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If you asked one hundred portrait photographers (or in fact ANY professional photographers), I suspect that ninety-nine of them would list “How much for the disc?” as one of their most frequently asked questions.

And the other one would be lying.

These days, clients want to have a disc of their family portrait or baby photographs – they want to be able to share them on Facebook, email them to distant families, and print them off themselves. They want to be able to Tweet them, Google+ them, Instagram them and share them in a hundred other ways I’ve never even heard of. They love letting the world know what is happening with themselves and their family…

“Hey Ma, check out Junior’s ever-so-cute toothy smile! LOL”

Buying the photo disc gives clients the ultimate flexibility – no dependency on their photographer; they can do what they want, when they want. They have their pictures to keep forever on a lovely shiny plastic disc. Sounds great, right?

But there’s a catch. And it’s a big one.

The photographer is charging an absolute FORTUNE for the image disc! I mean come on – it’s a teeny tiny blank CD with some photos burned onto it, how expensive can it really be?!

This is a pretty natural reaction, and one that I can empathise with to a certain extent, as it can be hard to see past the raw cost of the physical materials that the photographer hands you after you’ve written them a pretty big cheque. But if you’re looking at the raw material cost then you’re missing the point.

Try to stop thinking about the ‘cost’ of what you’re buying, and instead try to think about the ‘value’ of what you’re buying.

It isn’t a disc, it is your newborn baby’s first family photo
It isn’t a disc, it is success with your very last round of IVF
It isn’t a disc, it is your toddler’s first smile / first tooth / first steps
It isn’t a disc, it is the last decent photo you have of your Grandma

The value is in the memories that are wrapped up in that little disc. Every photo tells a story; a story that cannot be told the same way in any other medium. The price isn’t high because of the cost of a blank disc; the price is high because of the magic that it contains, and the effort, knowledge and equipment it takes to capture that magic.

So how much IS the disc?

Well, in my case, it’s about 6 hours of shooting and editing.
Plus another couple of hours of gallery preparation and commuting to and from clients
Plus over 5 years of learning and development.
Plus over £4000 of equipment.
Plus about £1000 of software.
Plus at least one sleepless night mulling over new creative ideas.
Plus a creative jolt at 03:17am on a Tuesday.
Plus the not infrequent attacks of self-doubt about my ability/skills/talent.
Plus responding to ten enquiries for every one booking.
Plus accountants, lawyers, stationers, web hosts, photo labs and a WHOLE LOT of teabags.

Oh yeah… plus about 10p for the disc.

It is fair to say that when you buy the disc, you’re not really buying the disc. Just as when you buy a book you’re not just buying some sheets of paper, and when you buy a Monet you’re not buying the canvas it’s painted on. It’s not the raw material, it’s what’s on it that counts.

Because what’s on that disc is my creation. I made it with my camera, my index finger and my mind.

Without me, those little 1′s and 0′s on the disc would not have magically lined up to perfectly capture the essence of my subject. Selling ‘the disc’ is selling everything I have – all my blood, sweat and creative tears.

This is the screenwriter selling their movie script. The architect selling their blueprints. The novelist selling their manuscript.

The disc is all the photographer has. After that has been sold, there is nothing else.

It isn’t just a disc. It is your memories. Its value cannot and should not be underestimated.

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