How to Set the Price for Your Photography
It is not uncommon for entry level photographers to feel uncertain about what to charge for their work. Many feel as though price structures are the most complicated area of their business. As a result, these photographers under cut themselves and unknowingly undervalue their work.
Don’t be overwhelmed. Take the guess work out of pricing your work by thinking through the following aspects:
1. Know your market: What is the average value of photographers work in your area? Compare and contrast and decide where your work can fit in. Don’t forget to evaluate your service, quality of imagery, and professionalism.
2. Know your client: Some people would rather pay more for a service if it means higher quality. Some people cannot afford anything but the basics. Determine what clients you want to reach and begin arranging your price structure from here. Take note: Unless you are in similar circles and arena’s as your potential clients, you may find it difficult to keep to a higher price bracket.
3. Evaluate your investment: How much time to you put into a senior shoot? A wedding? Evaluate hours of prep, driving, shooting, editing, development, service, quality, and interaction. When you have an idea of your hours of investment per shoot, divide your price by this number. How much are you really making by the hour? What is your return on investment?
4. Determine your expenses: Every photographer has expenses above and beyond the time spent in a shoot. This is where many photographers fall short of “making it” in the business; they have not learned to identify the additional expenses of running this business outside jobs. Equipment costs. Time spent. Services. Presentation and packaging. Insurance. Unless your jobs can cover this overhead, you will be hurting for a way to increase your income. Add up this number to get a ball park figure of additional coverage from your jobs.
5. Establish your jobs: Total your hourly rate, and your expenses. This is the number you need to shoot for when pricing your work. After you have totaled this number, divide it by how many jobs you would like per year. This final number is what you ought to charge for your sessions and shoots. Of course, you may need to adjust your pricing more or less, or increase the number of jobs you aim for. At this rate, you will be able to target the pricing of your work to maximize your overall profitability.
21 Responses to “How to Set the Price for Your Photography” - Add Yours
October 14th, 2009 at 2:15 am
I have established prices for my “standard” photography services. The challenge in pricing I have found comes from requests that go outside those standard photography services. Like last week a videographer wanted me to just shoot behind the scenes shots of his product set at two different locations. Also, shoot the models with the product as best I can given the setting when time permits. No editing required, just submit the photographs.
I came up with $50 an hour because I knew the job would be 9am to at least 5pm affair. It ended up going to 6pm and I was very satisfied with the pay rate I got for the job considering the hours I put in.
October 14th, 2009 at 3:00 am
In response to the picture in this article, it says 3 hours shooting and 6 hours of editing.
I learned that you should not be longer busy with editing then shooting. So if your shoot is 3 hours, then you should edit for a maximum of 3 hours. If that isn’t the case, then you are doing something wrong.
October 14th, 2009 at 3:05 am
Thanks for this article! I think we too often under value the time that goes into a session. The client only sees the hour you spend with them when you’re behind the camera. They forget the numerous emails, calls, travel and editing.
October 14th, 2009 at 3:23 am
Very good and helpful article; but what about art photos. What is the price of limited edition framed & signed photos?
I’ll be honest; I consider base costs such as framing and printing etc. and then I add some tags based on my own feelings about the photos. For some of the photos such as prestigious award winners I’m not reducing the price. But sometimes I feel like I need to reduce the prices and I do so.
In Turkiye, there is a very small market for art photography and there are very few number of art photographers. Maybe you know more about art photography price tags. I would love to read an article about that as well.
Take care..
October 14th, 2009 at 4:25 am
Another thing worth noting is that pricing by the hour is not a very client friendly method as it is very hard to exactly predict hours before-hand and the client almost always wants a final price. It is much better to generate a single static price with a very specific list of deliverables.
In order to calculate the final price, do like above and calculate an hourly rate and then estimate the total hours. However, the hourly rate itself should remain confidential from the client. Most clients don’t think in terms of expenses and such, if you go in and say that you charge $100/hr, they immediately think that is full profit and in their head they being calculating exactly what you make a year, so in their mind they figure out how much you make at 8 hours a day, 52 weeks a year and they start to think, man this guy is greedy, if he charges $100/hr he makes over $200 000/year! They don’t consider that you will not often be booked 40 hour/week and they also don’t consider the other expenses associated with creating what you create.
With an quote, be as concise as possible. Have a specific list of exactly what you will give. How many photos, In what form they will be delivered, how long it will take, how long you will spend on site shooting etc. Also it is often wise to come up with a few quotes with different options to give the client choice.
Try to make your estimate as detailed and concise as possible and also try to leave openings so that you can “over-deliver”, for example, if you plan to deliver 40 photos, deliver 45 and make sure the client knows that you gave them some “extra” as a bonus. Remember that 95% of their opinion of you is formulated by the final 5% of the job.
October 14th, 2009 at 9:14 am
I went through this when I got asked for a quote for my first job. I would have charged far less, but a friend urged me to get my price up, so I set it at $600 for a full-day shoot + $300 for post-processing, making it $900 per day of shooting. I held my breath as I passed the quote across the desk, but I got the contract.
