Update to Photographers Annual Costs

We’ve received some questions and fair commentary regarding our post from earlier this year about a photographer’s annual cost so we want to share an update.

One point we’ve been questioned about is why we wrote that cameras, lenses and computers cost so much every year. We should have been clearer about this: we don’t purchase those items every single year. In fact, Laura and I often own gear and cameras for up to five years or more before upgrading.

Another point we’ve been questions about is the cost of hard drives. That number was actually based off my costs. I’m a bit of digital asset management nerd: I have eight terabytes of data on a Drobo 5D for my primary backup system. The Drobo backs up to a secondary eight terabytes system on G drives. And I have a third offsite set of eight terabyte hard drives if anything happens to my archive at home. I also keep several high speed working drives for my video editing. I know many people have moved to cloud based systems, which may cost less, but because I live and work abroad, I’ve not been able to take advantage of this option due to slow upload speeds where I live.

The bottom line is, every photographer has a different cost of doing business and their annual costs vary each year. This is why Laura and I think it’s so important for all photographers and filmmakers to calculate their cost of doing business so they know what they need to charge to run a profitable and successful business.

We hope that this update clears up any confusion. But if you have further questions please reach out. We’re grateful to have a community that asks questions and engages with us. We always want this to be a two-way conversation and we still have a lot to learn. Comment below or send us an email at hello@ngostorytelling.com. We’d love to hear from you.