How to Price Your Photography Services (Without Guessing or Guilt)
Let me guess—you’ve Googled “how much should I charge for family photography” and then immediately wanted to crawl under the couch cushions, never to emerge again. Same, friend. Same.
Pricing your work can feel like the business equivalent of standing in front of your high school class in your underwear. It’s vulnerable. It’s personal. And it can feel wildly uncomfortable, especially if you’re coming into photography from a creative background and not from the world of spreadsheets and Shark Tank pitches.
But here’s the deal: you are not making this up as you go. Pricing is a skill, and we’re going to make yours make sense—and make money.
First, Let’s Ditch the Starving Artist Energy
You are not “lucky” if someone pays you. You’re offering a professional service that takes time, skill, equipment, experience, and emotional labor. (Yes, smiling at a grumpy toddler while squatting in wet grass is emotional labor.)
So pricing isn’t about what someone else charges. It’s not about what your friend thinks is reasonable. It’s not about what you “feel comfortable” asking for. Pricing is what keeps you in business a year, two years, even ten years from now. It’s a math problem. Let’s solve it.
Step 1: Know Your Numbers (Don’t Skip This)
Grab a snack and a notebook, because this part matters. Here’s what you need to figure out:
1. Your Cost of Doing Business (CODB)
This includes:
- Equipment (camera, lenses, computer)
- Software (Lightroom, gallery delivery, CRM)
- Website & domain fees
- Marketing & ads
- Props or rentals (if you use them)
- Insurance, licenses, taxes
Tally it all up. If you’re spending $500/month to run your biz and want to shoot 5 sessions per month, then each session needs to cover at least $100 just to keep the lights on. Now if you are just starting, you may not have a very long list (phewf! That’s actually pretty nice for now!), so you’ll revisit this as you go.
2. Your Time
Think about how many hours go into each session:
- Client communication: 1 hour
- Shooting: 1–2 hours
- Culling/editing: 3–4 hours (unless you outsource)
- Gallery delivery, upselling, product fulfillment: 1–2 hours
Let’s say each session takes 8 hours total once you add up everything. If you want to make $75/hour (a modest goal!), that’s $600 just in labor. Add your cost of doing business? You’re already at $700+.
And you haven’t even made a profit yet. So, a good price might be double that ($1400). But, you don’t have to make all that money up front. Part of it can be your booking fee ($500) and the rest can be product sales ($1100). This is totally doable.
Step 2: Pick a Model That Fits Your Life
Photography pricing is less about what’s “standard” and more about what fits your business and your lifestyle. And, the biggest factor: what your clients are willing and able to pay.
Let’s talk options:
A. All-Inclusive (Flat Fee)
You charge one price that includes the session + a set number of digitals. Simple, easy to market, great for new photographers.
Pro: Clients love the simplicity. Con: You leave money on the table if you’re not upselling prints or albums.
B. IPS (In-Person Sales)
You charge a session fee and then meet with the client (in person or online) to show their images and sell products: albums, wall art, digitals, etc.
Pro: Highest revenue per client, white-glove experience. These sales are typically in the thousands. Con: Takes time, energy, and sales confidence (but if you have all these, switch them over to the Pro list!).
C. Hybrid
You charge a session fee that includes a few digitals, and then clients can upgrade or purchase extras through a gallery or meeting.
Pro: Flexibility + opportunity to upsell. The sale could be in person or online. Con: You need sales skill on the back end.
Choose what fits your season of life. IPS is dreamy if you love service and details. All-inclusive works well if you’re balancing motherhood and can’t do post-session meetings. Don’t choose based on what that one photographer in your town is doing—choose what you can sustain.
Step 3: Do the Math Backwards
Here’s how to make sure you’re not accidentally paying people to be their photographer:
- Decide how much you want to make this year. Let’s say $60,000.
- Figure out how many sessions you can realistically do per month. Let’s say 6.
- Multiply: 6 sessions x 12 months = 72 sessions
- $60,000 / 72 = $834 per session
If your average sale is $834, you’re there.
Now—this doesn’t mean every session is $834 flat. Some might be $499 all-in. Others might be $199 to book, with upgrades and products added on. But your average needs to land there to hit your income goal.
But slow your roll one tiny bit: Do you have any costs associated with these sessions? If you sell digitals only, your cost is mostly just your edit time (or the fee you pay to editors) and $834 is what you earn. But, if you are doing product sales, you’ll need to deduct those costs out of your total profit.
Step 4: Don’t Discount Out of Fear
Every time you give a discount out of guilt or discomfort, you’re saying, “I don’t believe I’m worth it.”
Instead, try this reframe: “This is what it costs for me to deliver my very best to you.”
If someone says you’re too expensive? That’s okay. They’re not your client. You don’t need to convince them. You need to serve the right people really well.
Step 5: Put a Number on the Website (Kinda)
Here’s a pricing page strategy that won’t scare people off or box you in:
Sessions begin at $X.
This gives people a general ballpark but allows flexibility. You can always send a full pricing guide after someone inquires.
And yes, you absolutely can change your prices. This is your business. Nothing is set in stone.
Having one number on your site helps with the ‘I changed my mind about my prices’ dance, too. You don’t have to rework your site every time.
TL;DR: The Pricing Pep Talk
- Do the math.
- Choose a model that fits your life.
- Price for profit, not just to cover costs.
- Communicate value clearly.
- Don’t discount your magic.
You can make real, reliable income with photography. You can support your family, fund your dreams, and build a beautiful, balanced life. Pricing isn’t a guess. It’s a strategy.
Now go forth and price like a boss.
Up next: What Kind of Photographer Are You? Choosing a Style That Actually Feels Like You