I love what I do. I love what I do. I LOVE what I do.

And it's great to get paid for what I do! But every photographer, at some point, will be asked, "Why do you charge so much?"

It comes down to a few simple things: costs associated with equipment, services, and running a business, and the time required to execute a skillful photographic product.

I have the fortune to be able to play with a lot of expensive equipment and software: fancy cameras, fancy computers, and fancy photo-editing tools are a joy to work with. But those fancy tools come with a hefty price tag that must be insured, replaced, and upgraded periodically.

Prints and other photographic products may be cheaply found at your local grocery store, but getting archival paper, color-correcting services, and quality display products will run higher than that.

And I take pride in my work; every photograph that I turn over to a client has been "touched" by me; I color-correct, lightly retouch, and edit my work so that you get beautifully documented moments. That takes time: for every hour that I photograph, at least another one to two hours is spent on the computer editing and perfecting the final product.

Michelle Burke, an Oregon-based photographer, wrote an excellent article, breaking down the costs and work associated with photographing a wedding. She sums it up well like so:

"Rarely will a photographer accumulate great wealth from wedding photography. Not without writing books, conducting seminars and inventing new gadgets, and even then, well. But every full-time professional wedding photographer, in order to continue to do what she loves, must be realistic in her pricing so that she can remain competetive in skill, customer service and workflow."

I didn't get into this business to make buckets of money. I got into this business because I LOVE what I do and the people I get to work with.

For further reading, Professional Child Photographer offers a consumer's guide to the costs of custom photography.