First off, the CS Cloud is totally worth the monthly charge. I’m only paying $30 a month for my first year since I was a previous owner of the Master Collection. I use PS, AE, Premier and Story mainly but I occasionally use AI and ID as well. So the cost is worth it to me, even at $50 it’s worth it to never have to purchase another upgrade.
As far as the cost of being a pro photographer, I’d say $35k is on the modest side. I’m starting to see a lot of talk online about this very subject. I believe the $50 for a CD fauxtogs are starting to realize that there is no way they can make a profit. The unfortunate fallout, in my opinion, is the mass of consumers who now expect their photography to be dirt cheap. I took a good hard look at what I’d like to be making if I did photography full time. After adding in all the expenses and Uncle Sugar’s 35%, I have to get my clients to spend about $1650 for a 2 hour portrait session. And that’s at 4 clients a week. I can’t imagine the work it would take to get 4 clients a week that could afford to spend that much on photography. However, it should open your eyes to what the real cost of photography is.
This is a great article on this very subject. http://www.mcpactions.com/blog/2009/10/12/how-should-i-price-my-photography-words-of-advice-from-jodie-otte/
