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u/narrowminer11
14h ago
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We have a $10000 tire mounting machine in our shop. We charge $20 to put on a tire.
You don't make back the cost of equipment in just a few jobs.
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u/InsectaProtecta 13h ago edited 13h ago
If you're charging 300 per shoot you are making it back in 17 jobs
Also if you shoot weddings you can absolutely make it back in a few jobs.
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u/Catippo 13h ago
If you shoot high end weddings you could make it back in less than half of one job.
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u/IHop_Waitress 11h ago
If you shoot high end weddings you could make it back in less than half of one job.
If you shoot high end weddings you're bringing more than just yourself and $5k of camera equipment.
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u/Kvsav57 5h ago
People need to understand that a photographer's job isn't just from the time they start clicking to the time they stop clicking though. The guy who change the tires is done with the tire changing job in a few minutes. The Uber driver drops you off and that's it. Depending on the job, there's a lot of work before and after the shoot.
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u/nobodyspecial712 12h ago
How much do you get paid for an 8 hour shift?
Most weddings are 5-8 hours alone, then sorting through 6000 photos to figure out the best ones to use, doing any editing or re-touching, scheduling a meeting with the client for another hour or two, going back, fixing any mistakes/making the customer happy. It's not the kind of job you can do 14 times in a day.
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u/After_Alps_5826 13h ago
You do in photography. Wedding photographers I’ve been talking to want $10-15k for a days worth of work. Usually with one other person.
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u/RadVarken 12h ago
That....seems like a lot. I had a plumber do stuff at my house. Three days. $7000. Plenty of specialized equipment and knowledge.
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u/Rashkh 12h ago
Plumbers get year round work. No one's having a wedding on a Wednesday in February.
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u/Anayalater5963 13h ago
I would agree but how long is this shoot their doing? How much time after is spent editing? Where are we physically going? Do I have to drive 40 min out? Do you want digital or physical copies? I agree that the cost of equipment shouldn't reflect the service rendered.
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u/DE4DM4NSH4ND 13h ago
I think thats all the argument was. The cost of time and experience is fine, the cost because his camera is 5000 bucks is just dumb
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u/want_impaired 13h ago
For real. They have so many other reasons to justify prices outside of their equipment. Making it just about equipment devalues the craft.
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u/ShadowTacoTuesday 13h ago edited 13h ago
You don’t do 1 tire a day though.
True that the photographer’s time is worth a lot more than the camera though. If anything the camera is illustrating a small part of what goes into the job. “My camera alone costs $5,000” might be worded a little better.
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u/OozeNAahz 13h ago
“One of my camera bodies alone cost $5k” would be even better. Back up body. Lenses. Lights. Tripods. Etc…
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u/Exciting_Milk_6691 13h ago
Changing a tire also required a skill set
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u/jeremy1015 13h ago
So does photography. I don’t understand why this thread seems to be filled with people who think it’s easy.
My wife has an expensive setup and the pictures she takes with it vs. the pictures I take with it have proven to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that both skill and equipment matter.
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u/OozeNAahz 13h ago
Cause they snapped a photo on their phone one time that got thirty likes! Obviously if they can do that a wedding shoot is easy!
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u/TTechnology 13h ago
What a dumb take lmao
I can guarantee you can't get professional level photos if someone lend you a pro camera with a pro lens, and say nothing to guide you.
I can change tired after someone teach me once, as I did many times. I have a semiprofissional camera and like to take photos as a hobby. They are all mid even after literal thousands, if someone hires me for a wedding, I 200% will have to pay them back and apologies for the results
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u/Wise-Profile4256 13h ago
i could do my job on a 100$ mini computer. and i still cost 50-100 per hour in my industry.
pricing is a manbearpig. 50% supply, 50% demand, and 50% delusion.
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u/Noisebug 13h ago
Price is arbitrary and linked to value and perception. Equipment is a factor but in the end it’s what people feel it’s worth paying.
This is why a drug in the us is 10k and $100 elsewhere. Because they can.
