You’re not overcharging…you’re just under valuing your time and not accounting for all the work you’re doing for free. Here’s a few tips to help you price yourself profitably as a photographer.

Fellow photographers, let’s have a real talk. If you’re basing your pricing on what feels “reasonable” to you, or what someone on a mom forum told you they’d pay for family photos…you’re probably undercharging and not making a profit.

I get it. Pricing is hard. Especially when you love what you do and want to make it accessible for everyone (or when the imposter syndrome kicks in and you feel like a crazy person for actually charging your worth). But the reality is, if you’re not pricing profitably, you’re just losing money and you’re not going to be able to grow your business.

Let’s break down what a full time family photographer’s weekly schedule really looks like and what kind of rates you actually need to be charging to make this sustainable.

A Real-Life Weekly Schedule (50-Hour Week)

Let’s say you’re a full-time photographer with kids at home, juggling carpool, snack duty, and editing marathons at 10 PM. (As a mom of 3 littles, this is an accurate summary of my life currently haha).

Say you shoot 3 sessions per week, including a newborn, a full family session, and a mini-session day. Here’s a snapshot of where those 50 hours go in a week:

Shooting Sessions (6 hours): two full sessions plus a mini session event
Culling & Editing (12 hours): planning 3-4 hours per full session/event
Communicating With Clients (5 hours): responding to emails, inquiries, following up with clients, and any video calls
Marketing & Social Media (6 hours): editing reels, posting stories, writing blogs and newsletters, etc.
Admin Tasks & Workflow Systems (4 hours): prepping contracts, sending invoices, scheduling sessions etc.
Education & Business Growth (2 hours): online courses, listening to podcasts, coaching calls
Travel & Setup (3 hours): location scouting, drive time, and prepping gear or props
Gallery Delivery (3 hours): uploading, finalizing and delivering client galleries
Website & SEO Tasks (3 hours): posting blogs, updating website portfolio images, optimizing SEO on Google, and more
Miscellaneous Tasks (6 hours): gear maintenance, shopping for props or additions to your client closet, planning your fall minis, and all the other 42 billion things that come up

You may only spend 6 hours behind the camera, but that’s just 12% of your workweek. The rest? That’s the business side of photography. And it’s just as important for keeping your business running.

When determining your rates, make sure to take ALL of these tasks and the entire time you’ll spend from start to finish working with a client into account. Not just the time you spend behind the camera and editing.

Annual Business Expenses You Can’t Ignore

To run a legal and profitable photography business and to figure out what you should be charging your clients, you have to factor in any and all expenses.

To give you an idea of what all this might include, here’s what the average professional photographer spends per year:

Gear & Equipment: $3,000
Editing Software & Subscriptions: $1,000
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Marketing & Ads: $2,500
Insurance & Legal: $1,200
Education & Coaching: $1,000
Client Gifts & Packaging: $600
Travel & Mileage: $1,500
Website, Hosting & SEO Tools: $800
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Studio or Rent (if any): $6,000-$12,000
Self Employment Taxes: 25-30% of profit

Are you ready for the estimated total annual expenses? It adds up to $17,000-$25,000.

Now compare the cost of expenses to your total income. If you’re currently in a little bit of shock, don’t worry, you’re in the right place! Keep on reading to figure out how to price yourself as a photographer so that you can start actually making a decent profit.

So What Should You Actually Be Charging?

Let’s say you want to bring home a very normal, middle-class income of $60,000/year after expenses and taxes. If we take the above expenses into account, that means you need to gross about $90,000–$100,000/year.

If you shoot about 8–10 sessions per month, that breaks down to an average rate of $850-1,000 per session. This amount includes your session fee + any digital or product sales.

Some Real Talk…

Let me be the first to tell you…you’re not charging too much.
You’re working too hard without being paid for all the time you’re investing.

You’re showing up as a photographer, a stylist, a marketer, an editor, a re-toucher, a customer service rep, a bookkeeper, and a business owner. Your pricing should reflect all of those hats—not just your time behind the lens.

You deserve better than driving yourself to burnout taking on too many sessions just so you can hit your income goal…all because you just aren’t charging enough in the first place.

And just a reminder that when you charge what you’re worth, you will attract your ideal clients. The families who value your skill and love you and your unique photography style and who are more than happy to pay your rates because they know the value they are receiving!

Need More Help Pricing Yourself Profitably? Book Your Free Mentor Session With Me!

If you’re still charging $250 for a 90-minute session and giving away a full gallery, you’re not running a business…you’re running yourself into the ground. It’s time to start respecting your time, pricing yourself for profit, and finally building a business that is sustainable and actually enjoyable again.

If this hit home for you and you want help calculating your numbers or reworking your pricing structure, please reach out! Seriously, I would LOVE to hear from you. Trust me, I have been there. And I’d love to help. You don’t have to figure this out alone.

I offer FREE 15 minute mentor meetings! This is the perfect opportunity to ask me all your pricing questions, and get helpful advice and feedback tailored to you and your business. Spots always fill up reallll fast though so don’t sleep on this! Join my for photographers email list to be the first to know when the mentor sessions go live so you can snag your spot!