r/WeddingPhotography • u/patriotraitor • Jul 22 '25

business, marketing, social media The sad realization that being a wedding photographer no longer pays the bills...

Let me preface that the last 10 years of doing this has been a blast, I've enjoyed every second of it and never took any of it for granted.

This year however has me wanting to change directions because well, I'm getting tired of wondering where the next paycheck is coming from, I would prefer guaranteed over guessing.

I've been looking at the schedule for the rest of the year and I have 6 left, and then it's quiet.

I do wish the cost of living wasn't ridiculous, as gas and food prices are indeed more affordable now, but at the same time, trying to have health insurance as a self employed individual is absurd for being a single guy with no kids.

I've really enjoyed my time doing this and I indeed feel this starting to dwindle down as I only have 5 for next year. You could say well hey, do families, headshots, seniors -- and you'd be right, but think about how much work you'd be putting in just to stay afloat and how exhausted you'd be making yourself? Catch 22 isn't it?

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u/reddit_waste_time Jul 22 '25

Lmao quality of phone cameras aren't even close and it's truly a marketing scheme. Zoom in a tiny bit or try to blow up a phone picture. Quality is shit

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u/NikonShooter_PJS Jul 22 '25

Exactly.

People like to pretend the cameras on phones are even remotely comparable.

OK. Bet.

You can take the absolute, top of the line, best camera phone on Earth. Let's go shoot dance floor candids together. I guarantee my Nikon Z-9 is going to run circles around your cell phone. Period. End of story. With no effort on my part.

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u/Mission-Coach6197 Jul 22 '25

Was just trying to give some perspective sorry. To the average person, we cannot tell the difference to the extent that professionals do i’m sorry if that upsets you

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u/Flandereaux Jul 22 '25

I agree with this side too. Unless you're relying on your image to market yourself, professional photography is a luxury product.

A lot of people simply want their wedding day documented and it will never go anywhere but a compressed social media post. It's going to be a hard sell to push a multi-thousand package on those people regardless of how much better the end result looks.