I’m going to be really honest and open for a moment, because I want to clear the air.

This is a question I get weekly. Why don’t you offer $75 mini sessions anymore?

I’ve even had a few people message me saying that if I just dropped my pricing, I’d make more money. Which, honestly, takes some audacity. But the reality is, that’s not true. It’s double the work for the same pay.

The truth is simple. It’s not sustainable.

My camera cost around $4,000.
Two of my lenses were $3,000 to $4,000 each, and a few others were $500 or more.
My studio lights are about $800 each, plus stands are another $100+.
Backdrops are $700 or more sometimes, and when I buy them, it’s usually because they happen to be on sale.

And that’s just the equipment.

There’s also my 5 years of experience. The treats I have for kids. My home’s mortgage payment so I can use my garage as a studio. The cost of Lightroom, Photoshop, and other photo editing software. Classes I’ve taken. Workshops I’ve attended.

There are also permit fees for county parks. Yes, Santa Clara County and State Parks require permits to photograph in those locations, including Vasona and Mount Madonna Park, and they start at $250 per year.

Local businesses have also begun charging photographers to use their property, and those are costs I have to factor into every session. A local farmer charged $50 per session for sunflower fields last summer. A Christmas tree farm charged $150 for three hours.

On their own, those fees may not seem like much, but they add up quickly and have to be built into the cost of each photoshoot.

All of that has a cost, whether it’s monetary or time taken away from my family.

In 2024, I photographed 134 or more ten minute Mommy and Me sessions at $75 each, out in that field. I burned out so badly that I genuinely considered giving up photography altogether. I never slept, I only worked and it took its toll on my physical and mental health.

I kept asking myself, why am I doing this?

It wasn’t fun anymore. I was editing all day and all night. I had no social life. I didn’t see my friends. Tim saw me in passing. My migraines were awful. I was exhausted from driving back and forth to the field, constantly running on no sleep.

I was also tired of my time not being respected. People showed up late to a 10 minute session and acted like it didn’t matter. It made me feel like I didn’t matter. Like I was just holding a camera and that was it.

For some people, photography is just “pressing a button.”
But it isn’t. It’s so much more.

It’s hours upon hours sitting at a computer. It’s eye strain and headaches. It’s the frustration when Lightroom or Photoshop starts acting up and I have to close out work I just spent hours on. It’s missing family events because photos are due and I don’t want to disappoint anyone.

It’s crying because my eyes are tired, I’m exhausted, and I still have emails and texts asking when photos will be delivered, or if I can edit this or that out. And don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind making a few changes. But I’ve learned to charge my worth for them. Swapping faces is not easy. Sometimes it takes a long time to get it just right.

I burned out.
And I lost my love for photography.

I never want to feel that way again about something I’ve always loved. I’ve always had a camera in my hands, and separating the joy from the work is already hard enough. I’m choosing to protect that now.

Yes, it means raising my prices so I’m not running 130 or more mini sessions over two months.
It means fewer people are able to book, and booking availability will be more limited. It also means there will be no more “can you just fit me in.”
But what it really means is this. I get to slow down.

I get to take my time. I get to enjoy our session together instead of watching the clock. We can laugh. We can play. Toddlers get a goldfish break and I’m not panicking about the next family waiting behind you.

It means I can go home, sit down with a cup of tea, turn on Stranger Things, Downton Abbey, or Bridgerton, and slowly and thoughtfully edit your images. I can take the time to smooth stray hairs, clean up backgrounds, and swap faces after a meltdown so you still get that photo, the one you’ll frame and love forever.

It means I am no longer the photographer I was in 2020, running back to back ten minute minis all week for weeks on end, being disrespected by people who wanted a quick deal but didn’t want to respect my time, those who showed up late, didn’t follow the rules, or treated my time like it didn’t matter.

Now, I get to love this again.
And I get to pass that care on to my clients, the ones who choose to invest their hard earned money into a session with me.

I know that $250 isn’t cheap. I know that’s not pocket change or something most people make in a day, or even a few days. I come from a home where it was just my mom and me. I know what it’s like to set money aside so your kids can do something fun, or so you can have something special.

I am the child of a single mom who worked day and night to support me. You might be a single parent household. You might be a two parent household. You might be like Tim and me, living in a generational family household. That’s not lost on me. And that’s exactly why I want to be better for you.

I want to be the photographer you reach out to when your little one is turning 2 and you want photos for their party. Or the incredible client who reached out before starting chemo, wanting a golden hour floral session to celebrate her hair and beautiful self before everything changed.

I want that for you.
And I want it for me, too.

If you’re here looking for a quick deal, I may not be the right fit, and that’s okay. If you’re looking for care, intention, and an experience that feels calm and thoughtful, I’d love to work with you.

So, to quote the beautiful Catherine O’Hara as Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek,
“If airplane safety videos have taught me anything, it’s that a mother puts her own mask on first.”

I’m choosing to put my mask on first, so I can show up as a better photographer for myself, for my current clients, for future clients, and for you. I hope everyone can understand that. Going forward, my pricing will change. It has to. Things are more expensive, and growth comes with growing pains. I hope that my work and my talent speak for themselves.

I might not be the photographer for everyone, and I am okay with that. I can’t accept every inquiry, but that’s simply the nature of this business.

If this resonates with you and you made it this far, I’m so glad you’re here. I can’t wait to capture your family’s photos.

-Theresa