Glance at the summary firstThe summary from the end of the lesson, as a road map before you start reading.
A shoot's price starts with a floor price made of the job's direct costs, its share of the overhead shared across all jobs, and all the unbilled hours together with the shoot multiplied by the hourly value; on top of this, the value the photos will bring the client and the usage rights defined by medium, duration and region are added to build a value-based price. In negotiation the scope, not the price, is adjusted, an expert is consulted for official items such as tax, and lighting and coloring people of every skin tone correctly is counted as part of a standard quality that isn't cut even in a discount.
Learning goal
You will be able to set a shoot's price not by guesswork or shyness, but by a reasoned calculation. You will count separately a job's direct costs, the overhead that must be shared across all jobs, and the unbilled hours outside the shoot, such as editing, correspondence, travel and backup. From their total you will derive a floor price you shouldn't go below and, by adding on top of it the value the photos will bring the client and the scope of the usage rights, that is, the medium, duration and region, you will build a value-based price. You will learn to adjust the scope instead of lowering the price in negotiation, and know that you need to consult an expert for official items such as tax. You will see that offering every client the same quality, lighting and coloring people of every skin tone correctly, is part of the price, and that this care isn't cut for the sake of a discount.
The question
Your friend had named a figure for the café; if anyone asked how they arrived at it, they couldn't answer. It was a bit of guesswork and a bit of fear that "if I ask too much they'll back out." Now the baker is calling: the shoot will take twice as long as the café's, and the photos will be used in the bakery's window, on its website and in printed brochures. Should they name the same figure, twice that, or something else entirely?
When they ask the older member, the older member hands them a piece of paper: "First write down how many hours you actually spent on that café job." When your friend counts, they are surprised; the shoot had lasted two hours, but editing, correspondence and travel were several times that. How do you calculate the price of a shoot? Which hours, which costs and where the photos will be used should go into this calculation?
Context
While talking about the paths to going professional, we suggested drawing a limit in advance so that unpaid work isn't expected all the time (Lesson 28.1). In the niche lesson we discussed how specialization can affect trust and the reward for labor (Lesson 28.2). In the previous lesson, too, you built a showcase where the client finds and calls you (Lesson 28.4).
This lesson prepares you for that call's first question, "How much?" No figure is given here, because prices vary greatly by country, city, niche and time; a made-up number misleads more than the calculation itself. Instead, a calculation path is described that every photographer can fill in with their own conditions. Official items such as tax, invoicing and company will be taken up with their basic concepts in a later lesson of the module; for these items, an accountant shows the right path according to the person's own situation.
Simple explanation
How are cost and time counted?
A job's direct costs are the money spent only for that job: travel, parking, an assistant's fee, a rented light or backdrop, and printing and paper if there will be a printed delivery. These change from job to job and are written separately in every quote.
Overhead is the costs that belong not to a particular job but to photography as a whole, and that must be shared across all jobs: the wear and renewal of equipment over time, subscriptions to editing software, backup drives, the website, insurance, phone, training. These costs are added up over a month or a year and divided by the number of jobs expected in that period to find each job's share. A photographer who skips this item can, while every job seems to make a profit, become unable to renew their equipment over time.
Unbilled hours are the time spent on a job outside the shoot that the client doesn't see: the first correspondence, scouting and preparation, travel, transferring photos to the computer and backing them up, selecting, editing, delivery and the questions afterward. Behind the two-hour shoot in your friend's café job there were several times that in unbilled hours. Many photographers say that shooting time is only a part of the total labor; calculating the price only by shooting hours means giving away most of the labor for free.
How do floor price and value combine?
The floor price is the sum of a job's direct costs, its share of overhead, and all the hours, shooting and unbilled together, multiplied by the hourly value the photographer sets for themselves. Every job taken below the floor price doesn't earn the photographer money, it loses them money. The hourly value is set according to the income the photographer needs to live, the number of hours they can actually work in a year, and their experience. Not every hour of a year is a working hour; looking for clients, learning, vacation and illness are also within that year, which is why only the hours that can really be sold go into the calculation.
Value-based pricing is the price built by adding, on top of the floor price, the benefit the photos will bring the client and the scope of use. A family wants a portrait for the wall of their own home, while a bakery uses the same photo in its window, on its website and in its brochures, to increase its sales. Even if the labor both take from the photographer is similar, the value the photo brings them is different.
Usage rights are the permission that defines in which media, for how long and in which region the client can use the photos. Use on a website only for one year and use in every medium without time limit aren't the same right; as the scope widens, the price usually rises too. Usage rights are stated in writing in the quote and the contract; how a contract is built will be discussed two lessons later in this module.
How is a price defended?
After the price is named, the client may negotiate. Lowering the price without reason both damages the floor price and suggests the first figure was random. Instead, the scope is adjusted: fewer photos, a shorter shoot, narrower usage rights, or files only instead of a printed delivery. The client finds an option that fits their budget, and the photographer keeps the reward for their labor. That is why many photographers offer two or three packages with different scopes from the start. Prices are also reviewed from time to time: when costs rise, when experience and the portfolio grow stronger, or when the calendar is always full, insisting on old figures quietly reduces the reward for labor. New prices can be applied by giving existing clients notice in advance and starting from new jobs. Practicing saying your own price out loud in advance also keeps shyness from pulling the figure down, especially in the first years.