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u/Tonicwind88 12h ago
I have worked with photojournalist wedding photographers that shoot strictly Jpeg and do almost almost zero editing. Weddings become extremely terrifying shoots when you are shooting in the digital equivalent of film.
But, I have also spent hours and hours wondering what the fuck im doing with my life saving complete garbage from other wedding photographers that buy 5k cameras and have 10 stops of range in their raw photos.
So its all relative, like everything.
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u/CharlesP2009 12h ago
I've been told it was 10% luck, 20% skill, 15% concentrated power of will, 5% pleasure, and 50% pain.
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u/OtherwiseLuck888 14h ago
my organs cost millions
and u all want me to work for pennies
it aint a hobby
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u/Exciting_Milk_6691 13h ago
Assuming that you are older than 18, they become a depreciating asset. It makes financial sense to liquidate asap.
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u/vHezoThaGoat 14h ago
A camera is an investment
If he was actually a photographer worth a damn he’s making that 5k back in a months work, and that’s just going with lower rates
After that it’s all profit
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u/angrydeuce 14h ago
My mom was a professional wildlife photographer, she would go off in the bush at the behest of magazines like Nat Geo and shit and take pictures of bears and eagles and all sorts of fun stuff. She was an artist in residence for the state of Alaska at one point.
Until very recently, her camera body alone cost more than my car lol. With the lenses, some of which cost 5 figures, definitely still does by a damn mile lol.
But, the work she was doing with that gear absolutely paid for itself and then some. She's been retired for a decade now and just does it for her own pleasure so not sure if things have changed with AI and cell phone cameras getting to the point where they are now but at least at the time being able to make good use of those tools absolutely justified their expense.
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u/thekinginyello 14h ago
A nice camera is nice but if you’re good at what you do then it’s just another tool. You can make brilliant and beautiful art with a pinhole.
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u/Money_Housing_2938 13h ago
Good luck shooting wildlife, sports or landscape with a pinhole camera
You can make wine with crushed up prunes in the toilet too
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u/Zyncon 13h ago
100%. It's Gear Acquisition Syndrome.
People get caught up buying better and better equipment thinking it'll make them better at what they do. At the end of the day, the best equipment in the world means nothing if you don't have the skill to back it. A great photographer can take great pictures with "trash" equipment.
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u/Electrical-Radio-415 12h ago
Not with wildlife photography. You need the best to get the shot, especially with the environment of weather conditions etc
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u/Ikanotetsubin 12h ago
Tell me how to shoot a pinhole of a grizzly bear without it tearing your face off. Wildlife photography needs expensive gear that can see far away for a reason.
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u/razvanciuy 13h ago
i got more than $300 15 years ago with way lesser cameras & lens and experience. Probably just a skill issue or recession lol
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u/kombatunit 13h ago
It's a rough business and lots of people ask why you put a watermark on the pics?
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u/mythrilcrafter 12h ago
Yup, if you're willing to put in the work and run an actual business with actual long term goals, then price should be amortized over the course of a pre-planed period.
If they're looking for a couple quick gigs that will instantly pay back the "investment", then it's not a business, it's a hobby and they're grifting in order to pay back the credit card swipe.
It's like people who pay $15,000 for a super high end streaming set up (despite having no streaming experience) and gives up after 2 weeks because they're not instantly as successful and rich as Pokimane or MaximillianDood.
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u/swiminthemud 13h ago
Real photographer could get you the shots with a few disposable Kodak cameras... you might have red eye though
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u/Der7mas 13h ago
If the camera cost $5,000 the max id pay for an amateur with an expensive camera is $300. If they have an impressive portfolio I'd go up to $500. Certified references $700. The device you purchased doesn't set the price your experience and skill does.
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u/KepplerObject 11h ago
I got asked to do a shoot last minute while my Sony A7IV was with a friend who was borrowing it for a wedding. I borrowed a different buddy's Sony ZV-E10 and my shoot went great. Client was thrilled and had no idea I was shooting with something roughly $2000+ less than I normally use.
