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It’s REALLY hard to decide what to charge for your professional photography business. We dig deep into different portrait photography pricing models, discuss the benefits of both low and high price points, and show you how to calculate what you need to make a real living wage from your art.
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RECOMMENDED PHOTOGRAPHY GEAR:
STARTER CAMERAS:
Basic Starter Camera ($280 used at Amazon): Canon T3
Better Starter Camera ($500 at Amazon): Nikon D5300
Better Travel Camera ($500 at Amazon): Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark II
LANDSCAPE CAMERAS:
Good ($550 at Amazon): Sony a6000
Better ($1,400) at Amazon: Nikon D5500 & Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8
Best ($3,150) at Amazon: Pentax K-1 & Pentax 24-70 f/2.8
PORTRAIT CAMERAS:
Beginner ($950 at Amazon): Canon T6i & Canon 50mm f/1.8
Better ($3,000 at Amazon): Nikon D610 & Tamron 70-200 f/2.8
Best ($5,300) at Amazon: Nikon D810 & Nikon 70-200 f/2.8E
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Starter ($1,100 at Amazon): Canon 7D & Canon 400mm f/5.6
Great ($3,200 at Amazon): Nikon D500 & Nikon 200-500 f/5.6
VIDEO CAMERAS:
Beginner ($500 at Amazon): Panasonic G7 & Panasonic 14-42mm
Better ($1,400 at Amazon): Panasonic GH4 & Panasonic 14-140 f/3.5-5.6
Best ($4,300 at Amazon): Panasonic GH5 & Metabones Speed Booster XL & Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 & Sigma 50-100 f/1.8
DRONES:
Beginner ($400 at Amazon): DJI Phantom 3
Travel ($1,000 at Amazon): DJI Mavic Pro
Better Image Quality ($1,500 at Amazon): DJI Phantom 4 Pro
I like these videos, and I really appreciate them, but I would really like to see a video on the photography career before you go full-time freelancer. This is great stuff, but I also feel like a lot of people need to know what kind of experience you need to even get to this point. Maybe videos on how to get a traditional photography job, something inhouse, or maybe shoot for a magazine. Stuff like that. There's just a lot of avenues to take before freelancing. Hell, even big hospitals have their own photography departments.
Don´t you have a sister Chels? 🙂
Question I am looking into a photography who is charging 250 for a 3 hour session. And the digital files are 2,000$ what’s your opinion do you think this is fair?
Tony is so chill I play his videos next to my beers to make them frosty
Hi, SuperNerd here, learning photography.
Set your pricing based on "Location". Hum, I live in Niantic, CT and there is this awesome husband and wife photography team just across the river 🙂
I get this, and deal with it in my own work (not photography) but it irks me to death. Small town or New York city, people line up to pay $1000.00 every year for the next new iPhone – and act like they can't live without one. Then they spaz out at the cost of one of my pieces, which will last for 15 to 20 years. There's a strange psychology at work in consumers.
Im on Long Island NY…and it is VERY hard to set prices…I work on vehicles and other things, BUT your rule still applies…and yes it is hard for me to do it…For everyone watching here, ….out of all the work I have done for anyone…there is only ONE person…that if I tell him to give me what its worth..he always give's me double what I was going to charge…That is with ONLY one person…Craigslist is very bad for setting up buying something and they never show…even tho you put everything off then they dont respond…and that get me…and it goes back to where I dont like liars…
Not sure if you guys have updated this BUT most photographers don't sell prints because of taxes. If you charge $300 for the photo session and then sell a print from that session for say $50 then you MUST pay sales tax on the entire total of $350. That's how it works in my state and why most people I know don't do prints they'll refer the client to a site online that does prints. It just doesn't make financial sense for photographers to sell prints thanks to the wonderful tax laws.
Oh, he said Oklahoma. I thought he said "if you're a local homo".
I believe there seems to be a disconnect.
I know this is late in the game – but don't forget Olan Mills. I think most of our family pictures growing up had an Olan Mills logo stamped in the corner. And apparently they are still in business.
Upvote just for Tony's "42" answer
Would LOVE to see a video of Chelsea playing the piano…. 🙂
Tip: Don't ever add your photography equipment to your homeowners insurance because any claim goes against your home, possibly affecting your ability to renew. You don't want to make such small claims against your home, only the huge disastrous claims. Always get a stand alone policy for your gear, including liability insurance for at least $1 million.
Next time, place the laptop well; It's bothering me. I'm scared. LOL
Just got my first "real" product photography shoot and came across this video as research on how to charge the client (although I have been a fan of your vids for years). Question: How do you answer the question of can I have "all of the photos" to a client who is uh…actually paying for your time and for you to shoot them? I guess I need some schooling on licensing. Do I retain rights? I would expect that they can use the images for whatever and however long they want if they are paying me to shoot their product? I started this shoot out as being added on as a still photographer to a video shoot a friend of mine was doing for the product. I shot the first day for free and they have decided to pay me for subsequent shots/time so it wasn't the standard, "here is my rate and contract if you want me" when I started. I have yet to invoice them but want to get it right. Any advice from Tony, Chelsea, or any other professional product photographers would be appreciated.
Life is not about profit and loss accounts and balance sheets! A deeper sense of purpose, passion and perfection is what that should drive us to enjoy the hard work that becomes second nature. Once you have that pride in your work, things like setting rates for your work will just follow with confidence. Never look at the prices of other people .. instead focus and communicate about what makes you different and better. Most importantly, you need to be able to show that you have really good stuff in your portfolio, even if it means you need to take more time preparing it.
A friend of a friend called me so I can shoot her wedding. We talked about location, time, etc., we got together to show her my portfolio, she did not have a computer. We talk about my price and she said that it was too much, and counter offered me half of what I asked. She proceded to tell me of her daughters sweet sixteen photos she had a month before, she went to Miami and paid $1500 for them. She traveled 6 hrs, hotel, food, etc., and she wanted to pay me half of my fee. At that moment, I said thank you for your interest, and walked away. I did recommend a person that does weddings for less than $500. I do give discounts, but this was ridiculous. Lots of my photographer friends are no longer doing weddings because of this reason.
Thanks, great stuff! You covered a lot of area with great tips.
Project rate is the best way to charge in my experience. Get all the info, then build out a quote. This allows you to book both $400 jobs and $25K jobs. Doing an hourly rate severely limits your earning potential. How do you justify a $25K bill when you are charging hourly?
get serioua
42! 🤣 love it! ( dont panic! Only a few will get that!)