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:

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If you're a music photographer, pricing your work can be a struggle at any stage of your career. Traditionally, guarding one's pricing and rates has felt like an asset or perhaps a necessity. This approach isn't specific to music photography, but it is one that is very common in this field.

I'd argue that being as transparent about rates and pricing is something only benefits the music photography community. If we can leave egos aside, understanding what our peers charge and earn can give us both goals and the aspirations to set our sights even higher.

To this end, I wanted to create a comprehensive music photography rates sheet that can serve as a community resource to encourage transparency about rates. Enter the Music Photography Rates & Pricing spreadsheet.

If you're looking for what to charge for music photography or have experience to share, read on.

If you want the sheet, skip to the end, but I'd encourage you to read about why this resource was created first.

Why is pay transparency necessary?

Like most aspects of business and employment, pay transparency benefits those doing the work. Conversely, being closed about what we charge only saves egos and protects low budgets.

Not sharing rates gives leverage to those who would take advantage of our passions and talents. It feeds on the doubts and insecurity of creatives and reinforces the narrative that we have to lower our fees or miss out on opportunities.

I feel sharing rates about what we charge as music photographers gives us strength collectively. It gives points of reference — both high and low — for the value of our work.

Rate transparency empowers photographers

Transparency about rates empowers photographers. Here's an example that was shared on the Music Photography Discord recently, where a beta of the rates sheet was shared in advance of its public launch.

Knowledge is power. Photographers being able to negotiate higher rates from the confidence of community knowledge is the exact reason we need rate transparency.

Creating a solution for the music photography community

With this in mind, I've created a Google form and linked Google sheet that I hope can serve as community reference point for rates in music photography.

The intent of this form and data are to give us a transparent look into music photography rates. The goal is to show real world rate reporting as a reference for estimates and fees so that we can help negotiate and leverage our value more effectively as music photographers. 

The more we can share and understand what clients are paying and what are peers are charging, the more power we have to advocate for our worth. All submissions are anonymous. All data, high and low, is valuable and encouraged.

Contribute to the Music Photography Rates Sheet

If you're reading this and have ever been paid for music photography, I'd strongly encourage you to enter work history and rates. The strength of this data relies on as diverse entries as possible giving as much detail as possible.

If you're looking to contribute rates, it's helpful to view the sheet first to understand the formatting. Take a look, then add your experience.

From local bands to world tours, if you've done work as a music photographer, we need your data. All entries are anonymous, but you can name the artist or clients if you wish.

And here's a plain link to the submission form:

https://forms.gle/zHxJ9g4DVPZCQS7T7

What do Music Photographers Charge?

If you're creating an estimate or you've been asked for a rate and want to a reference for what other photographers are charging, look no further.

You can see past entries from this form in the reference sheet for music photo rates here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1n-9lzJ9aKmkT_N_cNsV4-xvz2otvCIZfTCzVn4Zs04c/edit?usp=sharing

I hope this resource is helpful. If you're looking for more help with business and pricing, or if you're looking for a place for community, join us on the Music Photography Discord.

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When starting out, many photographers choose to charge for their time in determining their pricing or fees. This is a simple approach to pricing one's photography, but it's not always the best. The other primary way of pricing is based on value.

In this article, we'll look at the pros and cons of hourly or timed based pricing, value based pricing, and hybrid models for pricing your work as a photographer.

Time Based Pricing

In time based pricing, you're charging for your efforts based on the time spent on a job. This might include the time spent on site and making images as a photographer, but may also extend to pre-production time, post-production time, and so forth.

An hourly rate, half day rate, day rate and overtime are all examples of different forms of time based pricing common to photographers.

Pros: The benefit of time based pricing is that you're being compensated directly for the time you put into a job.

Cons: Time based pricing alone doesn't account for the use of the image or other fine details of image licensing or rights conveyed to a client.

Value Based Pricing

Value based pricing prioritizes the usage and the “work” the images are doing for an end client, rather than the time required to produce the images. With this pricing method, the considerations of who is using the images, how they are being used, what they are being used for and where they are being used are all of paramount importance.

