How to Price Your Photography: A Guide to Setting Your Rates
By Mitche Graf
Pricing photography can be one of the hardest parts of running a photography business.
You know how much time goes into a shoot. You know how much your equipment costs. You know how many hours you can spend editing a single job.
But how do you turn all of that into a price that works for your business and makes sense to your clients?
The answer isn’t simply to look at what another photographer charges and copy it.
Your pricing needs to reflect your costs, your time, your experience, the service you provide, the market you’re working in and the type of business you want to build.
What are clients actually paying for?
It’s easy to think about photography pricing in terms of the time you spend taking photographs.
A two-hour portrait session might seem like two hours of work.
But that’s rarely the reality.
There may be emails and consultations before the shoot, travel, preparation, equipment maintenance, image selection, editing, gallery preparation, album design, ordering appointments, delivery and follow-up afterwards.
The client isn’t simply paying for the time you spend holding a camera.
They’re paying for your expertise, your creative decisions, the finished photographs and the experience of working with you.
Understanding this is important because otherwise it is very easy to undervalue your own work.
Start with the numbers
Before thinking about what you’d like to charge, understand what your business actually needs to earn.
List your regular business costs.
These might include:
- equipment
- insurance
- software and subscriptions
- website and hosting
- advertising and marketing
- studio or office costs
- professional memberships
- accounting and professional services
- travel and vehicle costs
- printing and production
- training and education
Then consider your personal income requirements and the amount of work you can realistically take on.
This gives you a much clearer picture of the income your business needs to generate.
Don’t forget the time you don’t charge for
A photography business doesn’t earn money for every hour you work.
You may spend considerable time marketing, answering enquiries, updating your website, editing, doing accounts and managing suppliers.
If you photograph three days a week, that doesn’t mean the other two days are free.
They’re part of running the business.
Your pricing needs to allow for all of that work.
Work out what each job really costs
Once you understand your overall business costs, look at individual jobs.
Imagine a portrait session that appears to take two hours.
If you include the consultation, travel, preparation, shooting, culling, editing, gallery preparation and client communication, you may discover that the job takes considerably longer.
That gives you a more realistic understanding of what you’re actually charging for your time.
The same applies to weddings.
The wedding day may be eight or ten hours, but the work around it can extend far beyond the day itself.
Albums, editing, meetings, preparation and delivery all need to be considered when setting the price.
Look at your market — but don’t copy it
It’s useful to research what other photographers charge.
Look at photographers offering similar services in your area and at a similar level.
But don’t assume that another photographer’s price is the correct price for you.
Two photographers can offer something that looks similar on paper while operating very different businesses.
One may have a studio and employees. Another may work from home. One may provide albums and framed artwork as part of the service. Another may deliver digital files only.
Their costs, capacity, experience, reputation and target clients may all be different.
Use competitor research to understand the market, not to decide your price for you.
Decide where you want to position your business
Price is also part of how your business is positioned.
If you want to build a premium photography service, everything around the photography needs to support that position.
That includes:
- your portfolio
- your website
- your communication
- your presentation
- your client experience
- your products
- your consistency
- your professionalism
Simply increasing a price doesn’t automatically create a premium service.
The experience has to support the price.
Likewise, there’s nothing inherently wrong with offering a more accessible photography service. The important thing is to understand what you’re offering and make sure the business remains sustainable.
Price isn’t just about the photograph
A client might compare two photographers who appear to offer the same thing.
Both have cameras.
Both take portraits.
Both deliver edited images.
But the actual experience could be very different.
One photographer might provide detailed guidance before the session, help with clothing and preparation, spend time getting to know the client, carefully select and edit the images and provide a beautifully presented final product.
Another might simply take the photographs and send over a folder of files.
Neither approach is necessarily right or wrong.
But they are different services.
Make sure your clients can understand what they are getting.
Communicate your value
If someone asks why your photography costs more than another photographer’s, the answer shouldn’t simply be:
“Because I’m better.”
Explain what you actually provide.
Perhaps you specialise in a particular type of photography. Perhaps your experience allows you to work quickly in difficult situations. Perhaps your process gives clients considerable support before and after the shoot.
Maybe you provide high-quality albums or wall art rather than simply digital files.
Whatever makes your service different, communicate it clearly.
Clients can’t place value on something they don’t know exists.
Don’t be afraid of your own prices
Many photographers become uncomfortable when talking about money.
They apologise for their prices, immediately offer discounts or start negotiating against themselves before the client has even objected.
If you’ve calculated your prices carefully and believe they are appropriate for the service you’re providing, you don’t need to apologise for them.
Be clear.
Be confident.
And be prepared to explain what the client receives.
That doesn’t mean every enquiry will turn into a booking.
Some clients will have a different budget.
That’s normal.
Your job isn’t to make your photography affordable to absolutely everybody. It’s to build a business around the clients and level of service you want to provide.
What if clients say you’re too expensive?
“You’re too expensive” doesn’t necessarily mean your price is wrong.
It might simply mean that your service isn’t within that particular client’s budget.
There is an important difference.
Don’t automatically respond by cutting your price.
Instead, find out what the client is looking for and make sure they understand what is included in your service.
If appropriate, you might have different packages or options that allow clients to choose the level of service or products they need.
But avoid creating a confusing list of dozens of packages just to accommodate every possible budget.
Keep the choices understandable.
Raising your photography prices
As your business develops, your prices may need to change.
Your costs can increase. Your experience grows. Demand can change. You may improve your products or introduce a higher level of service.
Don’t wait until the business is struggling before reviewing your prices.
Schedule a pricing review periodically.
Look at:
- your current costs
- your actual time per job
- your number of enquiries and bookings
- your conversion rate
- which products and services clients choose
- your profitability
- your workload
- where you want the business to go next
You may discover that your prices are too low.
You may discover that one service isn’t profitable.
Or you may find that your pricing is working well and simply needs to be left alone.
The important thing is to make the decision based on information rather than fear.
Don’t use artificial scarcity
It’s tempting to think that appearing extremely busy will make people value your photography more.
There’s a much better approach.
Build genuine demand.
Provide a good service. Create strong photography. Make the client experience memorable. Ask satisfied clients for reviews and referrals. Keep marketing consistently.
If your diary genuinely fills up, tell prospective clients honestly about your availability.
You don’t need to manufacture scarcity.
A strong reputation is much more valuable than pretending to be busier than you are.
Your price should make sense to you
One of the best tests of your pricing is whether the business works when you actually look at the numbers.
If you’re constantly busy but don’t have enough money left after your costs, something needs to change.
If every job feels financially painful because you’re doing far more work than you’re being paid for, your pricing or service needs reviewing.
And if you’re charging enough to run a sustainable business while providing the level of service you want to offer, you’re in a much stronger position.
The aim isn’t to be the cheapest photographer.
Nor is it automatically to be the most expensive.
The aim is to create a photography business where your prices support the quality of service you provide and the life you want the business to give you.
Price with confidence, but keep learning
There is no single correct price for photography.
Your pricing will depend on what you photograph, where you operate, who your clients are, what you provide and how you want your business to work.
What matters is that you’ve thought it through.
Understand your costs.
Understand your time.
Research your market.
Decide how you want to position yourself.
Make the value of your service clear.
Then review your prices regularly as the business develops.
You should be able to tell a prospective client your price without immediately feeling that you need to justify or apologise for it.
Your photography is a professional service.
Price it accordingly.
