The last several years have seen record inflation and increases in the cost of living overall around the world. From the cost of milk and eggs to camera gear, just about everything except maybe big screen TVs has gone up in price.

It's as important as ever to emphasize the importance of making sure your fees and rates as a photographer increase along with inflation and the cost of living. Evaluating and raises in your rates should be done every single year.

This year we launched the Photography Rates sheet. If you're lost on what to charge for music or sports photography, we have dedicated spreadsheets for these specialities that can give insight into what real market rates are for specific jobs.

US INFLATION RATES

In the last 3 years, we've seen historic rates of inflation worldwide. Normally, inflation rates hover around 2% Over the last 3 years, we've seen inflation rates average 5.93% for a cumulative 18.88% increase.

Beyond inflation itself, the consumer price index for goods across the board have averaged higher. While we're seeing a decline in the trend of the CPI, the fact remains that prices are higher than ever, not lower.

KEEPING THE SAME RATE YEAR OVER YEAR REDUCES YOUR VALUE

In recent years, the cost of various essentials, including gas, food, and utilities, has consistently risen. Consequently, it's reasonable for you to consider adjusting your rates for the services you provide to your clients.

In essence, failing to raise your rates in line with inflation means a decrease in your purchasing power. As the prices of necessities such as gas, milk, and the materials you use for your work continue to climb, it's essential to keep pace with the rising cost of living. Anything less quite literally means less value for your work as a creative.

YOUR CLIENTS ARE RAISING THEIR RATES

Just as consumer goods are increase, so are services. You can bet that the prices charged by your clients — whether they're musicians, agencies, art buyers, managers, etc — are increasing to keep their own profit margins up.

This year, publishers and streaming services have reached a settlement to increase streaming royalty rates to 15.35%. This is after already winning an increase from 10.5% to 15.1% for the 2018-2022 period. While this increase is not due solely to inflation, it's not independent from the fact that value has to track with the times.

It's not personal — it's just business. Your best clients should understand. And those who don't — they are not budgeting accordingly in a way that truly respects the value of photographers in relation to global economics.

INCREASING YOUR VALUE YEAR OVER YEAR

Beyond cost of living adjustments, another important reason to increase your rates every year is for your own professional growth. As creatives, we are not static — we are constantly learning, adapting and bettering ourselves in small but important ways.

Wherever you are in your career, you are gaining experience in your craft. This comes in the form of faster workflows, better technique, and more. All of these small but important and incremental changes add value to your customers.

And that value to your customers can and should be expressed as increased rates.

GIVING YOURSELF A RAISE

With conventional 9-5 jobs, you should expect not only cost of living adjustments, but also pay increases that reflect your experience and abilities as tied to promotions, title changes and professional growth.

As photographers, we have only ourselves to advocate for ourselves in most instances. No one else will be fighting to give you a raise. You must be the one to demand it for yourself.

HOW MUCH SHOULD YOU RAISE YOUR RATES?

A 2-3% raise year over year is generally accepted as appropriate for cost of living increases for many corporate employers. Again, this is in a typical 9-5 office world that many photographers don't occupy.

Personally, going into 2024, I would recommend at least a 3.2% increase. Why 3.2%? If you're based in the United States, this is the rate the US Social Security Administration is raising benefits from 2023 going into 2024.

Almost every year since its inception, social security payments have been adjusted to ensure that the purchasing power of these benefits tracks with inflation. Note, this is simply keeping the same purchasing power — it does not account for your professional growth or advancement.

So at the minimum, I'd still recommend at least a 3.2% increase to your rates as you head into 2024. This is assuming you raised your rates last year.

END NOTES

Now that we've covered why you should raise your rates every year, jump into the 4 best times to raise your rates as a photographer (spoiler alert: it's right now). And as a refresher, for more reading, check out the common things to charge for as a photographer. You might be surprised at some costs and fees you can pass on to your clients if you aren't already.