Value based pricing is extremely important when it comes to different kinds of clients. The value of an image to an individual using images for personal can be very different than the value the same images could bring to a business or brand. An image that ends up being printed as fine art to be hung in a home has a very different value to an image being used in an advertising campaign that ends up on a billboard in Times Square, for example.

More specifically, value based pricing recognizes the difference in licensing and rights that an end client requires. Personal use vs promotional vs commercial, duration of license, exclusivity, and any and every other factor of image usage can factor into value based pricing.

Value based pricing alone is most commonly seen as stand alone image licensing, where images have already been produced and are being licensed either individually or as a group.

Pros: The benefit of value based pricing is that it recognizes the fundamental worth of them in the context of their use.

Cons: Value based pricing may not be appropriate or rational for all types of clients or situations. In addition, value based pricing alone doesn't account for the effort that goes into the creating images for an end client.

Hybrid Pricing Models

As you can see from the pros and cons of time and value based pricing, each has strengths as well as weaknesses. The solution to address the weaknesses of using a single pricing method is to use a hybrid pricing model that blends factors of time and value.

At higher levels of photography jobs, it's common to naturally approach a hybrid pricing model. This is commonly incorporated into a photography estimate or invoice as charging some combination of the following line items:

• Day rate
• Photographer's fee
• Image licensing

In these examples, one may invoice for a day rate and also an image licensing fee. In this instance, the “Photographer's fee” may be a catchall for one's time, work, and value added but which is separate from the licensing.

Some photographer's may also combine a time based fee and licensing into a general “creative fee.” Yet other photographers may consider a photographer's fee and a creative fee to be synonymous. Here, the terminology is less important than what you're charging for: both time (hours and days) and value (usage and client considerations).

Another form of hybrid pricing is to break down pricing by time, but in a way that's informed by the value and use of the photography. This is commonly seen when you work in a specific industry or specialty of photography where the use is limited and common from client to client.

Why you should using only avoid time based pricing

Time based pricing structures leave off some of the most important considerations for your value as a photographer.

A portrait session with an individual might take just an hour or less to produce a striking image. Perhaps it only takes five minutes. However, the actual use of the image can be extremely importance in understanding the full value of your efforts.

If the image is intended as a print for a family member, the use and value of the image is very specific. But if that same image is used as album artwork by a pop star, the value is extremely different. The work that goes into the image may not differ dramatically, but the use does, and so does the value.

Furthermore, time based pricing doesn't reward the efficiency of experience. It might take an experienced photographer 5 minutes to make a compelling portrait that would take a novice hours.

Summary

Ultimately, both time based pricing and value based pricing have their merits. Using one single method for pricing is often inadequate for photography jobs that are appropriate to both. The best option for most photographers is to charge for their time AND the value they create.

The way I look at charging for time vs money is this.

When you're paid for your time only, you're being paid as an expert technician. When you're paid for the value you bring, you're being paid for your vision as a creative. Each kind of work has its place, but we all know as photographers that the most rewarding work are the ones where we are contributing the most value — and when we are rewarded for that contribution.

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If you're starting to take on paid work as a photographer (and in particular commercial work), here are common fees and expenses that you should consider in your estimates and invoices.

Fees vs Expenses

There will be two main costs for a photographer's budget: fees and expenses. Fees may be flexible and are dependent on the nature of the shoot that are directly dictated by the photographer and are under their control. Expenses, on the other hand, are often hard costs that are not under the control of the photographer and would be accounted for by receipts.

Typical Types of Photographer Fees

Day Rate
One's day rate is compensation for the time spent photographing for the day of the shoot itself. One might describe a day rate as 8 hours of work and charge for some increment of that day, such as a half day rate. If working beyond an established period of time, one may have a different or proportionate rate for that time.

While it's very common for a potential client to ask your rate or day rate, it's very important to understand that this fee is only one part of what you can and should be compensated for.

