a lower cost of living or less experienced photographers. Lastly, we could not offer lower priced collection options without the balance of higher priced options as well.