Because there is lots of debate here part of me can see it been reasonable to an extent.
Lets say they takes 200 useable photos each day over 2 days so he had 400 photos that require editing. Lets assume its the typical editing which takes <5min for a pro.
Lets say he spend 12 hours each day on photos.
24h taking.
It will take approximately 34h hours to edit.
lets say another 24h sorting them down to the 400.
In total we have 82 hours of work. if we assume he does 12 hours on the weekend both days (taking the shots) but only 8 hours the following days this will take him a full 7 days to finish.
Lets assume he sells 25% of his photos. 100photos at $30 =$3000
If he pays himself $25/h he will earn $2050 for his work. I think anyone will say this is a reasonable pay day. I think most will think $25 is pretty decent.
This leaves him with $950 to cover all his cost for the trip , maintenance and kit which is more than enough, no doubt will have a hefty profit left here too.
Equipment needs to be calculated over the life of said equipment so it would add very little to each photo, the computer is very low maintenance and for a editing station they are not that expensive over time, and this assumes it is only used for editing and not personal use, the more personal use it is used for the less they can charger to the customer, it cost nothing to store photos, You can buy a 2TB hard drive for $100. I cant say I know how often photographers buy new kit in regards to the camera, but there is also a point where having the best is not needed, and in that case when it becomes a want for a better camera not a need for the photo quality the customer should not need to pay for the photographers extra enthusiast nature, no this would come out of the photographer pay. Its only when the gear is needed for the photo the rider wants. If you can get an identical photo from lower end gear say a 400D but he uses a 5k camera that yields the same result ,this cost should not be passed on to the consumer, the same goes for the computer if you can get the same results from a 2k computer but you go buy a top like mac for 5k that is your choice and the customer should not pay for that, their enthusiast nature that makes them want the higher end stuff is their pocket not ours.
Of course we need to consider these figures are estimates and he may only sell 10% of photos so who knows what the actual figures are.
On the other side if you buy your photos in bulk he is selling these for half price so his pay is dropped.
Do I still think its way too expensive?
Yes without a doubt.
If he is paying himself 25 an hour of pure profit and more than likely will have more left over from the remainder after expenses its a pretty decent wage and haul for himself. However on the flip if he isn't selling enough and needs to up the price to break even while I don't think that justifies the cost of the photo you can understand why he has made it expensive.
Regardless of his position $30 for a digital copy is way too much money no matter what way you slice it, just because it cost you something because your sales are down does not justify it been more expensive. I cant buy 100 staplers for $500 and than sell 2 for $250 because I cant sell them to break even. They are still only worth $5 each. If he is however doing well and paying himself a large wage that makes me even less inclined to buy them.
M2c