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Pricing photography can feel like a daunting task, even for experienced professionals. For beginners, the feeling of not knowing where to start in pricing photography is natural and completely understandable.

After all, many photographers get into a love and passion for the creative aspect of making images. Putting a value on our work doesn't necessarily come easily, because the creative act comes first.

In this post, we'll look at some of the factors in how to consider pricing your work, resources to use for pricing, and more.

Factors to consider when pricing photography

Pricing photography should consider many factors. These include:

• Usage
• Client
• Licensing Rights
• Deliverables
• Rarity
• Effort
• Expenses
• Time
• Expertise

Now let's break down these factors. This won't be an exhaustive examination, but the goal of this article is to get you thinking about how to price photography and why.

It's ultimately most important to understand what goes into pricing. Even viewing specific ranges or prices for jobs, as shown in the Music Photography Rates Sheet, may not give the full picture. The rate should ultimately depend on the details. So let's dig in.

Usage

Usage is one of the most important factors. Usage in photography is how a client will use images when those images are licensed. The use of an image for an album cover is dramatically different than use for social media or editorial coverage.

More broadly, use can fall into a few main categories:

• Editorial use
• Marketing/Promotional use
• Commercial use

Marketing and promotional use is technical commercial, but here the main distinction is that for commercial use, the image itself is being sold either directly or as part of a product.

Editorial use is generally the least expensive in terms of licensing cost, while commercial is the most expensive.

Client

The client is hugely important in licensing photography. Who is using a photo can be just as important as what they're using it for. In music photography for example, a local band using an image for an album cover is much different than an established national band or a pop star.

Another way to consider the client is their reach or the impact the images will have. The client can be tied to use and usage in a sense. While the specific use may be the same, the actual “work” the images does is different in scope. So when considering clients, this weight of the images is critical in considering their value.

Licensing

The licensing rights that you assign to a client are integral to usage, but for this purpose, let's break it down in terms of exclusivity and ownership as it pertains to the images.

The main types of licensing agreements include:

• Non-exclusive
• Exclusive
• Full buyout
• Work For Hire

When photography is made, all rights reside with the photographer/creator as a matter of law as defined by the Berne Convention. You as the photographer hold the rights to the images until you assign them away under a licensing agreement.

Licenses can also be defined as unlimited use or limited specific uses (which should be outlined and agreed on by all parties).

It's most common to have limited use and this is often in the best interest for photographers, to maintain the highest control of their images and to limit use.

Deliverables

What the photographer delivers should be a large factor in pricing. Is the price for one image, or one hundred? Is it for JPGs or RAW files? Are you delivering photographer selects from your edit, or are you showing the client everything as proofs?

Generally speaking, the more you deliver, the more you should charge.

Generally, you should to control your photography unless the client pays for the right to dictate the final product. For this reason, most photographers prefer to only deliver final processed images — not RAW files. The reason is that giving a client RAW files means they may have the final say on the edit and processing, which in turn means the final product may not represent the photographer's style accurately.

Rarity

Rarity of images can also be a factor in pricing. If there was a historic moment or scene that was only photographed by a single photographer, those images have more value in one sense than if there were 10 or 100 other photographers who made similar images. This is most often the case with editorial images for moments there aren't planned or cannot be recreated.

Effort

The effort and production involved in a shoot should be a factor in pricing photography. Effort can be related to time and equipment required, but it can also be related to art direction, the level of production required, planning and so forth.

Time

A photoshoot that takes an hour can be priced differently than a multi-day shoot. If you travel for a photo job, the travel days should be considered in how you bill as an opportunity cost.

If you're a music photographer bidding on a tour, your rate has to account for travel days as well, not just show days. With extended jobs like touring, the rate also has to account for not being able to take other jobs in that time as well.

Expenses

All hard costs should be a factor in pricing photography. This includes specialized equipment, studio time/rental, and hard costs such as transportation.

