The Toilet Paper Theory

If this pricing theory doesn't encourage you to value yourself, I don't know what will. So here it goes.....

Family portraits are something a family will treasure their entire lives. They will bring them to tears. They will hang in their homes and be saved to show to their grand children. If their homes catch fire their precious photos are usually one thing they would grab after their children and pets. Or, at least in the tech age, they will grab their computers where their digital back ups are stored. When a loved one passes away, professional portraits of them become our most prized possessions. If we lose them, we would give anything to get them back. One day they will be all we have left of those we love or the only reminder of how tiny and sweet our children's smiles once were.

So why price them cheaper than what that family wipes their butts with?

According to a survey shared on the interwebs, the average household spends over $118 PER PERSON on toilet paper per year. Another survey shows that the average person uses 1-2 rolls per week. According to Amazon, the a roll of toilet paper costs $2. SO by that math, the cost per year is $156 per person, per year...

. That's $472 per YEAR! That's based on the $118 per person survey. Or Over $600 Based on the Amazon numbers above.

Now why am I writing about toilet paper? Because PROFESSIONAL PHOTOS ARE WORTH MORE THAN TOILET PAPER! I cannot believe I just had to type that. *face palm* I think we can all agree that those precious family heirlooms are worth more than toilet paper. If you disagree, you may be in the wrong profession. We spend HOURS on each session. Booking, planning, shooting, culling editing. Not to mention the skill it takes to produce professional quality photography. We have to nail exposure, focus, lighting, white balance and edit them to perfection. So why on earth would we price that lower than TOILET PAPER!!?!? So I would think that our clients would value our work more than they value their Toilet paper, because they sure as heck aren't storing those in an album and showing them to their grand kids..... Ewww Gross! So If our clients value their photos more than that, why don't photographers? I would hope that even if you are first starting out, that your work is worth more than that.

So please price your cheapest full session higher than something your clients wipe their butts with and then flush down the toilet. Hell Please VALUE YOUR WORK more than that.