Part of photography and video pricing is knowing the minimum that you can afford to take on a project. For example, some photographers and/or videographers may have a $100 minimum, others $1,000 and some others $10,000+.

I still make mistakes and try to learn from everyone of them like a recent video project that the client said they thought my estimate was too high. My gut feeling told me not to take it on too low, but I negotiated the pricing and paid for it in the end. It ended up being the video project with the most client back and forth of any other video project over the last 2 years and sadly at a much lower price than many other projects. I should have stuck to my gut feeling about the project. However, I don’t plan on making the same mistake twice.

It’s projects like the one above that thicken my skin for future projects like the one in the next paragraph:

I had a video project just yesterday that the caller (very polite by the way) asked if I could come down from $1,500 to $1,000 which is 33% off my quote. I told him that I couldn’t do what he was asking for less than $1,500, but that I knew another videographer that might be interested at $1,000. I called the other videographer that I know and he was interested at the $1,000 price point.

The potential project above became what I consider a win-win-win situation. I may not generate revenue from it, but I provided a solution for a prospect plus helped a fellow videographer who has partnered with me before.

There are two key points to remember to the $1,500 vs. $1,000 example above. 1) If I take on a project for $1,000 that cost me $900 (hypothetical example), is making a $100 profit worth it? 2) If I lower my pricing to $1,000 from $1,500 and I am committed at $1,000, what if a new project comes along for my asking price of $1,500, but I cannot do it because I am tied up on the $1,000 project? I have to consider lost revenue which is a key reason why I try to stick with my pricing model.

Pricing services can be challenging for beginners as well as for veteran photographers and videographers. However, it is critical to have a profitable pricing model. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 50% of all new businesses survive 5 years or more, and about one-third survive 10-years or more.

Pricing is not the only thing that will keep a business going, but I see a lot of poor pricing models with new photographers. Whether you are new to the industry or established, trust some of your gut feelings along with crunching the numbers on paper to create a pricing model that will help you stay in business when others are closing up and saying “the market is too saturated, everyone one is pricing services too low and there is not enough business to go around.”

Sorry, but STOP whining and do something about it if you really want to make a living doing something you love. It’s not going to be easy, but when you start making a full time living doing what you love, it’s very rewarding. You may also want to consider working for an established company rather than being out on your on.

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This blog post is not for staff photographers that earn an hourly wage or salary by working for a company or other photographer. This blog post is also not for the part-time, wannabe, weekend warriors that love tainting this industry with $99 DVD offers. This blog post is for those who want to make a living as a full time professional photographer working for themselves.

There are numerous things that go into setting your pricing as a full time professional photographer: what you want/need to earn, overhead, what the market will bear and much more. The lower your pricing is the more volume you will have to have to earn a living. On the other hand, you may think that if your pricing is too high that no one will ever hire you. That really depends on your work and what the market will bear.

Every industry has top producers that make way beyond the average income of the industry and others who leave the industry because they couldn’t make a living doing it. Photography is no different.

One of the core mistakes new photographers make is profitable pricing. Even veteran photographers can struggle with or second guess their pricing especially with all the new photographers in the market. Even with pricing guidelines, things don’t always just fall into place. It can take some testing of the market to see what clients will pay.

No matter how much volume a solopreneur photographer has, it is hard to make a full time living that actually pays all the core personal bills that almost everyone has plus both business and personal insurance and still having the ability to save money for new gear without going into debt, etc. Doing $99 burn it all to a DVD photography will likely not be a sustainable long term profitable revenue stream. So what’s the answer? Well, I hope something below will help.

This is a good article to check out and no I didn’t steal all my ideas below from it because I already follow a similar model.

When trying to figure out pricing, the segment of the industry will have to be factored in. For example, weddings vs. families vs. commercial vs. home real estate will likely not be able to follow the exact same pricing model because they are all different market segments with different expectations from the various clients in each segment.

If you want to photograph homes in Raleigh, North Carolina and you want to charge $500 per average size home, you will be hard pressed to get that rate unless something you do truly sets you well above others in the market most of which are likely charging $150 or less for the average size home. Can you get more than $150 per average size home? Probably. Can you get $500? That’s a tough one. If the market will not bear your pricing, you’ll have to decide if you are in the right segment or if volume will get you there.