Quality, however, isn't up for negotiation. In a job where clients whose skin tones are very different from each other are photographed together, setting up an extra light to light every face correctly, adjusting exposure for the faces and preserving each skin tone's own color in editing take time. This time isn't a separate "extra fee" item, but part of the standard quality offered in every job, and it is counted within the unbilled hours. Cutting this care for the sake of a discount means showing one client's face with less care than the others'.
Visual evidence
Your friend writes the real breakdown of the café job on the paper: a two-hour shoot, an hour of correspondence and scouting, an hour of travel, an hour of transfer and backup, four hours of selecting and editing, half an hour of delivery. The total is more than four times the shooting time. When they divide the figure they named by these hours, they see that their hourly value stayed far below even what they themselves expected.
For the bakery job they build a table: direct costs, the job's share of overhead, shooting and unbilled hours, these multiplied by the hourly value; the total of all of them is the floor price. Below it they write the scope of window, internet and brochure use for one year. To the table they also add the extra light setup and editing hours needed for the bakery's dark-skinned master and light-skinned apprentice to look right in the same frame; they count this not as a separate item, but as standard work.
When the baker finds the price high, your friend doesn't lower the figure; instead they offer two options: fewer photos at the same quality and internet use only, or the full scope. The baker takes the narrower option.
Common mistakes
Common mistakeCalculating the price only by shooting hours.
The unbilled hours are given away for free. The fix: write down all the hours of a job and take them into account.
Common mistakeLowering the price without reason in negotiation.
The first figure looks random and the floor price is damaged. The fix: adjust the scope, not the price.
Common mistakeCutting care with light and color when giving a discount.
Some faces are shown with less care. The fix: count every skin tone looking right as part of standard quality.
Summary
A shoot's price starts with a floor price made of the job's direct costs, its share of the overhead shared across all jobs, and all the unbilled hours together with the shoot multiplied by the hourly value; on top of this, the value the photos will bring the client and the usage rights defined by medium, duration and region are added to build a value-based price. In negotiation the scope, not the price, is adjusted, an expert is consulted for official items such as tax, and lighting and coloring people of every skin tone correctly is counted as part of a standard quality that isn't cut even in a discount.
Mini assignment
In this assignment you will build your own price calculation; the resulting price list is part of the module's project.
- Write down all the hours of a job you did recently or imagine: correspondence, preparation, travel, shooting, transfer and backup, selecting, editing, delivery.
- Write your overhead for one year as a list and find the share per job by dividing it by the number of jobs you expect to do in a year; fill in the amounts according to your own conditions.
- Set yourself an hourly value and calculate your floor price. Then design two or three packages suited to your niche; in each package write the number of photos, the form of delivery and the medium, duration and region of the usage rights.
- Check that in none of the packages is the preparation and editing time needed to light and color people of different skin tones correctly cut. Note which questions about tax and invoicing you will ask an accountant.
Check yourself
- Were you able to count a job's unbilled hours completely?
- Can you explain your floor price and the value added on top of it separately?
- Do you know which scope you will adjust in negotiation and which quality you will keep protecting?
Glossary
| Term | Short definition |
|---|---|
| Overhead | Costs that belong not to a particular job but to photography as a whole, shared across all jobs. |
| Unbilled hours | Time spent on a job outside the shoot that the client doesn't see. |
| Floor price | The price you shouldn't go below, made of direct costs, the overhead share and the value of all the hours. |
| Usage rights | Permission defining in which medium, for how long and in which region the client can use the photos. |
| Value-based pricing | A price that adds, on top of the floor price, the benefit the photo brings the client and the scope of use. |
Mini quiz
1. What is the problem with calculating the price only by shooting hours?
- A) The client finds the price too high
- B) The unbilled hours are given away for free
- C) The usage rights widen
- D) The overhead is counted twice
2. What does a job taken below the floor price mean?
- A) It loses the photographer money
- B) It brings more profit
- C) The usage rights narrow
- D) The client won't be satisfied
3. Why can a photo shot with the same labor be priced higher for a bakery than for a family?
- A) A bakery's budget is always bigger
- B) A bakery's photos are harder to shoot
- C) The bakery uses the photo in a wider scope of use and for sales
- D) Families don't pay for photos
4. What is the recommended approach when a client finds the price high?
- A) Adjusting the scope and offering different packages
- B) Cutting the price in half without reason
- C) Reducing care in editing and lowering the price
- D) Asking for an extra fee for different skin tones
Answers
- B — The shoot is only a part of the total labor; if the remaining hours don't go into the calculation they go unpaid.
- A — The floor price is the lowest figure that covers costs and labor; a job taken below it causes a loss.
- C — As the value the photo brings and the scope of use widen, the price usually rises too.
- A — To protect the price, scope options such as fewer photos, narrower use or a different delivery are offered.
Summary card
- Count all the hours; the shoot is only one part.
- Share the overhead across jobs.
- Don't go below the floor price.
- Add value and usage rights: medium, duration, region.
- In negotiation adjust the scope; every skin tone looking right is standard quality.
Bridge to the next lesson
The baker chose the narrow-scope package and your friend wrote them "it's a deal" in a message. The next week the baker says the shoot will be not at six in the morning but at noon, that they expect the photos to arrive within two days, and that they count the brochure as part of "internet use." Your friend realizes that nothing they thought they had discussed is in writing. How do you give a client a quote? The next lesson takes up a quote that manages a clear scope, a clear delivery date and expectations from the start.