Is Tipping Your Photographer Normal?

Often when discussing service industry professionals, the topic of tipping will come up.

Around the world, tipping expectations vary greatly. In some countries, it’s almost never done and even frowned upon such as in Japan.

In the United States, tipping someone is a lot more common. In some industries, it’s the only way a person can make a livable wage, such as servers at a restaurant. We can’t say it’s a good thing, but it’s certainly the norm.

There are many other roles that fit this bill, too, and maybe most often the question of whether to tip or not comes from people looking to travel to a new place to get a better sense of what is expected from them. We certainly did this research ourselves before traveling out of country on a few occasions.

In general, photographers aren’t a factor in the world of tipping for most people, as it’s not normally the type of service professional the average person comes into contact with while traveling. At least, we’re less common than restaurant employees.

Why We Tip

There are normally two primary reasons why anyone gives a tip. These are:

The tip contributes to paying a living wage
The tip is a reward for excellent service

Tipping is most recommended (and not doing it is frowned upon) in instances where not tipping places a burden on the service worker. Going back to the server scenario, if we didn’t give a tip, that worker is making below minimum wage here in the US. This shouldn’t be the fault of the consumer (ie: companies should pay a living wage instead of relying on patrons to give tips), but it’s the culture we live in and we’ve come to accept our role in it.

When it comes to tipping for excellent service, this becomes a more personal thing. It’s not expected, but no doubt people appreciate being recognized for good work. Recognition comes in many forms, and money is a good way to show recognition for sure.

To Tip or Not to Tip

There is no set rule on tipping photographers.

In general, we’d expect tipping would not be expected for most types of photography.

If you are having portraits done at a studio (whether it be a local one or a big box store that offers photos), these tend to be a more formal affair. The pricing at these places is also often designed around upsells after your photos are taken, such as buying prints and so on.

The Wedding & Event Photography Exception

The one exception to our thoughts on tipping may come into play for your wedding & event photographer – especially if they provide an excellent service.

This exception is by no means a rule – and in general these types of photographers don’t expect a tip, but it’s worth considering when you think about the effort and value they provide outside of the norm.

As we’ve come to learn ourselves, wedding photography is hard work. This work begins prior to the wedding day when we create a timeline. On the day of, we do a huge amount of coordination of the event – it’s really quite a strange role especially considering this responsibility should be something another professional (an event coordinator) should be responsible for. Of course, not all weddings have this person on hand – so it falls on wedding photographers.

Outside of these additional responsibilities, wedding days can also be stressful. Taking photos amidst bride & groom anxiety, tough family dynamics, drunk groomsmen, etc. is definitely different than other types of photography.

All of these things come with the terrain of wedding photography – so as a result it becomes the expected working environment of wedding photographers. There are many similarities felt with other type of event photography, too!

Still, at the end of a long day, a tip is (in the least) appreciated. Never expected, and you can use your judgment, but a nice thing – especially if you feel your photographer has done more than average.