Creative Fee
A creative fee can be used to encompass a day rate as above (or multiple days of photography), but may extend to be an umbrella term for all creative work. It may broaden to cover creative concepts, direction, production tasks and other work, if you choose not to break these out into separate line items. It's also common to combine a creative fee and a licensing fee into a single fee.

Licensing Fee
A licensing fee is separate from the day rate or the creative fee in the fact that it is based solely on the usage of the end images, as opposed to being based on how they were created. Often, one may choose to roll a licensing fee into a creative fee and include it as a single line item.

A licensing fee may be rolled into a day rate if the photography role is very specific. For example, a photojournalist may have a single day rate that includes editorial usage of images.

The licensing for the images itself should clearly outline the type of use (promotional, commercial, etc), duration of the license (1 year, 5 years, in perpetuity) and what is being delivered that is subject to these specifications. The deliverables of how many final images, their format and any other details should all be made as clear as possible in addition to the rate for their use.

Preproduction
Preproduction fees may include any work that is done in preparation for a photoshoot. This might include scouting, meetings, or other types of coordination that happens before a shoot. It's most common to charge for preproduction days if you are not charging a general creative fee (which may include/cover these tasks), but it can also be broken out separately.

Travel Days
A travel day is charged for time spent traveling if a photo job is not local, and particularly if one travel on days that are not included as the shoot days. The rationale for this fee is to compensate for the time spent traveling for a job, as they cannot be earning money otherwise during this time. Travel days may often be billed as half or other fraction of a traditional day rate, but the fee may depend on the time spent traveling and other factors of the job.

Expenses

Photo Assistants
Assistants are a common expense. One might have various kinds of assistants, from lighting or technical assistants to those who are acting as second shooters, but for this case all assistants are grouped under this term.

Hair and Makeup/Wardrobe
HMU and/or wardrobe stylists may be another common expense if required by the client/job.

Equipment
Equipment expenses may include gear rentals or rates for one's own photography gear, lighting equipment, grip and so forth. Gear expenses may be charged at a per day rate.

Editing and Post-Processing
If you're delivering photographer selects, processing files, color correcting or performing retouching on images, this work should be considered as an expense as it all takes time and effort (either your own or someone else's).

Location/Studio Expenses
This expense is for the location used for a shoot, whether that's a location rental, location permits or the expense of one's own studio space or a rental.

Travel
Travel expenses include the raw cost of travel if applicable, including air travel or ground transportation such as taxis, car rental, Uber, etc.

Digital Tech
On commercial jobs, a digital technician is responsible for the real-time downloading, editing and/or processing of images for client review, among other things. This is especially common among commercial shoots where an client or art director may want to view images as they are produced while a photographer is shooting tethered to a computer set up for client review.

Image Delivery
Image delivery may include the time spent preparing files for delivery as well as the method of delivery itself, such as harddrive costs, shipping or other hard costs, depending on client preferences.

Milage and Gas
If using your own vehicle, you may charge for milage covering its use, as well as fuel costs incurred for the job.

Meals and Incidentals
You may charge for meals and incidental costs while on a photography job. This may be quoted as a per diem that's charged by day, or it may be invoiced for as a separate bill of expenses.

Lodging
If traveling for a job, you may include lodging as part of the expenses, whether it's a hotel or a room share like Air BnB.

Summary

If you’re just starting out in charging for your work or your time, that’s a very important first step and that alone deserves celebration. As you progress, it’s important to consider estimating and invoicing for the hard expenses you’re incurring as a photographer as well as those things that take up your time (behind just making the images). 

The above is by no means an exhaustive list, but hopefully this is gives you consideration of the different ways you can outline the value you’re providing for your paying photography clients. Every genre of photography is different and may have different kinds of work that will dictate the items that appear on an estimate or invoice.

Many photographers may combine one or multiple of the items above to simplify their estimates and invoices. Regardless, even if they are not itemized, you should consider charging for these items if you’re not already, because they’re already taking your time and resources whether not you’re being compensated for them. 

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