Believe me — if I never had to think about pricing or raising my prices, my behind-the-scenes world with Wendy Zook Photography would be SO much easier and happier. It’s not the most enjoyable part of running my business, but it is the essential part to me being able to continue to run my business and pay for expenses. 

It’s not just a 45-minute photo session or a 10-hour wedding day that you’re paying for; there’s a whole lot more to this photographer’s pricing. Here are some (but not even all) of the factors that go into pricing:

All the business expenses

Just to keep my business legit (which is important), insured (REALLY important) and organized, I have to pay for things like my LLC and proprietorship expenses, my yearly insurance that covers my equipment and protects my clients and venues and more. Guys, just that alone is a LOT of money each year.

Travel expenses & time away

When sessions don’t take place in my backyard, I need to factor in gas costs, mileage, wear-and-tear on my car, time away from my family, possible babysitters and sometimes even lodging. –

Editing & processing

The work for your session doesn’t stop when our photo session ends — there can sometimes be hours of editing to try and create cohesive, consistent photos while also taking care of things like blemishes, stickers, wrinkles, distracting background items and more. We also need to consider that my online digital gallery app costs a monthly fee, plus the time to upload photos, back up photos (in about three different spots for you), import into the gallery, and so on.

Outsourcing certain tasks

There are some things that I need to trust to other individuals — like my fabulous second shooters for weddings to provide additional images and angles and even the fabulous Kristina who helps me keep up with my blogs and newsletters. These things all require additional funds.

Equipment & gear

This is one of the most important things to consider. To keep my gear most up to date and to keep your photos at their best with the greatest potential, I am always stocked with tons of memory cards, batteries, external hard drives and more. Then, I have numerous lenses for various events — a 50mm and 85mm for portraits; a 24-70mm and 135mm for weddings and an extra camera body for “just in case” situations and back-ups. I just recently purchased my first camera body upgrade in many years when I bought the Nikon D850 camera. It offers so much more, technically, for my clients and my photos. A new camera body similar to mine? Easily $3,000. That’s a LOT of family photo sessions, my friend.

Miscellaneous and surprises

I can’t go into too much detail here, but there are other things behind the scenes that show my appreciation to my clients throughout the year — some of them are surprises at random times to say “thank you” and to take care of you even after our most recent session is complete.

So, all of this is to say that by covering these expenses and more, you are allowing me to make my passion into a purpose and a way to support extra gifts for my family — vacations, adventures, sports and activities.

Thank you for always supporting Wendy Zook Photography!