For me, I do like letting clients know an average per image price. The article that I mentioned earlier talks a lot about per image pricing. Although I agree with a lot of what the author is saying, I have my own twist to it. For example, rather than simply say “It’s $100 per image for 10 images and that’s $1,000.” I like to add more value to it by saying “The price is $1,000 for 3 hours on site with a photographer and an assistant, including travel, setup, breakdown, basic editing which adds 3 to 5 hours of post work and that all works out to just $100 per image with lifetime usage rights.”

In the paragraph above, there are numerous ways that a client could look at the $1,000 price point. Some of them may come across as objections. For example, $1,000 is $333 an hour based on 3 hours on site. Well, it’s not really because it’s a photographer and an assistant which is 6 man hours plus travel, setup and breakdown plus post work. If it’s 10 hours of time, that’s $100 an hour. That’s not a crazy fee plus it will quickly puts it into perspective for you as the photographer when you think through it all. You cannot be drastically below that and actually make a full time sustainable living unless you have enough volume to make it work because 1 or 2 gigs a week like this may not be enough for a sustainable long term income.

The article that I mentioned states that full time professionals should charge $75 to $250 an hour. That model does work for events but will not work for every project. At $75 an hour, the actual shooting time like an event that is 3 hours long (for example) that you charge $225 for, but you still have to drive to the event and do basic post work which means your actual time may be 6 to 8 hours. When you divide $225 by 6 to 8 hours, you end up at $28 to $37 an hour. That may sound like good money, but it’s not unless you have enough hours per week every week. You cannot make a living off of 20 hours per week at $28 an hour which is why finding a different rate may be a necessity to staying in business.

My personal rate for corporate events is $200 to $250 an hour which I don’t usually have trouble getting. Yes, there are some professionals that charge $100 to $150 an hour, but I’m not willing to shoot an event for $100 to $150 an hour for multiple reasons including making a profit to pay overhead, buying near gear, paying personal bills and corporate events are often the most physically demanding work that I do. It’s not greed. It’s good business sense. Don’t forget what the $75 an hour example is more like $28 to $37 an hour before all the expenses kick in.

The average annual salary in the US for a photographer is just under 40K per year. If I use 40K as the base, that is $769 per week based on 52 weeks a year ( with no time off ). To actually make $769 per week, you’ll have to have a pricing model in place that will yield that after after all expenses are factored in plus you HAVE to leave room for future gear investments. The gross number will be different for each photographer based on overhead, expenses, etc. You’ll have to crunch some numbers and set some goals. Whatever you do, stay away from a $99 per DVD model because the math is not 8 x $99 per DVD to actually earn $769 per week.

Even if you are a part time, wannabee, weekend warrior photographer, do yourself and the industry a favor and price like a true professional not a low priced, be the cheapest in your market ______ (at a loss for words).

Use the article that I mentioned, along with what I’m saying to help you determine a profitable pricing model. Don’t sell yourself short by being the low price leader in your market.

There is still room in the photography industry for full time professionals. Confidence in your work, quality of your work, working hard and the ability to sell your services all play into your potential success as a full time professional photographer.

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1) Price – This is the #1 reason – hands down. What’s interesting is that I’m NOT pricey.
Although I am often told that I am mid-price point, I am also sometimes notified that a lower price is the reason another photographer was chosen instead of me. That’s perfectly fine with me because I know beyond a doubt that my rates are competitive with the market based on my experience and quality. For those that have the budget, want an experienced photographer and appreciate quality, the rates I quote are not an issue. Pricing only becomes an issue with those on a tight budget that’s more suited for a photographer that’s trying to build a business and undercuts the market to get the business or a photographer that is not full time and does photography on the side. Although I may negotiate on certain projects, I’m not willing to cut my prices by 35% to get most projects. Why? Because another will likely come along that is a great fit for both me and the client that’s in both of our range making it a win-win for both parties. Don’t undersell yourself. That’s a key problem with new photographers.
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2) Decided to do it themselves or have a friend do it or someone has a connection with another photographer.
I probably don’t hear this as much as family and wedding photographers may hear it; however, I still get this as one of the top reasons someone doesn’t come to me. The most recent one was because the CEO knew another photographer and that’s why I didn’t get the corporate event gig. In another case, one company got 7 or 8 quotes from photographers which I was part of that mix only to find out that one of the staff had a relationship with another photographer. For those that choose to have their spouse take their headshot vs. using me, that one is a little harder to swallow than losing a project because someone internally has a relationship with a professional photographer. I know that I get repeat business from the same clients and understand losing projects because the CEO or other key decision maker knows a photographer.
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3) Portfolio – It’s not what they are looking for.
My portfolio appeals to some people and not others. I get that. I don’t do the work that Glyn Dewis and Joel Grimes do. I don’t do crazy creative flips in the air with multiple gels to create surreal images. However, some of my HDR work does look kind of surreal. Anyway, a portfolio is both in the eye of the beholder and based on a specific need the client or agency may have. There are things that I plan to add to my portfolio, but I know that my portfolio will never appeal to every viewer.

