Saving Money on Professional Photography

When I am not being Discount Debbie, I am a professional photographer full time. I LOVE my job. I mean LOVE it. There is nothing more rewarding than giving people memories they will have for the rest of their life.

However, I also know how much I charge and I know as a Thrifty Diva, I cringe at my own prices. I even tell people that I can’t afford me. But I do really value worth and paying for what you get. Photography is a luxury in my opinion, but a necessity at the same time. Do you need it to live? No. But will it make you happy and improve the quality of your life, yes! ha ha.  But yes really.

So I have some tips for those of you who really do value professional photography, but the cost of most good photographer is out of your budget. Here is what I tell people having trouble affording me.

1. Start saving. I have a client that I adore. Her husband words hard in North Dakota in the oil fields. He words HARD! However, they are very good with their money. They really value good quality pictures and knowing that they were not willing to compromise on that. So instead of putting it onto a credit card or going to someone cheaper and less experience, they’ve saved their money to have a session with me the photographer they wanted. We used to live in a time and day where saving money was all you could do to get what you wanted, but those days are gone. Bring them back folks! Save your money!

2. Get it free! Photographers are often doing giveaways. It won’t hurt you to enter and you may even win a whole FREE session.

3. Barter. A friend of mine is an awesome house cleaner. She’s incredible, but she’s also on a budget, but also loves good pictures. So we trade for pictures. She knows the value of my service and she does that much cleaning in my house. We both getting something amazing. She gets amazing pictures and I get a clean house and a happy husband.

4. Wait for mini sessions. Photographers do these often. Usually they are themed like Fall, Easter, Christmas etc. I just finished a Fall mini session. The price was 1/4th of the normal cost, but you only had a 15 min slot and you only get 10 images. However, in my professional opinion, you probably won’t want more than that so you are golden. She picture above was one from this past weekend.

5. Check out Groupon, LivingSocial etc. They always have photographers on there. You can always check out their style beforehand and see if you like them, then go with it. The discounts are usually crazy awesome!

All this advice is to say, don’t skimp out on great pictures. Don’t waste money on crappy ones. If you are going to do them, do them right even if it costs more!