How to Set Your Photography Prices

This can be a tough one. How do you find that pricing sweet spot where you're getting enough bookings but you're making enough to turn a profit? 

Especially when you're first starting out, it can be hard to separate yourself from the $100 photographer who gives away all the files. Truth be told, that's where most photographers start - but that doesn't mean you need to be stuck there forever. 

I'm coming in hot with a little math lesson to get you thinking about where you need to price your photography to meet your income goals. 

I want you to think about how many shoots (S) you'd like to have each week, and multiply that by the number of weeks (W) you'll shoot this year, to get your number of clients per year (C). 

S x W = C

Example: 2 clients per week for 25 warm weather weeks is 50 clients per year. 

For the sake of this math lesson, we're going to oversimplify the expense ratio and assume that half of what you make will go towards expenses and taxes. It's a rough estimate, but a good place to start. 

Now, tell me how much money you'd like to take home (H). Let's say you want to replace your income from which is $30,000. In order to take home $30K, you'll need to bring in $60K (again, rough estimates here people.) H x 2 = Gross Income (G)

How can you make $60K with 50 clients? Simple - you'll need to make an average of $1200 per client.

G ÷ C = Average Sale (S) 

Let's break this down a little further, because I want to show you how it's possible to earn $1200 from one client. Let's say you have a session fee of $300, and then your clients can choose from 3 collections. The middle one is $900. The smallest is maybe $600 and the largest is maybe $1200. 

Most people will choose the middle, and you'll probably end up with an average order of around $900 if you're strategic about your collections. $300 + $900 = $1200. Boom! Now all that's left to do is make sure you meet your (C) goal with effective marketing, and provide an amazing experience that is totally worth your (S) number!

Now let's back up for a minute and imagine that you stick to your $100 per session pricing. Let's say you do well and get those 50 clients you were hoping for. You'll pull in $5K this year, but remember that your take home will be about half of your gross, so you'll profit $2500 if you're lucky and keep your expenses absolutely bare bones. Can you imagine working with 50 clients to only take home a grand total of $2500? I can't even bring myself to break that down into what you'd be paying yourself hourly, because it would be far too depressing. 

At that point, you have a hobby. And hobbies are WONDERFUL. But there's a difference. If you take nothing else from this word-y math-y blog post, take this: raise those prices! Your time is valuable. You are worth it. 

Side note: YES, there are other variables to consider in pricing, like your skill level, marketing prowess, niche, business model, and competitor prices. But the bottom line is this: if you want to have a business, you need to make a profit. Hopefully this exercise got you thinking about where you need to be to make this business work for you!