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As a photographer, your pricing can only go as high as the market will bear, but that also has a direct correlation to your target market. For instance, if you are a family photographer in Raleigh NC, the market will bear more than $99 for a bunch of images on a CD. However, if your target market is families with a household income of $50,000 per year vs. $150,000 per year, there is a drastic difference in affordability and perception of that $99 CD of images. Houesholds with an annual income will likely not think that $99 CD of images is expensive, but they also may perceived that the quality is not what they are looking for.

Pricing and quality often go hand in hand or at least the perception of quality at a certain price. It’s true that quality can often be given at a lower price, but at the end of the day, it’s about the perception of the person paying for the product or service.

There is another core problem with pricing when it comes to photography. That is your perception of your value and that you just cannot bring yourself to charge above a certain level because you perceive yourself expensive if you charge $199 vs. $99. You have to get past this and charge what you are worth based on what the market will bear.

There are wedding photographers that I know of in the Raleigh market charging as little as $300 to photograph a wedding ( I know because my of my daughters friend.) and wedding photographers charging upwards of $4,000. That’s a large range and it’s also very much based on the market being targeted. $300 is about all my daughters friend could afford and those spending $4,000 on wedding photography likely have a much larger overall wedding budget. If you do wedding photography, do you want to be the $300 photographer or the $4,000 photographer or somewhere in between. Study the market and target the right market because if you are trying to sell a $300 package to someone looking for a $4,000 photographer, you will lose. There is a certain level of perception of quality in the mind of the client at those drastically different price points.

Do you see where I’m headed with this? Here’s the short summary to get you thinking further:

1) What price points will the market you are in bear? Raleigh NC vs. New York City vs. Rural Eastern North Carolina are all different. If you happen to be in Raleigh, there are a wide range of price points for various photography services. Don’t go broke trying to be the cheapest photographer in Raleigh.

2) What is the specific market that you are targeting? If you want to be a $4,000 wedding photographer in Raleigh not only had you better be on your game, but you should also be targeting brides that can afford that price point because you cannot sell a $4,000 wedding package to someone that has set aside $500 for wedding photographer. OK, maybe you can, but it’s not likely.

3) How do you feel about your photography? It’s true that some photographers need to get more practice, but my guess is that there are a lot of photographers out there under selling themselves with the number one reason being a lack of confidence in their work. Bottom line, don’t sell yourself short. Charge what you are worth.

4) There is a direct correlation most of the time with how a client perceives price and quality. But no matter how great your quality is, if you are trying to sell it to the wrong market, you will not be successful. Peter Hurley in the heart of New York City gets $1,200 +/- for a headshot. That’s way higher than the Raleigh market for a headshot. Know your market and price your services accordingly without being the absolute cheapest photographer on the planet.

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1) No matter what price point you are at, there will always be a market. For example, there are photographers who do weddings for $500 and those who do weddings for $20,000 and both stay busy.

2) It’s really about the perception of the person asking about your services. Do they like your work? What do they consider a acceptable price for the services being offered? Do they have the budget to pay for your services? Even the photographers that charge $99 to burn all the images to a CD will not be a fit for everyone. Those who are flat broke cannot even afford $99 and those that have larger budgets will likely not consider the $99 photographer because of quality concerns or things like they must be new if they are that cheap.

Complicated Pricing Model…
There is no need to complicate your pricing model to the point that you lose business because of it. I was recently hired to do headshots for someone that shared a pricing model story with me. It’s kind of like one of those offers of get in the door for peanuts but to get what you really want, you leave broke. That doesn’t leave the client feeling good. Don’t get me wrong, I understand upsells, etc. But don’t make the process so complicated. Make your pricing model as easy as ABC not *#^X%D@!

Here’s how my pricing model works: A) This is what you get. B) This is what it will cost. C) If you want more, it’s X. That’s easy as ABC and can be understood without a lot of thought.