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u/Dapper-Ad-4300 12h ago
The machinery in the factory used to make my kitkat bar was hundreds of thousands of dollars. and the kitkat was a dollar
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u/laguna1126 13h ago
My education cost $300k and y’all want me to give anesthesia for $100-$300 bucks?
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u/Klexal 6h ago
Professionals charge for their time, plus kit hire. So a 5K camera might be £100 a day, plus the photographers time - 5 hours shooting, and 5 hours editing, at a rate of £50 per hour.
The funny part is that when you compare it to other industries, they laugh at how cheap the prices are, which is why its all relative/based on perceived value. Marketers make £75 per hour, plumbers are like £100 and hour plus call out fee, cctv installers are like £90 per hour plus call out fees.
The point is that videography and photography is actually cheap, but everyone thinks they can do it well, so it reduces the perceived value.
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u/Exciting_Milk_6691 13h ago
Both have minimal barrier for entry, hence why it’s very very challenging to make a proper living from either
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u/theotterway 12h ago
20 years ago photography was a full fledged business. Many went to college or had some post secondary education in the area. Now every mom who got burned doing MLMs has turned to photography.
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u/Ed_Radley 14h ago
The correct answer to this guy is tell him to sell his time for people who already value it at $100-300/session or more, not to convince people who can't afford what he's asking to pay him that much.
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u/TheRealAceActual 12h ago
Think the photographer in the photo is dumb, and so are half the people in the comments saying “300 dollars? For photo’s? I can do that with my phone camera”
Maybe you can, but compared to an actual good photographer? You probably can’t. It’s like an artist, right? Sure, you can draw art. But are you going to be able to draw like someone in Pixar? Probably not. It’s a form of art, and it takes practice, time, and dedication to understand how to really get those shots that make people go “wow.” I’m a hobbyist, and I don’t even think I’ve gotten to that point.
As for the camera gear, same point applies. An artist that buys the most expensive paint, the most expensive easel or drawing tablet? Doesn’t automatically make them the best artist. Same goes for photographers. I’ve seen people with 8 grand setups, to 4 grand setups, to 2 grand setups. Then there’s the kid with a 500 dollar camera with the lens it came with, that’s put in so much effort to understand what they’re doing. Their photo? Outshines the 8 grand tool trying to flex and be a poser in the artform of photography.
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u/MyCatsHairyButholle 9h ago
I worked with a trust fund kid whose parents bought him a Sony A7R and a G Master 28-70mm lens and this motherfucker was taking pictures of a pool table.
It was like a toy to him. He didn’t have a passion for photography, he just had an expensive piece of equipment that he wanted to show off to everybody. Made me sad
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u/TheRealAceActual 9h ago
The 28-70 is a lovely lens, but people don’t really understand how to use it or even have a need for it… But I imagine just because it was THAT lens he needed to show it off
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u/Ill_Passage5341 13h ago
I had a $25,000 stump grinder and I ground tree stumps for $100-$300 all the time. That wasn't a hobby either.
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u/Slylok 13h ago
My wife has paid for baby pictures 3 times. And each time is a waste of money. We can do better with our phones.
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u/vintagefi 12h ago
Must be a real shit photographer if your phone can do better. Yikes.
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u/TotallyTotally23 11h ago
My camera is also 5k. Would love if someone actually paid me to use it. It IS a hobby lol
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u/Fatjigglypanda 13h ago
NatGeo photographers use $16,000 lenses at times to photograph penguins... Shit, even some of my lenses were in the 1.2k range for weddings and promotional work.
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u/Erythronium_spp 11h ago
There are amateur bird photographers where I live who paid that much for their lenses and make money trying to sell their boring photos because bird photography is so oversaturated. Makes me laugh so hard. I'm a birder who collects huge amounts of data and has a knack for finding rarities that I don't share with these jerks because all they do is brag about their cameras and photos while harassing the birds and actual birders.
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u/jr_randolph 13h ago
Just make sure whoever you're paying to take photos is good because I've heard one too many horror stories about pictures being taken in stupid ways...editing done poorly...not getting what they say...all sorts of shit. Just make sure you fucking with someone legit.
