The Value of Custom Photography

A new client contacted me recently about setting up custom photo session. She had learned about my services when she saw newborn photos I had taken of her friend’s baby. The framed pictures were hanging in the baby’s newly-decorated nursery. She said after seeing those pictures, she would never again be satisfied bringing her daughter to a department store portrait studio. That’s when she called me to set up her own shoot, ready to make the investment in custom photography. 

If you are reading this blog, chances are you already appreciate the difference between my photography and Sears portraits. If you’re still wondering how in the world a photographer can charge $90 for an 8×10 if it costs less than $10 to print at the local drug store, read on.

Here is an excerpt from an article written by Chicago-based photographer, Marianne Drenthe. She gives a great explanation of the cost of custom photography and why the investment is worthwhile:

The customized service level you are sure to experience will be amazing. The knowledge that your final images are the result of someone caring about those moments so much that they take extra time ensuring that the artwork you receive is good enough to stand by with their name on it. That level of quality and commitment  is all but lost in the age of “mass produced,” “mass marketed,” corporate “everyone is a number.” Custom photography is based on being unique to you. How great an experience would be,  to be able to sit back and allow a photographer to do this highly custom work for images that you will most likely cherish for a lifetime?