How to Price Photography Services Using Your Cost of Doing Business

Most new photographers price by looking at competitors and choosing a slightly lower number. The result is a full calendar and an empty bank account. The cost of doing business method, or CODB, works the other way: you calculate what your business costs and what you need to earn, then set prices that get you there.

Why an hour is never an hour

A one-hour family session is rarely one hour of work:

A $250 session with seven hours of work pays about $36 per hour before costs and taxes.

Step 1: Calculate your CODB

Use your own receipts. If you rent a studio, it belongs here too.

Step 2: Add your salary and taxes

Decide what you want to pay yourself, for example $55,000. Then estimate taxes. Many self-employed people set aside roughly 25% to 35% of profit for income and self-employment tax, depending on income and state; ask your CPA. Here we use $16,500.

Required revenue = CODB + salary + taxes = $13,100 + $55,000 + $16,500 = $84,600

Step 3: Decide how many jobs you can do well

Be realistic about editing time, seasonality and the rest of your life. Suppose 100 portrait sessions a year.

Step 4: Find your required average sale

Required average sale = Required revenue ÷ Number of jobs

$84,600 ÷ 100 = $846 per client, plus the cost of any products you include.

That is the number your price list must produce on average, not necessarily your session fee.

Step 5: Build a price list that reaches the number

If clients split evenly across collections A, B and C, the average sale is $350 + about $883 = about $1,233 before product costs. If most choose A, the average is $800, slightly below target. Adjust collection contents and prices until the realistic mix reaches your required average sale.

Worked example: wedding pricing

A wedding photographer sets a $70,000 salary, $21,000 for taxes and an $18,000 CODB. Required revenue: $109,000. She can do 24 weddings a year well.

• $109,000 ÷ 24 = about $4,540 per wedding
• Add per-wedding costs: second shooter $500, album production averaged across all weddings $250, travel $100
• Required average per wedding: about $5,390

She sets her core package at $4,800 with an engagement session, and an album upgrade at $1,400. If half her couples buy the album, her average wedding brings $5,500.

Pricing models by niche

Products are where profit often lives

Many portrait photographers price prints and wall art at a multiple of lab cost, often three to five times or more for wall art, to cover design time, remakes, packaging and profit. A canvas that costs $110 delivered from the lab might sell for $395 to $495. Make sure every product covers its cost, your time and its share of CODB.

Pricing commercial work and licensing

Commercial clients pay for two things: your time and expertise, through a creative fee, and the right to use the images, through a license. Licensing depends on usage (website, social media, print ads, packaging, billboards), the number of channels, territory (local, national or worldwide), duration (six months, one year or longer) and exclusivity. A local business using headshots on its own website is very different from a national brand running an image on billboards for a year, and the license fee should reflect that.

A simple commercial estimate might include a creative fee of $1,800 for one day, $400 for pre-production, $350 for an assistant, $500 for a stylist, $300 for props, $750 for post-production of 25 images, and $1,200 for a two-year US web and social license, for a total of $5,300. Write usage terms clearly in the estimate and invoice, and quote extended or additional usage separately.

Mini sessions and volume pricing

Mini sessions can raise your effective hourly rate if you keep them tight: one location, one setup, 20-minute sessions with buffers, a fixed number of images, payment at booking and quick delivery. Twelve minis at $295 bring $3,540 in a day, before upgrades. Just make sure your edit time per mini is short enough that the day truly pays more per hour than a full session.

Raising prices

• Raise for new bookings at the start of a season
• Raise in steps of about 10% to 20% and watch your booking rate
• Add value at the same time: faster delivery, a planning guide, better galleries
• Honor quotes already sent within their stated validity

Pricing checklist

• ☐ Real hours tracked for three recent jobs
• ☐ CODB calculated from actual expenses
• ☐ Salary goal and tax estimate set
• ☐ Realistic number of jobs per year
• ☐ Required average sale calculated
• ☐ Price list tested against a realistic client mix
• ☐ Product prices checked against lab costs
• ☐ Price review scheduled each year

The bottom line

Your prices should come from your costs and goals, not from competitors who may be underpricing too. Once you know your required average sale, every decision about session fees, collections, products and minimums becomes clearer.

Our book, Starting a Photography Business, covers niches, gear, copyright and model releases, drone rules, insurance, contracts, CODB pricing, workflow, wedding, portrait, real estate and commercial work, marketing, sales and a 90-day launch plan.