If you're starting out as a professional photographer, you're probably asking yourself, "How to price my photography services?". We have put together this comprehensive photography pricing guide to help you answer this question. This guide will assist you in determining a competitive and winning pricing for your photography services.
As a professional photographer, you'll want to set your professional photography prices to best represent your brand, your speciality, knowledge, experience, and many other factors. When you are starting out, a cost-plus-profit model can be a good starting point. As you grow and establish yourself, you can start charging premium pricing for photography services to reflect your increased market value and talent.
Factors to Consider When Developing Your Photography Pricing Model:
A lot of different factors influence how much do photographers make. Some of these include the type of work performed, the number of sessions required or even the number of prints and touchups. There are multiple ways to figure out how much to charge for photography based on the output that you are delivering to the client. However, make sure that you factor in your base costs and expenses and make sure that your photography pricing plan is profitable, all things considered.
The basic premise of figuring our- your photography pricing is:
Cost of running your photography business + Cost of goods + Cost of your time and labour + Profit + Taxes
= Pricing
Cost of running your photography business:
Figure out all your input costs. Before answering the question - How much to charge for photography services; make sure you have put together a cost blueprint. From fixed expenses to variable costs – document everything.
The cost of running your photography business will include:
· Equipment costs - cameras, lenses, lighting equipment. Be sure to factor in wear and tear and repair/replacement costs.
· Office/studio costs -You need a place to work and depending on where you are based, it can add up to be a big cost. Even if you are working from your home, assign a rental cost to that space and make sure that your business earns and pays for that.
· Marketing costs -You need to exhibit your work, network with clients, take part in photography contests, advertise, create a great portfolio website and undertake digital marketing activities - these costs add up and are essential to growing your businesses.
· Cost of professional services your business needs like accountant, assistants etc
· Any other general expenses associated with your photography business.
Calculate Your Cost-of-Goods-Sold (COGS)
COGS is the total cost of production of a good or service which includes its labour and material cost as well. If you are providing your client with an 8×10 print, the COGS isn’t only the cost of the print itself. The cost should also include post-production charges, packaging, and shipping charges.
Make sure that you include all hidden costs associated with the final deliverables that you are selling to your clients. For example, even client proofing, storing and delivering digital files have a cost associated with them.
Cost of Your Time and Labor
Remember what Benjamin Franklin said – time is money! Many photographers do not factor in the cost of the time and labour they would invest in an assignment and hence fail to earn adequately. For example, to determine your wedding photography prices, you would need to factor in the time you would spend in pre-production, in travelling and meeting up with the client, setting up equipment, the actual shoot time and the post-production time. Be realistic and factor in delays and overages that are bound to happen.
Adding Your Profit Margin
Once you have figured out the cost of running your photography business, cost of goods sold and the cost of your time and labour, you need to decide on your profit margins. Your profit margin will decide your take-home income and may differ from project to project.
Evaluate your perceived value
Evaluate and know the quality of your product or service. Experience undoubtedly entitles you to good prices but being a beginner too, don’t opt for extremely low prices. Charging too low from the start can decrease the perceived value of your product and service in the market.
Tip: Never work free of charge. Keep a fair price and you could run a special portfolio building discount for your clients. You can even offer up to 100% off in special cases that add a lot of value to your portfolio
Photographers that use professional equipment such as top-of-the-line industry based cameras, lighting, software, and other tools of the trade usually create higher perceived value. Photographers who also have studios, an impressive portfolio, and a professional portfolio website, also suggest a commitment to their craft. All of these indicators justify charging premium pricing for photography.
Some examples of photography speciality areas are:
Portraits Photography – Photographers that specialize in senior portraits usually charge rates on the lower – midrange, but they could potentially have steady work during a specific season and more steady commercial clients. Portrait photography pricing usually varies between $150 - $300 for each session.
Wedding Photography - Wedding photographers perform seasonal work and take up high-pressure photography assignments. They only have one opportunity to capture the moment and take images that create lasting memories. Wedding photography prices can range from $1500 - $3500. Again, as with anything else, wedding photography packages can vary based on experience, your wedding photography portfolio, and nature of the wedding. Some top-shot photographers can charge more than $15,000 for covering destination weddings.
Website Photography - Photographers that specialize in creating images for local websites charge $25-$150 per image. They usually provide work for small businesses in the local area. Many photographers consider the traffic your website is getting before quoting a price.
Product Photography - Product photographers focus on images for smaller products that are used online or offline for independent websites or for sites such as Walmart, Amazon, eBay or major department stores. However, larger ticket items such as automobiles, boats or planes may be used for magazines or in major campaigns. The product photography pricing starts from $25-$150 per image but varies based on the nature of the product and usage of images.
No matter which pricing model you use to calculate your photography pricing, make sure that you have factored in all the variables that we had discussed above.
If you are a full-time photographer, you will need to price your services so that you can make a living from your photography business. You also need to consider that you may not be occupied full-time, all the time.
Do keep in mind the industry price fluctuations, any seasonal factors that might affect your pricing and rework your pricing plans. Eventually, having photography pricing plans can only take you so far. A sound approach to photography pricing would also entail ‘going with the flow’ and being dynamic in your pricing your photography services at all times.
Hopefully, this step-by-step guide on how much to charge for photography would have given you a structure to determine your photography pricing. Just to sum things up, start by identifying all costs, consider the factors that influence the pricing and make sure you add an adequate profit margin to arrive at your photography prices. The ultimate goal of this photography pricing guide is to ensure that you’re running a successful photography business and making a profit.
Wishing you the best of luck!
