Prices of everything have gone up since we were in +2 but some people refuse to pay current market price for photography. That's another reason some people are always left wanting good photos of themselves.
Think about how much things changed and are changing. We are using smart phones while our parents waited years to get a phone connection. We catch a flight while our parents used to buy waitlisted train tickets. Photography too changed by leaps and bounds. It not only takes lot of investment for a photographer to buy right equipment, it takes many years to get it right, to perfect the art. For that reason, good, serious photography that gets results cost more than what some people would want to pay for.
Some people still want to pay what their parents paid many many years back to get that one passport size photo for board exams (while complaining about increasing petrol prices). And surprisingly there are so called photographers who cater to such needs. This is their model: "Pay what you can and I will do what I can, just don't complain later if you don't like the photos." Hilarious that might sound but there are photographers who will take whatever customers are willing to pay for the photos, but no guarantees about anything.
If you take your self-image seriously, you need to find a professional photographer who specialises in portraiture not someone who is willing to do it for whatever you want to pay. Because what we want to pay for some product or service is irrelevant. What is relevant is what we want and and how serious we are about it. Cost of the service is dictated by the market conditions not by our desires.
Thankfully you are at the right place to fix that, to get that one photo of you that you are proud to share with others. Just call or text me.