Value To The Client Pricing…
A veteran photographer told me a story about charging $6,000 for family portraits. Sounds like a lot doesn’t it? Well, it wasn’t a lot to the family using his services. He later found out that the lady stated that although his quality was great that she could not refer him to her friends because she usually paid $12,000 to $15,000 for similar services. Yes, this is a true story. Don’t undersell yourself.

I have a similar story that I will not share the dollar figure with because I shot myself in the foot with my quote. The quote was for a full day commercial photoshoot for a big brand with an assistant. When I provided the quote, I could tell that the lady on the other end of the phone thought it was a great value. I did get the project and I did build a great relationship with the person who hired me. But it taught me a lesson. Price is in the eye of the beholder based on the value that he or she associates with the services being provided.

The opposite of the above is also true. No matter what you quote, it will not always be in someone’s budget. You are likely going to here things like “that’s a little more than I was expecting to pay” or like a fellow photographer friend of mind said some stated about her “she’s expensive.” Just to put the “She’s expensive!” into perspective. My friend quoted something like $350 for a photoshoot. That may be expensive if the person getting the quote usually pays half that for similar service. BUT I know that my friends quality, experience and professionalism are well worth the price different.

When Price Is The First Question, Then, Hang On
One of the key things that I have learned about answering phone calls concerning my headshot photography services is that when the very first question is “How much do you charge for a headshot?” vs. the caller saying “I need an updated headshot for Linkedin, Publication, Website..,” the scheduling ratio is higher on those who DO NOT ask about pricing as soon as I answer the phone. As a matter of fact, I close the majority of headshot inquiries that DO NOT ask about pricing first thing. 

I’m $125-$190 for a headshoot shoot that includes lots of variety and basic editing which is extremely competitive for the Raleigh market but not as low as a photographer who may be working out of his or her home and definitely not as low as JcPenney.

To Summarize…
1) No matter what you charge, there will most likely be a market for that price point.
2) Don’t complicate your pricing model. Make it as easy as ABC.
3) Pricing is in the eye of the beholder.
4) Figure out your response when the first question is “How much do you charge for X?”

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In photography, so many people get a “nice digital camera” and decide they will be a weekend warrior burning numerous images of a family to a CD for $99. That’s fine for people who are shopping price and don’t mind working with someone who has a “nice digital camera” but really doesn’t know a lot about photography. There will likely ALWAYS BE those type of photographers.

The wedding photography industry also has these type of photographers who may shoot for $399 for several hours of coverage and hundreds of images. Not everyone can afford the $3,999 photographer and again, I say, “That’s fine and there will likely ALWAYS BE those type of photographers.” Price is not the end all cure all. When it comes to price, there should also be a quality and market balance in the mix.

Quality is often, but not always, associated with pricing that is NOT the cheapest in the market. Notice, I did not say, “Quality should be EXPENSIVE.” There are some photographers who do both themselves and the industry a disservice by providing premium quality at a discounted rate below the market. There is nothing wrong with not being the cheapest price in town. The price a photographer charges should include multiple factors that can often be too complex to cover in a short blog post.

As for pricing in the market, that will vary from Rural North Carolina to Raleigh, North Carolina to New York City and beyond. Pricing is often reflective of the market that a photographer is located in especially if the photographer does not travel outside the local market as well as whether the photographer is focused on consumer vs. commercial work. Even within the consumer and commercial markets, budgets will vary based on multiple factors like the income of a family or their willingness not to spend more than X on photography services and the same holds true with companies because they still try to maintain a budget. In both scenarios, that doesn’t mean either will choose the lowest priced photographer.

For me personally, I have worked hard to find out the pricing in the market that I target primarily by getting feedback from inquiries about what others have quoted, what their budget is, etc. I like knowing whether my quote is low, medium or high compared to any other quotes. I’m not out to be the lowest quote nor be considered “EXPENSIVE.”

It’s not always easy to find the price vs. quality balance, but it is one area that photographers should find their own personal balance: Profit is NOT a dirty word. It’s not good business practice to simply say, “I’ll be the lowest in my area.” I know from being hired numerous times for projects that my clientele on the corporate side are rarely looking to hire the lowest priced photographer they can find. What they are often looking for is a quality end product at a fair market price from an experienced photographer. Experience comes with time, but finding the price and quality balance in the market can all come together relatively quickly.

Happy Pricing!

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