Experience

While experience doesn't always have a bearing on the value of photography, one should factor in experience if you're able to do a job efficiently. If it takes an experienced photographer an hour to create the work a client needs that would take another photographer four hours, that experience should be reflected in the value of the work. At the very least, the work is not valued on the time it took, but in the work it does for the client, which is the same regardless of the time and effort.

Further Reading

If you're newer to pricing photography, here are a few more articles for your further reading:

The post How to Price Photography for Beginners appeared first on ishootshows.com.

When a new or prospective client asks for your photography rate, do you freeze? Here are tips for how to respond to questions about your rate and licensing that can help you and new clients arrive at a mutually beneficial agreement.

If your photography rate depend on licensing details, this article is especially for you or anyone else who doesn't have set packages.

Often, the most difficult questions to answer with inquiries like this actually relate to the rights a client needs. For you to answer, we’ll look at a few approaches for how to tackle it.

The Dreaded “What's Your Rate?” Question

It's simple enough, but one that can strike fear into the hearts of photographers. “What's your rate?” In this article, we'll look at ways to approach this simple question. It's a complex issue, but by the end, I hope you'll be more confident to enter into this conversation.

Here are 5 simple tips and perspectives to aid you in answering this question with confidence.

1. Every Rate Inquiry is a Conversation

When a client asks for your rate, don't think of it as a test with only a single right answer. Think of it as the start of a conversation, an opportunity to educate, and a chance to advocate for the value you offer.

2. Always Ask the Budget

When in doubt, ask the budget. Even if you know exactly how much you want to charge, asking the budget will set expectations on both sides.

Whether they have a budget set in stone or not, the client should be working toward a number or a range for your work. It is possible they have no idea what they want to pay, but this situation is rare.

3. Give Yourself Options

When you respond to client inquiries, you can use language such as:

• “My standard rate for something like this starts at $ X,000.”
• “My rate for this kind of work ranges between $X-Y, depending on the details.”
• “I’m happy to discuss more if you have any questions or concerns I should be aware of.”

Responding to inquiries with this kind of language both parties room to set expectations with enough wiggle room that no one is offended.

Asking questions also indicates the final fee depends on understanding more information. In addition, asking questions not only buys you time to evaluate the project to the best of your abilities, but asking questions shows that you're simply a professional.

4. Ask Questions!

Going off the last tip and specifically asking about the budget: ask questions! Principally:

• “Is there a specific budget you’re working towards for this need?”
• “What's the licensing terms required for this?”
• “How many looks do you need for this?”
• “Is this for promotional use or album art?”

Unless the client gives extremely specific information on their project up front, it's often impossible to give a clear answer without getting some answers. All of the above give you room and time. Room to get more information to make a more informed response, and time to research or get advice if needed.

Here's a list of other questions for estimating photography I always to try get the answers to in one way or another.

5. Don't Give an Hourly Rate

Unless your type of photography deals exclusively with operating as a technician, I would strongly avoid giving an hourly rate only. Instead, give an estimate for the total project and the value you're creating with your photography.

You may still quote a rate based on time, such as a day rate or a half day. But the use of the images should play a large part in their pricing. In this case, the question “what's your rate?” needs to include the licensing and rights you're conveying.

In addition, budget oriented clients will often try to minimize your time when you charge by time, rather than the value of the images.

Even if you end up working your time into the equation of the price (and it should), make sure that the inherent value of your work and creativity is being factored in as well. For more on this, read my article on time vs value based photography fees.

6 Don't Be Afraid to Be Expensive

When your rate is out of budget, the client will be quick to tell you that. You can always lower your rate and come down. However, it's extremely difficult if not impossible to increase your price once it is established.

When you give ranges or starting figures as suggested above, there's the invitation for negotiation on both sides if your rate is too high (and yes, it should be high).

Remember: this is just the start of a conversation.

7. Know When to Raise Your Rates

Finally, if all you hear is “yes” to every single estimate you send out, it's a good sign your price is too low. At the very least, you're leaving money on the table.

You will never know the heights of your worth if you never test the limit. For more on this, see my article on knowing when to raise your photography rates.

