Each photographer and their business is different and each offers many different types of services. You may photograph only weddings, or focus on portraits. You could be a photographer who does sports photography, beautiful landscapes or travel photography. Now-a-days, with as easy as it is to have a nice camera, there is a bunch of competition out there so you want to make sure you are offering competitive prices that will keep your business going. So how much should you really be charging for your photography?
When a client is trying to research and find their perfect photographer for the type of photos they are looking for, they most likely will not want to choose the cheapest photographer out there, but not the most expensive one either. Some photographers will charge with a package price that includes a certain amount of hours of shooting and the photos or an album included, such as a wedding photographer. Others may charge simply per photo. Some may charge as little as $25 per photo while top photographers could ask for thousands of dollars for a single photograph. It really does depend on the client you are photographing for and the location as well. Photographers shooting for a major magazine would make much more than someone taking a photo for a small, local business.
Photo credit: ImprovePhotography.com
Even though the prices really do vary depending on what you are photographing and who you are shooting it for, here is what PetaPixel says is the average range of what various professional photographers should charge.
Student Photographer:
$50-$100 per hour or $25-$100 per image
Just like any other photographer, a student rate varies depending on how long they have been photographing, their experience level and the type of work they do. Some students who have tons of experience should charge just as much as professional photographers, while some that are just starting out may need to charge less.
Semi-Professional:
$50-$150 per hour or $25-$125 per image
Semi-professional photographers are those that want to join the ranks of the professional. These are photographers who typically have another job or income source to keep them going, but they want to eventually leave that other job behind to just focus on their photography. Many of these semi-pros will compete with the professional photographers for jobs but are just not quiet ready to fully start a full-time photography business.
Professional:
$75-$250 per hour or $75-$250 per image
When we are saying professional photographer here, we are meaning someone who depends solely on their photography to make a living. A professional photographer has a solid portfolio to represent the specialty that they photograph.
Top Professional:
$200-$500+ per hour or $250-$1,500 per image
This is the elite group of professional photographers. Many top image makers charge over $10,000 per day or $1,500 for one single photograph.
Photo credit: Pinterest
There are also different prices to charge for the various areas of photography. Here are some average price ranges that may be helpful.
Wedding Photography: $1,700-$3,500
Wedding photography can have a pretty wide range and it also can depend on the needs of the client. Beginner wedding photographers may just charge $500 while top professionals could ask for $10,000.
Looking for a great place to list your wedding photography business? Check out SnapKnot!
Senior Portrait Photography: $125-$300
This rate can depend on many factors including the number of locations, clothes changes and the type of print package that your client chooses.
Local Website Photography: $25-$150 per image
If you are a small local business that is in need of a photographer, finding one in this price range can be pretty easy to do. The specific rate will depend on many different factors like we have discussed already, such as location, the type of photography needed and the production required as well. If the business is just looking to get a image file to use for branding, it may be a cheaper price than a business that wants the photographer to give them a huge photograph blown up to decorate their storefront with.
And just remember, pricing your photography is so important. If your prices are too high, or even too low, you may not get the business that you want to get. We found this great information in an article on PetaPixel.
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Do you still need a little more help with pricing your services? Here is a great guide that we love called "Photographer Pricing Made Easy." This guide is for every type of photographer and will give you over 125 pricing packages in every type of niche you can think of. You can get this awesome guide today for $149.99!
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