How should photographers set their prices?
Many photographers set prices by looking at other photographers. The problem: you do not know their costs, their editing time, or whether they actually make a living. The right starting point is your own numbers. All figures below are worked examples: replace them with yours.
Step 1: list your yearly costs
Write down everything the business costs you over twelve months, including things you pay rarely.
| Cost | How to count it | Example (replace) |
|---|---|---|
| Kit (bodies, lenses, lighting) | Purchase price divided by years of use | £8,000 over 4 years = £2,000 |
| Computer, monitor, backup drives | Same principle | £2,600 over 4 years = £650 |
| Software and cloud storage | Yearly subscriptions | £450 |
| Insurance (equipment, public and professional liability) | Yearly premium | £500 |
| Website, domain, client galleries | Subscriptions | £350 |
| Travel not recharged, vehicle running costs | Yearly estimate | £1,300 |
| Accountant, bank, phone | Yearly bills | £1,000 |
| Training, fairs, printing | Estimate | £650 |
| Total | £6,900 |
Add studio rent if you have one. Do not forget replacing kit: a camera body failing in the middle of wedding season is a certain expense, only its date is unknown.
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Step 2: target income and billable hours
Next, decide what you want to earn for yourself over the year, then add income tax and National Insurance. The amount depends on your situation: use HMRC’s guidance or ask your accountant. In our example we aim for £22,000 of income and allow £5,000 for tax and National Insurance (example figure).
Then comes the question almost everyone overestimates: how many hours do you really bill? Part of your time goes on marketing, calls, bookkeeping, social media and kit maintenance. Those hours are necessary, but no client pays for them directly.
| Calculation | Example |
|---|---|
| Weeks worked per year | 44 weeks (holidays, bank holidays, sickness removed) |
| Hours worked per week | 38 |
| Hours worked per year | 44 × 38 = 1,672 |
| Share really billable | About half, measure your own |
| Billable hours | ≈ 830 |
Step 3: the real time a shoot takes
The client sees an hour of shooting. You know everything around it. Time three or four shoots of each type to know your real figures.
| Task | Family shoot | Headshots | Wedding (full day) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emails, quote, contract | 0.5 h | 0.5 h | 3 h (meetings included) |
| Preparation, scouting | 0.5 h | 0.25 h | 2 h |
| Travel | 1 h | 0.5 h | 2 h |
| Shooting | 1.5 h | 0.5 h | 10 h |
| Culling and selection | 1 h | 0.25 h | 5 h |
| Editing | 2 h | 0.75 h | 12 h |
| Delivery, backup, invoice | 0.5 h | 0.25 h | 1 h |
| Total | 7 h | 3 h | 35 h |
At £41 an hour, this example gives a floor price of about £287 for the family shoot, £123 for headshots and £1,435 for the wedding, before shoot-specific costs (prints, album, location hire, long-distance travel) added at real cost.
That floor is not necessarily your selling price. If your local market pays more, good: that is your cushion for quiet months. If it pays less, you have three levers: cut editing time, raise the billable share of your week, or target a different audience.
Step 4: usage licences for business clients
GOV.UK explains that copyright protection is automatic and covers photography. When a family books a shoot, they use the photos privately. When a business commissions photos, it often wants to use them to sell: website, adverts, packaging, posters. That use has value, and you can charge for it.
You can license the use of your work while keeping the copyright. Selling or transferring the copyright itself needs a written, signed document (an “assignment”). In practice most commercial photographers license usage and keep the copyright.
| Question to ask the client | Why it changes the price |
|---|---|
| Which media? (website, social, print, billboards, packaging) | More media means more value |
| What purpose? (internal, advertising) | Advertising earns the client more than internal use |
| Which territory? (local, UK, worldwide) | Wider reach is worth more |
| How long? (one year, three years) | A time-limited licence can be renewed |
| Exclusive or not? | Exclusivity stops you reselling the images |
Usage licence clause (have it checked by a legal professional)
[Photographer] grants [Client] a non-exclusive licence to use the photographs listed in the schedule on [Client]’s website and social media, and on printed material displayed in its premises at [address], for its own marketing, in the United Kingdom, for [2] years from [date]. Copyright remains with [Photographer]. Any other use requires written agreement and a separate fee. The photographer will be credited where the medium allows.
