How to know what to charge for a shoot

"How do I know what to charge?"

Easily one of the most popular questions my students have asked me over the past decade. Well, the answer is usually not as easy as a set number because there are so many factors to take into account. But over the years, I actually came up with an ANSWER! You ready? Here it is! "Turn the TIDE in your favor!"

I know what you are thinking right now, "huh?" Let me explain. T.I.D.E. is an acronym I invented to help you all narrow down the factors of a shoot and give it a fair price. T.I.D.E. means, TIME, IMAGINATION, DIFFICULTY, EQUIPMENT. Let's go over them briefly.

TIME:

When pricing a shoot, of course you need to charge for your time. We aren't talking about charging for how many hours the shoot is, we are talking about knowing how MUCH to charge per hour. So TIME in this case equals, "How long will it take me to set up and break down the shoot? How much work will that be?" If a shoot will take you 15 minutes to walk in, drop your lighting, and get to work, then the time factor is minimal. As opposed to a shoot that will take a couple of hours! Massive setup and breakdown time before you even get started! Just the workload alone of a shoot that complicated sets the price per hour higher. But always be fair, more work is harder, and costs more. Less work is easier, charge less.

IMAGINATION:

Here is actually where many people undervalue themselves. Your IMAGINATION has value! If someone has an idea for a shoot, lets say, engagement photos. They want to go to a park and wear jeans and sweaters. You come up with a great idea to go into a forest, and dress it up, make it look like the cover of a romance novel, Dramatic lighting, hero poses, a real OMG factor! Well, THAT IDEA makes you worth more! Fill your portfolio with things that not only show your ability as a skilled photographer, but also as a person that comes up with GREAT IDEAS! The sales pitch to the clients are easy, "Here is an example of my work, AND and example of my creativity that can make your project truly amazing!" Also, using your imagination will increase the the other factors and change the TIDE to your favor!

DIFFICULTY:

There is a level of technical difficulty to every shoot. How DIFFICULT is the shoot? What is the skill level required to pull it off? Difficult terrain to deal with? Shooting in bright sunlight with harsh conditions that need to be offset? All of that adds to the difficulty to make that shoot come out right. On the other hand, a simple shoot at the park with minimal lighting, on a cloudy day, should cost the client less.

EQUIPMENT

How much gear is going to be needed to pull this off? Now there is a basic level of lighting equipment a photographer should include as "basic" and not charge extra for. Let's say, 3 speedlights with light stands and umbrellas. With that setup you can pretty much go out on locations and shoot solid lighting, good catch lights, with one rim. Now if you start getting into MORE than that, you need to start charging extra. Bigger more powerful lights, like true studio strobes, which need heavier c-stands, sand bags, modifiers, and a multitude of other things that can be added to that gear list...hey, quality costs.

A quick example to illustrate the above example of turning the T.I.D.E. in YOUR favor:

A bride has an idea to take an engagement photo for an announcement. A shot at the park with 2 speedlights, a couple of umbrellas and small light stands. Ok, quick setup, TIME factor is low. No IMAGINATION. No DIFFICULTY. Light EQUIPMENT. In and out, 1 hour, maybe 2. But the setup and breakdown are like 10 minutes each. Fair price per hour, $50.

Same client, now a different shoot is suggested. "You know what would look AMAZING on an announcement? A BEAUTIFUL BRIDAL! I mean, let's GO BIG! REGAL!" And you suggest a bridal in a forest location. Ok, now, your IMAGINATION just talked them into a shoot that requires more TIME. You have to go to a forest location! Walk through the terrain, setup around trees and such. Its more DIFFICULT, dealing with light and shadows bouncing around because you have to even out lighting with all the lights coming in and out of the trees. Also, once again, you are dealing with more difficult terrain. Equipment, you might not need more equipment for this setup, keeping it light will be a good idea so you don't blow out your back! But Now you turned a $50 an hour shoot into a $200 an hour shoot. Same client, but you will make upwards of $600 for 3 hours, instead of maybe $100 for 2 hours.

(shot with 2 speedlights on location. Check for the video on how it was done! Great results don't need a hard setup!)

So think about the factors here. Remember, Charge accordingly. Again, always be fair, this isnt about charging MORE, its about charging ACCORDINGLY. But also see how your imagination as a photographer can increase the value of a shoot drastically, and also increase what you should be charging! Also be sure to explain the fees to the client! Tell them, "THIS idea will cost you x-amount. And THIS idea will cost another amount." And explain why. They will feel better about costs when they know it isnt just some arbitrary number you are tossing out to try and gouge them.

Until next time, STAY CREATIVE!