It would be nice to set your rates when starting a photography business and then forget about them. But for a profitable operation, you should constantly monitor and adjust your photography pricing.
The reality is that pricing models look different for every photographer and depend heavily on factors like experience level, location, and niche. Your prices need to reflect the services you’re offering and cover all business expenses.
Here’s how to set your photography prices and packages for stability and growth.
Jump to:
- Why pricing your photography correctly matters
- Photography pricing models: Which one is right for you?
- What to include in your photography packages
- How to calculate your photography rates
- How to communicate your pricing with confidence
- Manage payments, clients, and more in HoneyBook
Why pricing your photography correctly matters
One of the biggest mistakes that beginner photographers make is undervaluing their work. You might think that pricing your services lower than other photographers will give you a competitive advantage, but that’s not necessarily true.
When you’re just starting out, it makes sense to set prices that reflect your experience level. While this may be a little lower than an experienced photographer, you’ll want to avoid pricing that’s too low. At low rates, you’ll have to work more to cover business expenses, pay taxes, and pay yourself a reasonable salary. Over time, that could lead to burnout and make it difficult to scale your business.
Charging high photography costs can also cause problems. If your prices are too high, you’ll struggle to attract a consistent client base, making it difficult to grow your business.
You’ll need to find a balance between pricing your customers are comfortable with and rates that comfortably cover your expenses.
Photography pricing models: Which one is right for you?
There are a few different ways to present your prices for a photoshoot, and there are pros and cons for each. Here are the three most common pricing strategies for photographers.
| Definition | Best for | Pros | Cons | |
| Hourly/day rate | You charge a set rate per hour or per day. The longer the project takes, the more you’ll earn. | Editorial photography, commercial photography, or other niches with unpredictable shoot lengths. | If a project takes significantly longer than you expected, you’ll be compensated for that extra time. | As you gain experience, you’ll start working more efficiently, which means you’ll earn less per job. |
| Package pricing | You charge a flat rate for each project. You offer different packages for shoots of different lengths or complexity levels. | Portrait photography, wedding photography, and event photography. | These packages are easy to sell to clients, because they’ll know upfront exactly how much they are spending. They also make it easier for you to forecast revenue. | If a job takes significantly longer than usual, you won’t be compensated for that extra work. |
| License/usage pricing | Your rates are based on where and how long the client wants to use the photos. The more exposure the photos get, the more you’ll get paid. | Commercial photography or product photography, where the images will be used in advertising campaigns or other public-facing media. | If your image ends up in a huge international campaign, you’ll be compensated appropriately for exposure. | This pricing model can be difficult to explain to clients. It can also be difficult to predict exactly how much you’ll earn. |
Many professional photographers use a mix of all three pricing models, depending on the specific project they’re working on.
What to include in your photography packages
Having established professional photography packages makes it easier to sell your services to potential clients. This way, they know exactly what they’ll get.
Each photography package should specify how long the shoot will take and what it includes. If you offer different types of photography, be sure to clarify exactly what you’ll capture and what kind of gear you’ll use.
Each package should also include a set number of edited images. Clarify how much editing you provide for clients and how long it typically takes to edit the photos in post-production. For example, some professional photographers only offer basic retouching, while others offer more extensive color grading and item removal. Specify whether you offer printed photos, digital delivery only, or both.
After you’ve established your photography packages, set pricing for specific add-ons. Popular add-ons include:
- Rush delivery
- Extra images
- Premium albums
- Public licensing rights
- A second photographer at the shoot
With HoneyBook, you can present your packages to clients using beautiful proposal templates. This way, clients can find the answers to questions about your photography pricing options without back-and-forth. And, after the shoot’s over, you can use HoneyBook to send automated invoices based on the package the client chose.
How to calculate your photography rates
Many photography pricing guides give vague advice about industry price ranges, but you can set your rates based on information you already have.
Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how to calculate your photography rates:
- Research local and niche market rates: Finding the right pricing may require some trial and error. After calculating a target rate, compare that rate to competitors in your local market and niche. You may need to adjust your pricing strategy slightly to stay competitive. It’s also important to periodically review and update your photography pricing as you gain experience and the market evolves.
- Calculate your cost of doing business: Start by adding up all the regular monthly expenses you have as part of your business, including cameras, lenses, and other photography equipment, studio rentals, editing software, insurance, marketing costs, continuing education, and taxes.
- Set a target income: Next, decide on a target monthly income you want to earn. It’s important to be realistic here, but don’t sell yourself short. Make sure your target income is enough to cover expenses and pay yourself comfortably.
- Estimate your billable hours: Add up the number of billable hours you work on in the average month. Time spent shooting is just one part of this: be sure to also factor in time for editing, travel, communicating with clients, and other administrative tasks.
- Divide your target income and expenses by billable hours per project: Now that you have your estimates, calculating your rate is a simple math problem: (Target income + expenses)/Billable hours = Target hourly rate. From there, you can use your target hourly rate to set pricing packages.
Annual break-even number
Annual variable costs + Monthly fixed costs X 12 + Budget padding
= Break even number
How to communicate your pricing with confidence
Many photographers feel hesitant to share their rates, especially when they’re just starting out. This pricing anxiety is understandable. You might be worried that you’ll scare clients away with high prices or that your rates are too low to cover expenses.
Communicating your photographer pricing with confidence makes these conversations less awkward. Most clients are just wondering, “How much does a photographer cost?” They want to know how much you charge so they can make an informed decision.
Try these tips to confidently share your photography rates with clients:
- Lead with value: Instead of starting the conversation with your pricing, focus on your mission statement and the benefits clients get from working with you. Share your portfolio so they can see your skills in action. This way, when fees do come up, clients have seen the value and are more willing to make an investment.
- Use an intake form: Place a client intake form on your website for clients to fill out before a discovery call. This form should include a question about budget so you’ll know if you’re on the same page right away. With HoneyBook, you can create custom lead forms that integrate directly with your CRM to collect relevant customer info.
- Build a professional pricing guide: Instead of providing verbal quotes or one-off emails, create a visually appealing pricing document you can send to potential clients. With HoneyBook’s templates and tools, you can create a pricing guide with testimonials to share with potential customers or even build custom proposals for each client.
Manage payments, clients, and more in HoneyBook
HoneyBook’s all-in-one client management platform makes it easy to share your pricing and win over photography clients.
With HoneyBook’s extensive template library, you can create custom proposals and pricing documents, and then track everything in HoneyBook’s CRM. When it’s time to pay, automated invoices and reminders remove all the guesswork.
Try HoneyBook free today to see how it can transform your photography business.