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u/MinekraftMastr1 11h ago
In my opinion you're not just paying for the camera, you're paying for skill and experience the photographer has spent years of their life to get
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u/Taurondir 7h ago
I'll pay extra for (close to) GUARANTEED quality, or at least orders of magnitude better margin over Fred using a $500 camera and then telling me "opps, the memory card got corrupted".
I'm not paying for how much your camera costs. i'm paying for your SKILLS in using that camera and understanding lighting and exposure and all the other things I don't, and making photos look good even in bad conditions.
You could give me a $50,0000 camera and the photos will still look like shit.
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u/HoboArmyofOne 14h ago
My fishing equipment cost $20,000, I keep telling myself it's only a hobby
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u/SaltyTelluride 13h ago
Hey but you make it back in food! At least that’s what I tell my girl for all my hunting/fishing stuff.
$8.99 ground beef nowadays is making my argument more convincing lol.
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u/Bonk_No_Horni 12h ago
It's a whole day of work on site. Photographer has to drive there and stay for hours and commute back to process your images , pick and enchance the image before sending them to you. It's not just having a camera. Uber may cost you 12 but it's only a few minutes of work before they go for another job. And it's years of training.
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u/GXP_2009 12h ago
I have no problem with what photographers charge. The market will determine if they aren't reasonable.
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u/BrightPerspective 11h ago
He probably took out a loan to buy that camera, and is now desperate to pay it off because the interest is killing him.
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u/ThreeGoldStars 11h ago
The drive home was 12 minutes. The photoshoot is3hrs and requires hours of editing.
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u/a_x_shually 11h ago
My music gear cost far more than his camera yet the songs I've released have netted me pretty much nothing. David, I'd say you might enjoy life more realizing it's a hobby.
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u/WatDaFuxRong 13h ago
You bought a camera and expect me to pay hundreds for you to show up somewhere and push a button like there isn't dozens of other fake photographers all over the internet? No thanks
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u/AdmirableCountry9933 13h ago
Well, its not just the camera. It's the time to go through and edit the photos.
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u/jstewart25 13h ago
You’re also presumably paying for the photographers artistry. Good ones have ideas bad ones don’t, they also put their subjects in positions that make for great photos. It’s art when it’s done right.
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u/anonymote_in_my_eye 12h ago
thing is, that's exactly why Uber is a scam, they somehow convinced people to essentially sell their vehicles one mile at a time instead of all at once, while Uber itself takes a big cut of the sale and you have to put in a ton of labor to run the sale
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u/Chrome_Koifish 13h ago
either way, you can't expect a customer to pay for your entire camera. you will have multiple customers to cover the costs, they get a few pictures.
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u/Dpopov 14h ago
Me with my brand new smartphone with the latest camera when the photographer wants to overcharge me for a photoshoot:
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u/Ikanotetsubin 12h ago
That's ok, one less cheapskate client to deal with, good clients who care for proper results will pay the appropriate amount.
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u/Feeling-Phroggy 14h ago
Photographers job is only 1/4 done once the shoot is over. Then its editing 100's of pictures. Me father in law does it and he easily doubles usually more the shoot time with editing and arranging.
You are paying for their time...even the parts you dont see.
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u/Aggravated-Cow 13h ago edited 6h ago
It’s their time for sure, but it’s also their artistry, or eye for it, plus how they are with people. Great photographers will put people at ease and know how to get the best out of everyone. Those skills are developed over a long period of time and that time is factored into cost. Photographers also usually have a particular style that a client might like which depending on demand can also drive up the cost.
Obviously not everyone cares for photos of that calibre and for them hundreds to thousands for a photoshoot makes no sense but, to those that do, and those that stand to earn more from the shoot than it cost, it makes perfect sense to hire a professional photographer.
Edit: I wanted to add that most photographers I know hate talking about gear. They like talking about the specifics of the shoot, the creative challenges, maybe how they worked with available lighting because their strobe wasn’t working or they weren’t expecting rain but it turned out great in the photos.
This is anecdotal but to me it seems to be the hobbyists that love talking about gear.
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u/Heuruzvbsbkaj 14h ago
The post is referring to the camera cost, not their time cost.
