It is never (only) about the session duration.


The first thing to know about photo service prices is that every photographer prices differently. The second thing to know is that while you may see an “hourly rate” displayed, the session price often covers far more than me taking photos. 


In this article, I cover all of what goes into pricing photography services, and I use my own pricing structure as an example.


It begins before the session


Imagine showing up to a headshot session and you meet the photographer for the first time. There’s some awkward small talk and then some get-to-know-you questions. Then the photographer asks, “So what do you want to do?” And you stare back at them, thinking, That’s what I hired you for. No one wants this scenario. It’s a terrible time for everyone!


Prep work

There’s a lot of prep work that goes into making a session go smoothly for you. For all my services, I offer a consult call. For smaller events, you have the choice, but it’s not always necessary if it’s a straightforward party with candid coverage. But if we’re spending any significant amount of time together, there will be a consult call. Internally, I call it a vibe check because that’s essentially what it is. 


After you complete the inquiry form, I will review it and send a scheduler to discuss details. I also do some preliminary research on you, your company, your social media pages, and your products/services. I assume you’ve already gone through my portfolio and understand my style. This call is so we can get to know each other. I’ll ask questions about what you want to do with these photos, and you’ll probably have some questions for me. If you feel comfortable moving forward, I send over the onboarding paperwork, including a thorough branding questionnaire.

 

Pre-shoot planning call

Branding shoots all come with a pre-shoot planning call. But before this call, I’ll review your questionnaire answers. Based on your answers, I custom design your photo session. There’s a shot list, a mood board with potential poses and inspirational imagery, and a shoot plan. You may even send me a Pinterest board to review. 


On the call, I present all of this to you, and we discuss it. We cover the nitty-gritty like props, angles, and crops. We also expand for a big-picture overview, like the brand story you want to tell, the emotions you want a viewer to feel, and the intended audience. After the call, you’ll be sent everything I just presented so you can make notes and/or approve the plan. 


Post-processing time

After the photo session, I upload all the photos to an external hard drive and put your session into my editing queue. As I go through all the photos, I start sorting them out. Blurry, closed eyes, duplicate shots—all gone. There might be a second pass on this cull, too. Then, the big work begins. Based on the session type, I either edit all the photos immediately (events and modern headshots) or I choose a few for sample edits (branding shoots). Editing takes hours, sometimes days. 


For branding shoots, I’ll send over the proofing gallery so you can make selections and approve the sample edits. After your approval, I move on to the editing I mentioned above. Branding shoots take more time to edit than events.


Operational business expenses

So those are all the session-related costs. Then, we move on to operational business expenses! San Francisco has one of the highest costs of living in the US, and that means services and products here cost more than in smaller cities. Not only do I need to make enough to cover business expenses, but I also need to cover living expenses, including rent, meals, and hobbies. 


Other business expenses include:

  • Quarterly income taxes: 30-40% of sales, paid every quarter. There's no employer who is matching my Social Security or Medicare contributions.
  • Registration and other taxes: LLCs must renew annually at $800 in California. There’s also a city business license, and I use a registered agent service to manage any LLC-related items.
  • Health insurance on the marketplace for individuals: ranges from $450-800 per month, depending on what your income level is
  • Business insurance to protect both you and me 
  • CPA and financial planner: I don’t do my own taxes and I don’t have the mental capacity to research investments. My tax filing alone is 50 pages! 
  • Equipment: I use my tech for much longer than the average. I recently upgraded most of it, because it was past time. My camera body alone, with its fast auto-focus, costs $1800, and professional lenses can be $800-1500 apiece. I have a MacBook Pro, because I need a fast processor to run Adobe Lightroom. My monitor is a color-calibrated one, so I can give you the most accurate of photos. Other accessories include a camera neck strap, a double-holster for easy camera access, camera bag, tripod, background surfaces, lens filters, special cleaning supplies to keep the camera sensor and lenses in their best condition.
  • Supplies: several external hard drives so all the photos I take are archived and backed up. Fast memory cards. Extra batteries. 
  • Software: This adds up! There’s my CRM for maintaining my projects and paperwork, bookkeeping, email manager, G-suite, website hosting and registration, gallery hosting (the more photos you have, the more memory you need, the higher the plan cost), Dropbox for more backups, Adobe plans, ClickUp for project management, my to-do app, and a password manager.
  • Continuing education and memberships: You don’t want a photographer who never grows in quality. This means investing in education/professional development courses, attending conferences or events, and professional membership fees. 
  • Retirement funds and contingency plans. If you have an employer, you might have a matching program for your 401(k). Self-employed people don’t have that option. I need to plan for my retirement just like anyone else. If I (knock on wood) get injured, I won’t be able to work. I pay for disability insurance so I have this scenario covered.


Admin time

This is any time spent that isn’t related to a photo session. So that means emailing, checking and refining my processes, making sure my paperwork is up to date, balancing my books, and more. There’s also the time that’s spent on marketing and networking!


Photo experience and skills

And finally, but very importantly, you are also paying for my experience and skills. 


You can have the best equipment in the world, but if you don’t how to use it and you don’t have the photography skills to compose the photos, all of the tools will be moot. A great example of this is the smartphone. You can take some amazing photos with smartphone cameras, yet many of these that you see on Instagram and websites are easily identified as phone photos. Ask a random stranger on the street to take your photo, and you get unflattering angles, bad shadows, smudges, and fingers across the lens.


I have spent years refining my style and my craft. With every shoot, I learn and improve a little more. In addition, I use my marketing experience to guide my branding clients’ shoots. When we’re discussing product or service photos, I will jump in with advice and guidance, filling in any gaps. 


When you pay for photography services, you are not only paying for the session itself and the resulting photographs but also my experience and skills. It starts far before the session and incorporates business expenses and my skill level. This isn’t a hobby; it’s a livelihood. To sustain my life, the business itself needs sustainable pricing.