My personal view is that I want my estimates to make everyone involved slightly nervous. Me, nervous that they'll accept. The client, nervous about whether they can afford me. It's an anxious dance, but one that's beautiful when you do it just right.

Summary

Hopefully these seven tips have helped give you some approaches and context you can use. When someone asks you for your photography rate, 99% of the time, you're going to need more information. What's the budget? How are the images going to be used? Are you producing the shoot or are they (including studio rental, hair and make up, etc).

For further reading, check out PPA's advice for pricing 101. You can also see this article on different pricing ranges for various types of photography work.

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Here's a quick tip for how to get a ballpark rate when you have zero idea of what to charge for an image license.

There are a few things I always do when trying to price an image licensing or bid on a commercial job. In no particular order:

1) Ask the Budget

When in doubt, you can always ask the budget from the individual requesting the quote or estimate. Since very often someone purchasing images is trying to spend as little as possible for any given project, you may not get a straight forward answer, but it won't hurt to ask.

You can say something like, “Are you working with a set budget for this need?” Or, if you're feeling bold, you can even just ask straight out, “What do you have budgeted for this use?” You won't always get a direct answer, but it doesn't mean you shouldn't try.

The important thing to keep in mind here is that every request like this is a conversation. If you get an answer stating that the budget for a double-page magazine spread is $100, I would invite you to view it like an opportunity to negotiate and educate your potential client.

2) Ask Your Peers

One of the first things I'll do if I receive an inquiry about an image request and I have no idea about the usage is to ask my fellow photographers. Ask your friends, your local peers, or even ask people in the greater community who you don't know. While the latter may sound scary, here's why you should do it.

Though it's easy to feel like it, pricing for photography isn't something specific to you — What you charge affects all photographers, and especially those who photograph the same niche or genre as you. Next time, it could be you estimating for that same client, so it's in your best interest to help your fellow photographers educate potential buyers on what is fair market rate for all.

No one should ever be looking to undercut their competitors, because if that's the only value you add to your clients, it's going to be short lived. I would urge you to share as openly as possibly about fair market rates in your respective photography communities as possible.

3) Look for similar estimates

Outside of your peers, there are resources available for finding relevant estimates, among them is Wonderful Machine. In their blog, Wonderful Machine has detailed a ton of useful estimates for all kinds of work, which can be an invaluable starting place for various estimates.

Here's an example of an estimate for a shoot for album artwork, but they have tons of other examples that are extremely helpful in estimating fees for various shoots. It seems like Wonderful Machine's blog archives may have shifted platforms and they are no longer easily searchable on their site, but a simple Google search for “Wonderful Machine Estimate” will still pull up many useful examples.

APhotoEditor.com has compiled many references estimates as well and are worth looking into as a resource.

4) Use Licensing Generators

If the licensing request is relatively simple in how the image is used, one trick I like to use is to price out an image using GettyImages.com as a reference. Getty has a built-in pricing generator for royalty-free image licensing. It's very similar to the FotoQuote software (itself an extremely valuable reference), with the benefit of being free.

Choose any image, or an image that fits your genre of photography, and select the “Custom Rights” option for licensing. This will open a pop-up window that requires input from several drop-down menus, including use, usage specs (including size, circulation, and duration of license), and finally the market size for the use.

After plugging in all the criteria, you are given a quote. While Getty pricing may not be perfect or even close to the industry ideal, what this does get you is a reference from which you can base your own work. As mentioned, any request for a quote is an opportunity for a conversation, and I'd invite you to engage in finding out your potential clients exact needs, as this will always inform the price.

End Notes

These are some of my go-to sources for estimating if ever I'm in a situation that is outside of my experience. In addition, be sure to consider not just the full fee, but common expenses and fees that you can charge for as a photographer. One thing I'm confident of is that we as photographers are all in this together. One should always try to gauge the market and what a fair rate is for any kind of photography.

While these approaches to pricing may not work for every job or situation, I hope they give you a tool kit from which to pull from for future inquiries.

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