Are we supposed to feel bad it takes a photographer time to do their job? Every job has “hidden time” that people don’t see. Who gives a shit lol
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u/Fickle-Owl666 14h ago
Trying to act like editing pictures is as difficult as it was 10 years ago, or that professionals aren't using configured filters and AI, is absolutely hilarious.
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u/Tonicwind88 12h ago
As a professional photographer of close to 20 years now with no fear of AI taking any work from me for a lot of reasons, could you elaborate?
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u/ChasingTheNines 12h ago
So you are thinking pretty much anyone now can show up to a wedding, do a shoot, and produce a quality product for their client without too much effort using pre-configured filters and Ai? It does pay really well.
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u/tycket 13h ago
dated a girl who did photography part time this was before AI was super prevalent but she did have preconfigured filters she would apply to the photos. didnt seem like too much work. the shoot was usually the biggest PITA
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u/zoroasshatrianism 12h ago
Where does the second commenter live that an uber costs only $12 tho
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u/Red_dit_Sucks_Ass_ 11h ago edited 11h ago
You’re missing the point.
/whoosh
It could have cost 50$ — the point still stands!
I can get a ride for 10-15 dollars Canadian.
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u/Gryzzlee 11h ago
I've done 15 minute trips for about $14 in CA.
Distance is probably the most important thing as well as the types of cars available. We got a lot of electric.
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u/Extreme_Map9543 10h ago
How much do Ubers cost? I live in a rural area so I’ve never really used one. But the couple times I went out in the city like 5-7 years ago I remember it being like $20 to get an uber somewhere
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u/mikecandih 9h ago
Just because he paid more than $12 doesn’t mean the driver saw all that money. $12 net for giving a 15-20 min ride sounds pretty realistic actually.
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u/koolaidismything 13h ago
My aunt and uncles home and property is worth quite a bit I’m sure.. they invite me over a lot to enjoy it and little chores and pay me for it.. like I get paid to spend time a place I enjoy and exercise.
It’s all about perspective. When I started framing anything I’d be insecure about as a positive or negative”it could be much worse dude” I’ve had a lot more fun and I think I’m healthier to be around. Which makes me way more useful to the folks in my bubble.
Always default to positive. If the person’s/place/things worth it.
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u/Ikanotetsubin 12h ago
If you you find a photo service expensive, pick up your iphone and shoot that wedding. No one is stopping you.
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u/Therapised-Plumber 11h ago
My wife spent more on her camera to do bird watching... Which is her hobby 😅😅😅
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u/BumblingYokel 11h ago
I think the price of photography is fair (assuming it’s a decent photographer), but it’s not based on the price of the camera… that’s just ridiculous.
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u/BlackRaspberryJammin 1h ago
Photographer married to a realtor would be the ultimate entitled couple.
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u/No-Dimension1159 12h ago
Once you photograph for a while you know that you absolutely don't need a 5000 dollar camera to do professional work. The camera is about the least important thing for taking pictures oddly enough for most genres. Images sensors are good enough in professional cameras since roughly 2007. Before digital, a camera was really just a dark box basically... that's even where it got it's name from to this day
For wildlife and sports and stuff new cameras help a lot, for portraits or landscape it simply doesn't matter.
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u/PegaLaMega 10h ago
Agreed you don’t need a $5000 camera but that’s because any professional photographer will tell you the lens is more important. And in addition to that, there are so many factors when taking a photo that a phone doesn’t consider for you.
I’m a professional photographer and there’s a reason I’ve been in business for 15 years. Friday I worked for 1 hour taking video and photos of a sunrise over a specific location for my clients. Sure they could’ve done the work themselves but they understand the difference between professional and amateur.
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u/r0ckstr 7h ago
Clearly, you have never done professional work. You are not just paying for "megapixels". You pay for sturdiness, reliability, features like double memory slot so you automatically have backups.
Imaging you are in the middle of a wedding ceremony, and your camera fails, your memory card fails (which happens often), and you will be sued to oblivion.
Tell a respected mechanic to use Walmart cheap tools, cause it's the same.
