Photography guide
How to price photography work
Most photographers price by looking at competitors. A price that ignores your own costs and hours can keep you busy and still lose money. This guide walks through a method you can repeat for every kind of shoot.
By TRYSA Editorial · Published · Updated
1. Count the real hours in a shoot
A two-hour portrait session is rarely two hours of work. Add enquiry replies, planning, travel, setup, culling, editing, delivery and follow-up. For many shoots, the time behind the camera is less than half of the total.
- Before: enquiry, call, contract, planning, travel
- During: setup, shooting, pack-down
- After: backup, culling, editing, gallery delivery, revisions
2. Add your cost of doing business
List what you pay every year to stay in business: gear and its replacement, software, insurance, studio or transport, marketing, phone and data, accounting. Divide by the number of shoots you realistically do in a year. That figure belongs in every price.
3. Set a target hourly rate
Decide what you need to earn in a year, add your yearly costs, and divide by the working hours you can actually bill. That gives you an hourly floor. Multiply it by the real hours from step 1, then add direct costs for the shoot (assistants, location fees, prints).
4. Turn the number into packages
Clients compare packages more easily than hourly rates. Build two or three packages that differ by coverage, number of edited images and delivery speed. Keep extras such as additional images, rush delivery or prints as add-ons, so the base price stays clear.
5. Protect the price with a deposit and terms
A price only works if the booking holds. Take a deposit to secure the date, write down what is included, and state how extra edits or extra hours are charged. See the guide to photography deposit policies for how to structure this.
6. Review prices every few months
Track how long each shoot actually took and what it cost. If a package keeps running over, raise its price or reduce what it includes. Pricing is a system you adjust, not a number you pick once.