AD5804 - Pricing

How much should I charge?

Understanding how much I should charge for my work in order to make a living with photography is an essential part of my business and it is vital to stay updated with the ever-evolving state of the photography industry in order to survive.

About how much a photographer should charge, I really like this quote I have found online:

"The biggest difference between a $500 photographer and a $5000 dollar photographer is not their location, experience or the equipment they use. It’s the brand they build. Your brand is your reputation."

This is incredibly true. Nowadays "everybody is a photographer" so I really need to stand out and having an original style if I want to survive doing photography.

Following the AOP guide, these are the steps I need to take in order to set my rate:

1. Understanding my cost of doing business. It is important to make sure I cover my expenses (such as equipment, insurances, softwares subscriptions...), and meet my income goals.

2. Once I have that figure as an annual total, I can estimate how much I need or wish to earn annually making sure it covers all my personal costs. I also need to keep in mind that if I will be working freelance, my retirements savings are entirely my responsibility.

3. Now that I have a total annual cost for me and my business, I must estimate the number of actual shooting days per year I can manage. Realistically, a freelance photographer works on an average of only a few days per week, mostly partial day.

4. Divide the figure of my total costs (personal + business) by my actual shooting days per year.

5. The result represents my base day rate and does NOT take into account any USAGE fees that I may charge on top, nor would it include any other expenses incurred on a shoot-by-shoot basis (like travelling from/to location). It also does not include any additional profit margin that I may wish to generate in order to reinvest or save (retirement for example).

Obviously, right after graduation I won't be able to use this scheme since it will take some time to establish my business and I am not able to make an estimate now since there are too many factors and circumstances to take into consideration that will change by the time I graduate and I do not know at this stage.

However, it is good to know how to decide a rate and which model I should use for my personal business. Documentary photographers, for the nature of their work, usually use a day-rate model (while for events photographers is better an hourly-rate model, for example). It is important that when I quote a day rate I include my time spent working in post-production.

Right after graduation I am thinking to set my day-rate realistically at around £280 (photographers should work for less than £250 per day) this would obviously considerably increase once I set my business.

More info at:

http://www.londonfreelance.org/feesguide/index.php?language=en&country=UK&section=Photography&subsect=Day/base+rates&page=Advice

https://www.diyphotography.net/much-photographers-charge-2018/