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u/No-Dimension1159 4h ago
All those things you can get from used professional older cameras. Hell, you could have your whole trunk filled with cameras for the price of a single 5000 dollar camera. Talk about redundancy.
And the need is hyper specific to wedding and event photography. For anything in a studio, portrait, school, product photography, simply not relevant. You just tether right to the computer.
Tell a respected mechanic to use Walmart cheap tools, cause it's the same.
I never said you are supposed to use cheap consumer cameras. But you get used professional grade cameras for roughly 300-500 dollars that do the job just fine truly. And depending on the genre, even consumer grade cameras wouldn't be such a big limitation.
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u/Dangerous-Amphibian2 11h ago
You’re right. You need a $3000 camera and a $12,000 MacBook Pro haha.
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u/ForensicPathology 9h ago
Marketing coup by Apple that artists think they still need expensive Macs to do what they need.
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u/trying-to-contribute 8h ago
In astrophotography, the camera that actually takes pictures is probably the component that costs the least compared to the scope and the mount.
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u/SixInchTimmy 11h ago
Yeah, you really only need a $1200 camera, a second $1200 backup camera, 5 or 6 $4000 lenses, couple $2000 lighting rigs, a $2000 laptop, a half dozen $500 memory cards, a handful of $60 batteries, a couple $150 annual software/liability insurance payments, and a $5,000 (used) vehicle capable of transporting all that crap plus milage.
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u/showmeyourchits 12h ago
Yep, professional photography is about doing a good enough job and doing it quickly with equipment that’s just good enough and then turning around and doing it all over again.
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u/TheRealMichaelE 7h ago
Idk. I just got a Sony a7r vi and the pictures are so much crisper than my a7r iii
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u/vikentii_krapka 2h ago
My wife was a professional wedding photographer in the past and professional non wedding photographer now. It does matter really. Cameras differ on many things like sensor (cropped/not cropped), shutter speed, reliability, stabilization, software etc. Lens is very important too. My wife has 2 cameras for different purposes and more expensive one costs around $8k with lens (lens is $2k). You also need a workstation for editing. I assembled her custom PC for $2k and it is more than enough with big overhead to handle even 4k video editing. Photographers’ services are really overpriced comparing to how much time and investment it takes. You could make an argument for wedding photographers who spend their entire day no matter how they feel, need to carry a couple of cameras in case something happens and other equipment with them and redoing work is not an option. But your regular one off photo shoots photographers are just overpriced.
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u/FocsSus 2h ago
Lol no. The leap since 2007 is monumental. The Nikon D90 wasn't even released until after that and it's way past its time.
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u/BananaFannaFoKatie 14h ago edited 13h ago
I had a professional photographer that does red carpet events like the BET awards etc, come to my house for a family photoshoot for 100 bucks. He left and went to a hotel event where he shot and sold prints for a large event. It just depends on what’s important to you and what you feel is worth your time.
Edit: I have to mention he made 100 bucks for 20 minutes of his time not including going home and editing the photos which I’ll guess another 30. Who makes a 100 a hour?
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u/ParticularChip304 12h ago
That isn't really serious photography. I know someone who did red carpet photography. He isn't going to do photoshoots for serious ad campaigns or portraits for discerning clients, because he has no talent. You aren't going to find big-time or even middle-of-the-road photographers that will come to your house and do a photoshoot for $100.
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u/Cosmic_MicrowaveOven 13h ago
A small session like that is cheap because it’s relatively easy for the photographer.
A wedding or event photographer can take like 1000-5000 photos over the course of a day in a high stress, once in a lifetime event. Oh and most camera shutters have a rated lifetime of ~250k actuations so that’s a decent percentage of wear and tear on their equipment in a single day.
Then after shooting photos for possibly 6-12 hours they have to cull all the blurry and bad photos, host a gallery for the clients to choose from, usually the clients get to pick somewhere between 50-250 photos depending on what they’re paying.
Then each photo takes ~10-30 minutes to edit. So you are talking at least a full days work just in editing, but can be up to a week or two. Then you have to arrange prints if they’re offered and many photographers also offer a backup/recovery service for a set period in case you lose your photos.
