The Business of Photography: Pricing with Confidence
By Alex Harper • 9 min read
Pricing is not a vibe. It’s math, clarity, and confidence built on a few core decisions. When you know your costs, product, and licensing, the conversation stops feeling like a test and starts feeling like a service. This guide offers a simple way to build a baseline, present options, and protect your profit.
Start with an annual target. Add living expenses, taxes, equipment, insurance, and profit. Divide by realistic billable days. The result is a day rate that covers time alone, not expenses or licensing. If that number scares you, that’s good—it means you’re seeing the whole picture and can decide how to meet it with product mixes.
Define packages that match common needs. For portraits, you might offer a starter session with one hour, one look, and a small number of retouched images; a standard session with two hours and two looks; and a premium experience with wardrobe, makeup, and a larger delivery. Each package includes pre‑production, shooting, editing time, and a usage scope.
Separate creation from usage. Creation covers your time and costs; usage is the value delivered through licensing. For personal portraits, usage is often personal and perpetual. For commercial work, licensing depends on geography, duration, and media. A regional, three‑month, web‑only license costs less than a global, two‑year, print‑plus‑web campaign. Write the scope clearly so clients can compare apples to apples.
Quote options, not a single number. Present a good, better, best structure. Good meets the brief with a lean scope; better adds value clients commonly want; best solves the brief and adds reach or production quality. Options anchor expectations and reduce haggling because the client is choosing between values, not arguing about one figure.
Protect profit with terms. Include a reschedule policy, overtime rate, kill fee, and clear delivery timeline. Specify how many retouched images are included and what additional edits cost. Define what constitutes a change in scope so you can re‑estimate politely if the brief grows. Clarity is kindness for everyone.
Make payment simple. Accept bank transfer and card via an invoice link. Ask for a retainer to secure the date, then the balance at delivery. For larger productions, stage payments by milestones—pre‑production, shoot wrap, and final delivery. Predictability builds trust.
Finally, deliver like a pro. Send a one‑page PDF proposal with visuals, bullet points, and dates. Follow with a polite recap email. On acceptance, send an invoice and a brief that restates scope and deliverables. When the job wraps, deliver on time with a thank‑you note and a small next‑step suggestion. Confidence grows when your process makes buying easy.