Our Mission

    We  strive to provide good, quality photographs and customize them to your specifications and personal tastes, with special care being given to contrast, color detail, cropping, etc.

Contact Information Telephone:     406-676-8169

Postal Address:          33315 Canyon Mill Road

Ronan, Montana 59864

 Electronic Mail:          canyonmill@ronan.net

Canyon Mill Links:      www.antlercreationsandmore.com  see this site for examples of our photography and what we can do.

©  Copyright 2005 Canyon Mill Photography and Custom Lab

Last updated 2- 05- 2010

Canyon Mill Photo & Custom Lab is a top photographer
in the Ronan, Montana Photography guide on MarketingTool.com.

Why Are Professional Photographers so expensive?

In this digital age where everyone has cameras, scanners, and home "photo printers," we hear this all the time: How do professional (or personal) photographers charge $x for a  8x10 when they just cost $1.50 at the drug store?  Simply put, the customer is not just paying for the actual photograph; they're paying for time and expertise.

First, let's look at the actual work involved:

.  Travel to the session

.  Setup, preparation, talking to the client, ect.

.  Shoot the photos

.  Travel from the session

.  Load the images onto a computer

.  Back up the files on a external drive

.  2 - 4 hours of Adobe Photoshop time, including cropping, contrast, color, sharpening, and backing up edited photographs.  Proof photos are also ordered.

.  2 -3 hours to talk to the client, answer questions, receive order and payment, order their prints, receive and verify prints, package prints, schedule shipments, and ship.

.  Possibly meet clients at the studio to review photos and place order.  Meeting and travel time  average 2 hours.

   You can see how a one-hour session easily turns into an eight - hour day or more from start to finish.  So when you see a personal photographer charging a $200 session fee for a one-hour photo shoot, the client is NOT paying them $200 per hour.

    The eight hour wedding

A wedding photographer typically meets with the bride and groom several times before and after the wedding.  And it's not uncommon to end up with 1,000 - 2,000 photos, much more than a portrait session.  Many photographers spend 40 - 60 hours working on one eight - hour wedding if you look at the time that is truly involved.  Again, when a wedding photographer charges $4,000 for  eight hours of coverage, clients are NOT paying them $500 an hour.

(Don't forget that the photographer runs the wedding day to some extent.  A comfortable, confident wedding photographer can make a wedding day go more smoothly.

 The expertise and cost of doing business

Shooting professional photography is a skill acquired through years of experience.  Even though a DSLR now cost under $1000, taking professional portraits involves much more than a nice camera. 

Most personal photographers take years to go from buying their first camera to making money with photography  In addition to learning how to use a camera, there is a mountain of other equipment and software programs used to edit and print photographs, run a website, ect.  And don't forget backdrops, props, rent, utilities, insurance, ect.

In addition to the financial investment, photographers actually have to have people skills to make subjects comfortable in front of the camera.  Posing people to look their best is a skill by itself.  You could argue that posing is a more important skill than actually knowing how to use the camera.  A poorly exposed photo can be saved, but a badly posed photo can not.

 The Chain Store photo Studio

Chain stores do have their place.  For a very cheap price you can run in, shoot some quick photos, and be done with it.  But you get what you pay for.

Consider the time and effort that a  personal photographer puts into photographs, compared to a chain store.  Store sessions last just a few minutes, while a personal photographer takes the time to get to know the people, makes them comfortable, makes them laugh.  If a baby is crying at a chain store, they often don't have the time (or the patients) to wait because everyone is in a hurry.

The truth is that many chain store studios lost money.  In fact, Wal-Mart closed 500 of their portrait studios in 2007 because of the financial drain.  What the chain stores bank on is a client coming in for quick, cheap photos...and while there, spending $200 on other items.  They are their to get you in the door.

  The real deal

Professional, personal photographers are just that - professionals.  No different than a mechanic, dentist, doctor, or electrician.  But a personal photographer often becomes a friend, someone who documents a family for generations with professional, personal photographs of cherished memories.

Maybe we need to help clients look at it this way:  A pair of scissors cost $1.50 at the drug store.  Still, most people will gladly pay a lot more to hire a professional hair dresser to cut their hair.

The added attention and quality that a personal photographer gives is worth every penny.

   Conclusion

We hope that those who have taken the time to read this page will have a better understanding of why professional photographs, created by a personal photographer are so expensive.

Thanks you for taking the time to read this.  Copied with permission.  Original article was done in 2007 by Shawn Richter of Caught On Film Photography.  www.cofphoto.com  This article was also published in the December 2009

edition of Professional Photographer Magazine.

    Portrait Sitting Fees:  Individual $75.00,  group(2-9) $175.00,  and large group (10+)$300.00.
Call us at 406-676-8169 or email us at canyonmill@ronan.net for more details.

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   Contact us for your retouching needs.  All prices are figured on a case by case basis.
Phone:  406-676-8169 or email at canyonmill@ronan.net

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Custom Framing

All framing prices are figured on a case by case basis and depend
on the customer's needs and expectations.

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Our custom prices are figured on a case by case basis and vary depending on the job.  Usually our weddings and portrait packages are of standard pricing and the customer can call at 406-676-8169 for more info or email us at canyonmill@ronan.net   We have a brochure that can be mailed out listing our wedding packages, portrait packages and individual print pricing.

    To check out another website showing other examples of our photography, and things we custom build, visit.       www.antlercreationsandmore.com.

        ©  Copyright 2005 Canyon Mill Photography and Custom Lab

             Last updated 1- 27 - 2010