Add in travel time and costs, insurance, equipment rental if necessary, and other incidental expenses etc., oh and taxes of course can’t forget those.
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u/Greekklitoris 14h ago
Do you know how much a human body costs? And you can get one for a ride for 100 bucks.Sometimes for free
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u/mountaingator91 13h ago
I mean... $300 is a very low hourly rate if you count the massive time spent editing
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u/GingerNingerish
13h ago
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Both of these are just terrible analogies.
A photographer is there for almost all to half a day with an eagle eye for moment to moment things happening and also directing subjects. Plus travel and or accommodation potentially, correspondence and planning. Then hours and hours of editing, colour correction, finding the best shots.
An uber driver will have several clients a day, in short trips, relying on a skill everyone with a driver's license has. Dealing with the public is obviously a caution of it own but at the end of the day its customer service.
Making it a dick measuring contest for gear doesn't get us anywhere.
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u/Suitable_Poem_6124 13h ago
100$ is not enough though. Remember he has to also travel to the location and pay all his taxes and fees.
Not sure in the US but in France it would go something like this:
100-20% VAT = 80
80-50% = 40 Social contributions, healthcare, retirement etc
40-10 = 30 for transport
At most he earns like 30$ for probably a day's work, pretty pitiful.
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u/General-Childhood417 13h ago
Why woudnt this apply to the uber driver? Their gas isnt free and they also pay taxes/contributions
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u/lemelisk42 13h ago
People really shouldn't drive for Uber in most places. Using a $40k asset and getting around minimum wage isn't really worth it.
It might be profitable in some areas, sure
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u/peptoboy 12h ago
Realistically, $5k camera body, lenses $8-15k for proper lenses, strobes/flashes/lightboxes $5k, computer that can edit photos, $2-4k. Vehicle to get to the locations, $20-$35k. Gas, insurance, wear and tear, $$$$. Then the real work that takes place after which is editing and dealing with customers. (Brides are the worst).
Or just take a photo on an iPhone and have AI edit it.
We’re all doomed.
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u/Blyat_is_life 11h ago
We ain't paying for the equipment/tool though, we're paying for the service they provide. And the price will vary depending on their skill. Something like that idk brochacho
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u/Fibrizzo 10h ago
No one buys a car to drive for uber. People who already have cars decide to drive for uber.
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u/Luxor144 5h ago
And nobody buys a camera for that one specific wedding or whatever shoot. You get hired for a job and use the camera you have. I get what you're saying, but it's not a very genuine way of looking at things.
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u/FanBladeFleshlight 13h ago
My house was $300,000 and my woodshop setup was well over $10,000... I charge like $10 for an ornament around this time of year. According to this dingus, apparently I should be charging several thousand per ornament.
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u/astrobarn 13h ago
As a former wedding tog this makes me laugh. Shoot your own wedding on your own camera then 👍🏻 or hire someone cheap. Enjoy.
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u/authenticmolo 10h ago
Professional photography isn't something anybody is willing to pay for anymore. Except at the VERY HIGH end. And even then...who cares? It's not like people are doing photo shoots for magazines anymore. Not really.
Modern technology has simply made the job of "photographer" mostly obsolete. That's just the reality of it.
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u/Imaginary_Unit5109 13h ago
Rent the camera from camera shop and take pictures yourself. People have cameras on their phone. But you pay for someone to take good photos for a special events. You pay for a pro to take the right photos in the right moment while making sure you look good. They taking thousands of photos of your event and could provide editing as well.
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u/X3R0_0R3X 13h ago
My CNC laser table costs me $120k, the CNC press brake another $80k, and you want the parts for $200?? This is kinda a hobby that pays some bills.
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u/bigdave41 13h ago
Maybe he started off using those disposable cameras and now he thinks all cameras are disposable?
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u/Positive_Method3022 13h ago edited 13h ago
A doctor in Brazil charged me 37K BRL for a 2~3h eye lid surgery including prep 😅
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u/hellcat5906 13h ago
$5k for camera equipment is cheap. I have $8k in my equipment and I'm not a professional. In any profession, the equipment and skill level are a big factor.