October 14th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
I used a sample format for CDB (Costof Doing Business) worksheet. added all of the vairables to establish my base price per hour. When it comes to doing jobs outside of my normal business I give a daily quote and discount it based on the work/shoot to be done. If I do portraits for friends or family I quote my standard rate with a discount. That way when someone see my work and asks, I have told my friends and family that they got a discount, and it is reflected in an invoice they get. I don’t undercut myself for what my rate should be, and if I feel that I can work with a new client I can comprimise without killing my self. Hope this makes sense.
October 14th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
I was asked recently how much I would charge to do a group portrait. As I do not normally do portraits I was stumped for a response. This article has given me a starting point to come up with one. Thank you!
October 16th, 2009 at 11:32 am
Great article and it touches on points that most customers don’t also realize – that there’s more work than capturing the photographs.
Sincerely,
John Michael
http://www.John-Michael.net
“Preserving the memories so others will remember…”(tm)
October 16th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
I include everything, calls, text messages, equipment hire (don’t have my camera as yet), transport.
The shoot itself: type of shoot/hours taken which I label as labour/ creative
Post-production: editing, packaging.
October 16th, 2009 at 9:40 pm
I can’t tell you how many bride’s fathers (who have to write the check, but seldom see the work done) who have said to me, “I can’t believe you’re charging me so much for FOUR HOURS of work!
I have to gently explain to them that, from first meeting, through formal sitting, casual sitting, selection meeting, wedding (the 4 hours), processing, printing, book choice meeting, book assembly, portrait printing and final delivery, a wedding photographer puts in about FORTY hours!
Then I say, “I don’t know how much you need for YOUR 40 hours of work, but I know how much I need! They usually understand, then.
The point is that the customer has to be educated as to what he/she is getting when they hire a professional.
October 16th, 2009 at 11:07 pm
THANK YOU for this article. As a very new NEWBY, I struggle with this ALL the time. THANKS AGAIN!
October 16th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
A good article. I agree with Jitzul: Approaching your client with a per hour number may become the deal breaker as hearing “$100 p/hr” may freak them out and get them calculating the hours they think you’ll need.
I have also had friends encouraging me to up my prices simply because they know that I not only do whatever I can to get the best shots possible, but the care I take in going through every shot in post pays off in reputation points, leading to more clients. It’s a tricky part of this business, but as the article expresses (and I have been learning) calculating your time and expenses outside of the actual shoot are things we newbies pass off, so be careful to understand your TOTAL value.
October 17th, 2009 at 7:02 am
I have just entered 3 images into a local (country town) art show held during a big market day weekend at the local church hall.
They have asked for a price on each image.
This is a first for me so I have not used archival paper or mat – just some Ikea frames (A3 size,mat included).
The images are glossy 8X12.
My thoughts were to cover the cost of the printing + frames + entry fee + 20% church commission and then I get confused . . . . I am proud of the images but I am still a happy hobbyist. . .
any tips???? . . . ;)))
October 18th, 2009 at 10:00 am
annems – triple or quadruple your COSTS. The “norm” is 2.25 times your cost, but if they really want your work, they will pay the price you put on it, period. Example – I get 24″ x 36″ prints and I sell them at 4 times my cost, and that is print only.
October 20th, 2009 at 1:44 am
Must read article on pricing structure: http://mcpactions.com/blog/2009/10/12/how-should-i-price-my-photography-words-of-advice-from-jodie-otte/
Best article i’ve ever read on really understanding what goes into our prices.
October 20th, 2009 at 4:07 pm
I have been taking a course with a well known landscape photographer. Part of the class is on marketing your work. He says that an hourly charge for a “photographer for hire” rate is cheap at $100.00 per hour. He says most are getting $200-300 per hour.
That must be understood as different from coming up with a price for a print you are selling.
October 22nd, 2009 at 8:37 pm
It’s a good start to be thinking towards an hourly wage, even better a salary, but there are so many other elements to consider for a freelancer when pricing: overhead costs to keep your operation physically running, taxes, retirement/pension, insurance, marketing, equipment and computer upgrades, continuing education and training, and the list goes on. A hobbyist shoots for beer money, but a freelancer can’t survive for long at those rates. “Take home pay” is just a slice of a freelance photographer’s rate.
I would argue that you might be undercutting yourself and undervaluing your work.
October 28th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
What about weddings? I have only done one wedding, and it was for a family member. I did it as their wedding gift. Now, after seeing the photos, I’m getting requests for pricing info. I notice most photographers do the wedding books. I have never done one and to be honest, the thought terrifies me! What is a good price method for weddings in a small town?
November 11th, 2009 at 7:58 am
Wow. This article and the follow up comments are fantastic! I really appreciate all of the information here.
I’m primarily an art photographer, but will take on promotional jobs (musicians, products, etc.) and have not had a clue as to what to charge.
This has been very, very helpful!
Jennifer Moore
JenniferLynn Productions, LLC
November 17th, 2009 at 7:07 am
This is a great article to help you personally and to help those newbie photographers who ask you, “how do I know what to charge.” I was just asked that question today. Thanks for giving me an article to share with them!
Paula
TreeFrog Studios
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