To think that family photographers charge way too much?

[LollieB]

I recently had a photo session with my toddler at a local studio and because it was a last minute thing, didn't find out the package rates in advance, which I would usually always do. The session charge itself was a nominal amount, but when I went back to view the images a couple of days later, I discover that to have the 35 or so images on disc would cost me £800 and £1,200 with a couple of framed prints. The photographer gave me the hard sell and said she would delete the photos if I didn't pay her a deposit to hold them. I don't know if I am being unreasonable, but I got married fairly recently and the photographer we used wasn't much more than this and he spent seven hours on site and we had a disc of approx 150 really nice edited photos. I find it hard to understand how a session with my toddler which lasted an hour and then time for editing 35 images could cost the same??? I loved the photos which the photographer took of my daughter, but I would have felt totally ripped off if I had gone ahead with the purchase. I've since checked out some other family photographer's websites and they all seem to charge the same. How can this be justified? I've decided to sign myself up for a three day intensive photography course and invest in some lighting to go with my DSLR and try to take some half decent images at different intervals.

Pixifoto?

There companies out there who are little more than scum. They hook you in with a £5 photo shoot and one free photo and then give you the hard sell on the whole package.

Sorry, sounds like you've been caught out.

Yes they are a rip off

Pin up a sheet, give your child some props and nice clothes and you can have your own session. Any half decent photographer with an ok camera can come up with something good.

You can use any one of the multiple programmes online to edit.

Oh dear God they are independent business owners and they charge what the market will bear.

Max Photo/Max Speilman charge £5.99 for a ten photo package, they have props, etc and take a variety of poses then you choose which one you like best. The only draw back is that all ten pictures are of the same photo but we usually get them done twice a year, we keep one and we give the rest to the grandparents.

Sorry but I don't understand why your are so surprised, they are a business after all and you should have checked. She didn't give you a 'hard sell' about destroying the photos, it's what they have to do if you don't purchase them.

£1200? that does seem excessive!

Thanks bear frills, I'll check them out. LadyLuck10, I am aware that they destroy the photos if you don't buy them, but the threat was that they would destroy them as soon as I walked out of the shop if I didn't leave a deposit. I don't think that this is a very nice way to do business!!

Pay an actual photographer to do a family portrait session outside somewhere nice. They will look loads better than ones in a studio.

Nah you've been had, my wedding photographer and I know others up north do portrait sessions for about £80 and give you a CD. They are certainly not shit either.

We paid £90 for 2 hours at my DS christening and got all the photos on a cd with a letter saying we had the rights to them lots and lots of beautiful pictures!!

Venture do that too - round here they like to donate photo shoots as raffle prizes for PTAs and similar, "worth" £150. No prints involved. One 5" x 7" print £50, and people leave having ordered four figures of canvases. Some prize.

FIL got conned into buying us a shoot for Christmas one year, with one free print (which he'd want as a souvenir). We have not gone. He has stopped reminding us. The irony was that we'd had some professional shots done already, which he had copies of for the same Christmas. But they came to visit toddler group so we paid more like £30 for a full pack.

We got given a voucher for a photo shoot as a new arrival present - very nice gift and not cheap. Then we looked at the print prices, from £30 which isn't too bad I guess, until you read the minimum spend - £250!

I bought myself a lovely and not too expensive Nikon DSLR a few years ago and went along to my local photographic society beginners sessions. I have taken some amazing and really personal pics of my kids, try it

Those 'photo shoot and one photo' deals are not a rip off - if you stick to the deal. MrsHathaway why not just go? Scan the photo you get into your computer and you can have it too!

It is excessive but in defence of photographers (My MIL does photography) they will spend hours painstakingly adjusting photographs to make them look absolutely perfect. Equipment is extremely expensive and rolls of paper and props they use forever need replacing. I think what you paid is too much but I would still expect to pay no less than £500-£600 (ish) for a decent set of photos

They need premises, very expensive cameras, lenses and lighting equipment, expensive computer packages for editing. They need to pay tax, NI etc.

vis-à-vis weddings someone who only does wedding photography doesn't need a studio.

And you always need to read the small print.

I've had some lovely ones of the DCs done at Max Spielmann. The nice last let me choose 4 different shots for the 10 photo package, all for £5.99. Bargain

I didn't pay £1200 for my wedding photos!

lady

I am a professional photographer and have a studio at home.

I charge £95 for a session with 12 7x5 photos. I feel this is excellent value and I have many many repeat customers and referrals.

Not every photographer is a cowboy. Though I agree there are lots out there. Mostly high street studios and chains that are!!! .

ive done this as i won a photo shoot and one photo print i said all along i was not going to buy a package i was not buying a package i bought one! it was only £300 but i got a cd with all my pics on and a coffee table book with 10 in we paid it off in monthly payments it was supposed to be once in a lifetime thing then i got pregnant and im thinking about saving up to do it all again with my youngest included! seriously could not fault the studio they were brilliant

you didnt hire a family photographer - you went to a studio that does family portraits.

the same photographer could have done you a full half day shoot with all pics retouched for around £200-£400 in their own time. As it was they'd be getting paid around £80 a day to bang some ok pics out in 45 mins, that wont be their best as they have to take 50/60/80 (depends on the studio) in order for the sales rep to pitch quantity over quality

next time search out a photographer independantly, much more affordable and much better images