Pricing Photography

What should you charge? There is no simple answer. First, examine your cost of doing business to understand the minimums you must charge to meet your income goals. Next, consider the value your client will derive from your pictures.

Assignments should be priced based on a combination of time, difficulty, experience, special techniques or equipment required, market segment, and the intended use for the images. The traditional journalism assignment was based on “day rate, plus space.” Photographers were guaranteed a fee for making the pictures, and that fee was compared to a schedule of rates for reproducing those pictures. If the usage of pictures from an assignment exceeded the assignment fee, photographers received payment for that extra amount. For instance, the assignment fee might be $800, but the fee for usage on the assigning magazine’s cover might be $1,600. The photographer’s final payment would be $1600, plus any other usage and expenses.

This assignment model has changed at many publications, which proffer contracts demanding broader rights without additional compensation, but as you can read in our Best Practices lists, NPPA continues to support day rate, plus space, as the fair method for contracting news photography.

Some factors affecting usage value include:

• circulation or viewer numbers,
• the size and prominence of the usage in the publication, website or broadcast,
• the uniqueness of the image, or the difficulty in creating it,
• and what the market will bear (note: this is usually more than what a client initially says he/she wants to pay).

If you are a staff photographer shooting on the side, you should go through the motions of determining your CDB as if you were in business for yourself--because you are. You should also consult with other self-employed photographers in the area. You don't want to undercut the market, because you just may need to make a living in it one day.

Cost of Doing Business/Accounting

• NPPA's CDB calculator.

Pricing assistance services

Editorial Photographer's (EP) Editorial Estimator

This nifty chart displays an average price for a magazine assignment or stock sale based on circulation and ad rates. Although it dates back several years, adding current circulation and ad rates can make this very effective. Note that pricing goals are not official in any way.

D-65

For a fee, this private consulting service can help you come up with an estimate for a client. They also offer consulting services, software, workshops and seminars.

Suzanne Sease

A Richmond-based portfolio, marketing and pricing consultant; scroll down “services: page to “Estimating” and “Negotiating.”

BlinkBid

An estimating and pricing software package that is considered easy to use and popular.

fotoQuote

An assignment pricing guide included in the fotoBiz photography management software and available separately.

Hindsight’s Photo Price Guide

A pricing system that works both independently and with Hindsight’s estimating and image database packages.

Photographers' price lists

A good way to get an idea of what the market will bear is to look at what other photographers charge for similar services. The following photographers have posted their prices online.

• John Harrington.
• Seth Resnick (you must log in to access the price list).
• Firefly Studios.
• Peter Krogh's Digital Photography Price List.

Digital Pricing Guidelines

The cost of providing digital photography to your clients is very high. Here are some tips on pricing accurately for it. This is a relatively new area. Opinions and guidelines vary.

• Digital Photography Standards and Practices Project.
• ASMP digital pricing strategy.
• ASMP Why Shoot Digital? article.
• Sportshooter.com Let's Talk Business article: Digital Images Don't Cost Anything Do They?

Also see our list of books for several good pricing guides.

If you have any suggestions for changes or additions to this page, please email us at bpc@nppa.com

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