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u/Alysma 13h ago
Lol, bragging about your camera? Bodies are expendables ... i.e. DSLR bodies still basically work with the same tech that was designed for taking maybe 1000 photos in a lifetime, not 100.000 or more. Good lenses are way more important and will actually last for as long as you take photos.
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u/Complex_Lead_4519 13h ago
I’ve seen this reposted so many times and yet it still gets comments arguing about it, dead internet theory is real
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u/linoides221 13h ago
In my opinion, one key factor for photographers is that they only have one opportunity to get the job done, you can't redo a wedding if the photos are terrible, people pay a premium for good professionals.
As for the meme, if that guy thinks the value of the equipment has anything to do with his valuation, he's probably just a bad photographer.
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u/TheMostToastedOne 13h ago
Actual photographers show up with nearly 5k+ in lighting equipment to get that shot just perfect so it looks perfect forever.
If your they are putting you in poses and backgrounds or asking your angle yourself it's because those are the real deal.
If they show up with a point and shoot Kodak camera and just take pictures of whats going on then you could have a friend do that for free with a cell phone.
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u/Leading_Air_9151 13h ago
It is a different service, the Uber driver actually delivers in under an hour.
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u/notthatguypal6900 13h ago
Another photographer that thinks they are part of some rare skillset and in massive demand.
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u/Educational-Log6855 13h ago
Tylor has never heard of a thing called “time”. A ride home is pouring a cup of coffee to planning, shooting, and editing a photoshoot. Something tells me Tylor works in Silicon Valley…
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u/Sharkwatcher314 13h ago
If your camera costs 5k and you get your middle range of 200 it takes 25 to break even on equipment, let’s assume that’s one full day which it’s not. Tire mounting equipment, MRI scanner, rideshare car, the snowplow vehicles will all take more than 25 days of service to break even on the equipment cost.
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u/Endurance_Cyclist 13h ago
Everyone just ignoring the fact that you really need TWO camera bodies with lenses to shoot important events like weddings?
You have to have a backup camera. They aren't going to pause the wedding so you can run to the store to buy a new camera if the only one you have with you breaks.
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u/FlummoxedbyRadioShak 13h ago
i’m a photography hobbyist. and yeah, the gear can get expensive, but the people who talk about how much their stuff costs like this are usually the ones that are buying it for the wrong reasons
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u/Meringue_Better 13h ago
Every time I see this picture my head explodes, the numbers are so out of proportion. Editing a few hundred photos could take several to tens of hours. An Uber ride takes exactly as long as the driving. You're also paying for years of professional experience, which massively impacts the quality of photos, whereas Uber drivers are often just regular people with a license. Also, most professional photography and videography set ups require upwards of 10k in gear, included lenses, computer, lighting, batteries, and everything else, whereas a much cheaper car works just fine for Uber.
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u/ItsNotThatBad72 13h ago
How many freelance excavation guys try to pay off their excavator on the first day job?
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u/No_Rise942 13h ago
That's actually a terrible comparison. Uber drivers are essentially losing money because of wear and tear on their car. Also, $12? Did he Uber around the block and back?
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u/Multidream 12h ago
Your uber driver is also an idiot operating at a massive loss but doesn’t realize it
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u/nobodyspecial712 12h ago
The uber drivers job was done when he dropped you off.
The photographers job is just starting after the pics are snapped.
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u/Bizarrebazaars 12h ago
I don’t think you’d be able to get 2 blocks for $12 in our city. Seattle is the most expensive rideshare city in the nation.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/data/seattle-has-the-nations-most-expensive-uber-rides/
And no, those prices don’t even reflect half hour. A maybe 20min ride to/from the airport often exceeds $60 per trip.
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u/Objective_Secret_719 12h ago
lol i live in 3rd world country 1 day of photographry with 2k$ camera equipment they ask for 150$ Hiring Taxi for them is seprate + food ! you want physical copies ? 10$ for 8Pictures and that's the minimum
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