Over the past month, I lost photo jobs to photographers who quoted:
1) $1,200 for a two-day shoot in two cities 100 km apart, including 22 business portraits, 11 environmental portraits, and up to 66 finished images delivered.
2) $1,500 to photograph a four-day business conference.
3) A photographer, self-described on his website as the “best professional headshot photographer in Toronto,” who quoted $3,000 for 120 business headshots. That’s just $25 per headshot.
Whenever a customer declines your quote, ask what the winning photographer charged. Some won’t share that information, but they might if you explain that you’re simply trying to understand where your pricing fits in the market.
Was I disappointed to lose these jobs? Of course.
Was I upset? No.
What I can’t figure out is how these photographers make money.
How do you photograph a four-day conference, spend additional days editing, and charge only $1,500? How do you produce business headshots for $25 each? Even the companies that operated the former Sears Portrait Studios and the Walmart Photo Studios typically charged more than that.
These low-priced quotes suggest that some photographers price their work based on time and not on value to the customer.
Marginal Cost vs. Marginal Value
It’s important not to confuse marginal cost with marginal value.
As the size of a job increases, some customers expect a volume discount, and some photographers feel obligated to offer a discount. Why?
A restaurant doesn’t reduce the price of every meal because more people join your table. Each meal requires essentially the same preparation, and each diner receives the same value.
A barber doesn’t charge less per haircut because you bring five friends. Each haircut still takes the same time and skill. The value of each haircut stays the same, it doesn’t decrease as more people get their hair cut.
Professional photography works the same way.
Photographing a portrait requires the same preparation, direction, lighting, camera work, and post-production, regardless of whether you’re photographing 10 people or 200. Also, the value of each portrait doesn’t diminish simply because there are more portraits to create.
Once a photographer is set up, the marginal cost to do one more portrait is very low. But the marginal value of that additional portrait is the same as the very first portrait.
A well-paying customer and a low-paying customer each cost you the same time, effort, expertise, equipment, and overhead. The difference is that the former provides much more value to you.
If you don’t value your work, don’t expect your customers to value it either.
Hi, Warren,
Thank you for your article, it is interesting, as always. I fully agree with you about the cost of photos. But I want to add that it only works (your message not to reduce prices) for photographers who have been on the market for a long time.
For a new photographer in the market (immigrant) or a newcomer who does not know the prices for the photo session, and who will be happy to have any first order it doesn’t work. Without any work, they will take orders to get at least some money. And there will always be employers who, for these newcomers, will offer $ 14 per hour for cover sports events, not 50+….two way street
Hi Anatoliy,
Very true but I’m hoping these photographers will understand how much money they are leaving on the table. These photographers have to understand that they are running a business not a hobby. No business sells its products or services at a loss unless it’s a “going-out-of-business” sale.
I was just reading a photographers’ forum where some photographers said they price their work based on what camera gear they own! One photographer said he only has a Nikon D5500 so he always charges less ($40 per photo with all rights). Another person asked what he should charge based on owning a Canon 700D, 18-55mm lens, a 50mm lens, a tripod and Lightroom.
I once knew a photographer who based his prices on the number of flashes he used: no flashes (available light) – $150; one flash – $300; two flashes – $450; and three flashes – $600. It didn’t matter what the photography was, his price depended only on the number of flashes.
My point is that the photographer is not the customer. The customer is the customer and customers have different priorities and values than the photographer.
Also remember this. Do you want to be just anybody? Why be the cheapest photographer in town? Photo businesses have been around for over 100 years and we know it’s *impossible* for a photographer to discount or lowball their way to success. If it were possible, wouldn’t all other photographers be doing it?