How to Price Your Photography for Profit Photography Pricing Guide: Pricing for Profit
Have you ever wondered how to set the right price for your photography services or whether your photography business is truly profitable? The key to answering these questions lies in understanding your costs. Many photographers underestimate both the time they invest and the total expenses they incur—from gear upgrades and insurance to software subscriptions and marketing costs.
By carefully analyzing all your expenses, you’ll gain clarity on your true cost of doing business, which is essential for creating a pricing structure that’s fair to your clients and profitable for you. After all, you deserve to be compensated for the value of your work and the expertise you bring to every shoot.
Time Invested in a Photography Session
It’s easy to lose track of how much time you spend on a portrait session. Let’s look at an example of the time involved in a typical family portrait session (keeping in mind that the time investment may be much greater for newborn sessions, weddings, or special events):
- 1-2 hours of travel (round trip).
- 30 minutes of preparation and setup.
- 1-2 hours of shooting time.
- 1 hour to upload images to your computer, transfer them to an online gallery, and back them up on an external hard drive.
- 1-3 hours of editing (cropping, color correction, retouching, sharpening, and saving copies for print and web).
- 1-4 hours for designing print products and revising proofs with the client.
- 2-3 hours for client communication, answering questions, processing orders and payments, arranging prints, quality checking, packaging, and shipping (or hand-delivering if local).
As you can see, a 2-hour session can easily turn into more than 10 hours of work from start to finish.
Photography Business Management Time
Your work as a professional photographer isn’t limited to client sessions alone. You also spend valuable time on operational tasks like:
- Marketing your services.
- Creating and sending invoices.
- Maintaining business licenses.
- Updating your website and blog.
- Handling sales taxes.
- Professional development (courses, workshops, following other photographers, participating in forums, etc.).
Adding these tasks together, it’s common to spend an extra 5 to 20 hours per week on your business—time that should be factored into your cost structure.
Photography Expenses
When analyzing your business finances, it’s helpful to divide expenses into two main categories:
1. Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)
These are the direct costs associated with each session or project. Examples include:
- Physical products (prints, albums, canvases).
- Travel expenses (gas, parking).
- Packaging materials (boxes, envelopes).
- Shipping costs (postage or courier fees).
- Credit card processing fees.
- Client gifts (thank-you tokens).
2. Operating Expenses
These are the fixed or variable costs of running your business:
Fixed Expenses:
- Professional memberships.
- Insurance (equipment, liability).
- Software subscriptions (Adobe Creative Cloud).
- Online gallery hosting.
- Website maintenance.
- Studio rent (if applicable).
Variable Expenses:
- Advertising and marketing.
- Sample products (demo albums).
- Outsourced graphic design.
- Utilities (electricity, internet).
- Equipment upgrades (cameras, lenses, computers).
- Training courses and workshops.
Is Your Photography Business Profitable?
To determine if your business is profitable, you need to compare your income to your actual expenses.
Example Profitability Calculation:
- Annual Revenue: 57,600 (65 sessions x57,600(65sessionsx886 per session).
- COGS + Operating Expenses: $36,000.
- Net Profit: $21,600.
- Hours Worked per Year: 1,820 (65 sessions x 10h + 12h/week on operations).
- Effective Hourly Rate: 21,600 / 1,820 ≈ **21,600/1,820≈∗∗30/hour**.
If your hourly rate is lower than what you want to earn, it’s time to adjust your pricing.
How to Set Your Prices
- Calculate Your Costs and Desired Workload: Include equipment, travel, software, and overhead. Decide how many sessions you want to book per year and set an hourly rate that reflects your experience.
- Research Your Market and Profit Margin: Consider your competition and target audience. Find a balance between attractive pricing and profitability.
- Review and Adjust Regularly: Update your prices based on growth, inflation, and market changes. Don’t forget to account for taxes.
- Stay Confident: Your work has value. Your prices should reflect your time, talent, and expertise.
- Seek Professional Advice: An accountant can help optimize your business model. Organizations like the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) offer helpful resources.
By following these steps, you can establish sustainable and profitable pricing for your photography business. 📸💼