Show the client the shoot fee and the licence fee on two separate lines: they understand what they pay for, and you can offer an extension later.
Step 5: build a clear price list
Clients decide faster between three packages than between ten options. For each specialism, offer an entry package, a full package and a premium one, with what is included.
| Example: family shoot | Essential | Full | Keepsake |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shooting time | 45 min | 1 h 30 | 1 h 30 |
| Edited photos delivered | 15 | 40 | 40 |
| Online gallery | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Prints or album | No | 5 prints | 20-page album |
| Delivery time | 3 weeks | 2 weeks | 2 weeks |
| Price (example) | £170 | £300 | £450 |
- “From” prices on your website to filter enquiries
- A booking deposit and balance on delivery, written in the contract
- Travel fees beyond a set area, stated in advance
- Clear cancellation and rescheduling terms
- Extra photos sold individually for clients who want more
The middle package is often the most chosen: design it to be the one that suits you best.
Worked example: quoting a shoot for a restaurant
Take a local restaurant that wants photos of eight dishes and its dining room for its website, Google profile and Instagram, for two years. Here is how the sum works, still with the example hourly cost of £41.
| Quote line | Detail | Amount (example) |
|---|---|---|
| Planning meeting and dish selection | 1 h | £41 |
| On-site shoot (dishes and room) | 3 h, travel included | £123 |
| Culling, editing, export to the right sizes | 5 h | £205 |
| Delivery, invoice, emails | 1 h | £41 |
| Shoot costs (props, backdrops) | At cost | £25 |
| Subtotal for the work | £435 | |
| Usage licence | Website, Google profile, social media; restaurant’s own marketing; UK; 2 years; non-exclusive | Priced on the value of the use, on its own line |
This breakdown helps the owner understand the price: they see the time involved and what they get. If the budget is tight, reduce the number of dishes or the licence period rather than your hourly rate. And if a year later they want a poster on the street or flyers, the licence makes it clear that this is a new use with a new fee.
- The quote lists the photos delivered (number, formats)
- The licence spells out media, purpose, territory and duration
- Shoot costs are recharged at cost and stated up front
- Delivery time and payment terms are written down
VAT and paperwork
GOV.UK sets the VAT registration threshold at £90,000 of taxable turnover: you must register if your turnover over the last 12 months goes above it, or if you expect it to go above it in the next 30 days. Once registered, your prices to private clients must include VAT, so redo the calculation above with that in mind before you cross the line.
Put everything in writing: a quote with the package, what is included, the licence for business use, the deposit and the cancellation terms. Our guide on how to write a quote lists the elements, and when you raise prices, our price increase letter templates help you tell regular clients in advance.
The most common pricing mistakes
- Leaving editing out of the sum: the “one-hour” shoot costs you six.
- Counting every hour as billable: your hourly cost is then underestimated by half.
- Handing a business full-resolution files without discussing usage: you give away value you did not charge for.
- Cutting prices to fill the diary: you attract clients who compare on price and leave for a lower one.
- Never reviewing prices: your costs rise every year. Redo the sum once a year.
The steps at a glance
Five steps that start from your costs and your time.
- List yearly costs. Kit spread over its life, software, insurance, website, travel, accounting.
- Set target income. Add income tax and National Insurance.
- Count billable hours. Often around half the hours worked, measure your own.
- Time a shoot. From the first email to delivery, editing included.
- Add costs and usage. Then build three clear packages.
This guide for your trade
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Sources
The rules quoted in this guide come from these official pages, checked on October 28, 2026.