How to get a Photography Quote

How to get a Photography Quote

by | Sep 22, 2025 | Uncategorized

Bellow is a step by step process walking through how to organize your information to get a photography quote that will be accurate to what you need.

One of the things I am massively grateful for is that my website has a lot of organic leads and people contact me from around the world asking about photography. Not only does it provide opportunity to work with all kinds of businesses and meet lots of amazing folks, it also lets me take a peek at what are commonly asked questions. Often emails come in with messages that are quick and to the point:

“Can I get your rate for a photoshoot please?”

“How much does photography cost, I have a product I need photos for?”

It’s awesome to have anyone reach out for any reason, but the answer I give is always the same:

 “I need to know a lot more about what you are asking in order to give you a quote that is even slightly accurate” Otherwise, I can only offer a day rate as a starting place. But I take smaller projects and don’t have a full day rate as my minimum, so even that is already inaccurate.

To try and assist folks, I created a quick step by step guide on how to get an accurate quote for photography (or any other visuals from an artist). I wanted to include that this applies to all kinds of visual creators as my author sister has pointed out that hearing me talk about what I need from people in order to get them what they want has translated to her illustrators who do her cover art and that when she implements these steps she has far less revisions and saves on her cover art design.

So here it goes!

 

Getting a quote for photography:

 

Step 1:

Identify your needs. 

Start with a list of the photography/visual “holes” you need to fill. This can be anything from “a year’s worth of social media posts” to “product shots for each item we sell on our website” and “a full media package with all of the above plus ad campaign shots for advertisements and PR”.

Look at the following places:

    • What do you need on your website: product photos, banner, category, & intro photos? etc.

    • What do you need for social media?
    • What do you need for print materials and what are they?

    • What do you need for marketing materials?
    • Where is every place you anticipate needing an image from this shoot?

Note where images can be used more than once from the above list

 

Step 2:

Identify your budget -if you have one. This will quickly control what you can and cannot afford to do. A lot of items will either be on or off the table based on this number.

 

Step 3:

Identify the creative direction.

If you don’t have a brand voice and vision yet, getting one ready before getting visuals creates a higher likelihood you’ll be using the visuals for longer. Ideally you will have visuals to review for your project. Ultimately, someone, somewhere along the way, will need to decide what the visuals from your shoot will look like. The ideal person to do this is someone who knows your company, your branding, your target market, and your budget.

Be as specific as possible. There are fabulous creative directors out there who can be hired to do this for you with your company’s branding. You can hire the photographer or visual artist to consult with you on this as well but it’s not a good idea to assume just hiring an artist whose work you like will result in images that connect with your customers/audience the way you need them to.

Try and be specific about:

    • Composition and framing (horizontal, vertical, etc.

    • Lighting/mood
    • set/environment/studio setting
    • Camera angle to subject
    • props/additional items in each visual

    • Talent with their desired interaction, specific appearance, etc. identified

Step 4:

Create the Shot List. 

Combining the list of needs with the list of what each image should look like is called a “Shot List”. Handing a photographer a complete shot list will help the estimate they provide be accurate.

 Visual artists will review the above info and estimate: how much time it should take to create the visuals? What the costs might be to make sure everything needed is available in the visuals? etc. 

If the estimate comes back in and it’s out of budget, this is a great time to have a conversation that starts like this: “unfortunately, that shoot is out of our budget of $_____. What could be trimmed down/adjusted to get this into the budget for us? Here are our most important visuals we don’t want to cut ____(list most important items on the shot list)___.” -this is why at the end of step 1 you created a list of what can be used more than once. Reusing images are an easy place to cut shots and costs.

 

Conclusion:

Asking a visual artist to give you a quote without providing specifics like “how many images are you expecting?” and “what should these visuals look like” means you will have a quote for something that might not be what you want or need.

Your job is to identify & share with your visual artist what you need and what it should look like. That job can be hired out to someone who will be able to learn your company and assist in finding those for you. 

Visual artists do have a style that you can see on their website but many of us don’t only create in those styles. We adjust our images to match what the client needs. Often our portfolio/website/instagram represents a blend of our work and a client’s desires. There is no guarantee that the visuals we deliver will match your expectations without you sharing what those expectations are.

Finding the right professional photographer through price comparison

by | Mar 19, 2025 | Advice

Finding the Right Photographer: A Guide to B2B Photography Pricing

 

So, you’re on the hunt for a photographer? Awesome! Whether you need a photographer for product shots, lifestyle images, or something else entirely, figuring out where to start can be tricky. If you’re looking for a photographer for your business (B2B), it’s a whole different ball game than finding one for personal photos. Let’s dive into how to find the perfect photographer for your needs and what to expect when it comes to pricing.

 

Your First Step: Searching for a Photographer

 

When you start searching for a photographer, you might begin with simple terms like “photographer near me” or “professional photographer.” You’ll likely see a lot of B2C (business to consumer) photographers offering services like weddings and family portraits. While these are great, they’re not what you need for your business. This can lead to a lot of time spent sifting through irrelevant results.

Or, maybe you head to Instagram and start searching hashtags, hoping to find a content creator or influencer with the right style. While this can sometimes work, it can also be a time-consuming rabbit hole.

 

A Better Way to Find a Photographer

 

There’s a more efficient way to find the right photographer. Try these search terms:

“(Your closest city) (what type of photography you need) photographer”

For example:

  • “Boston product photographer”
  • “New Hampshire lifestyle photographer”
  • “Portland Maine commercial photographer”

Replace “(what type of photography you need)” with terms like “product,” “lifestyle,” “advertising,” “commercial,” “ecommerce,” or “website.” If you’re not sure, just type in what you need photographed and see what comes up.

Pro Tip: Use Google Image Search! It’s a quick way to see photographer’s work without clicking through multiple websites. If you see images you like, then you know you’ve found a potential photographer to contact.

 

Understanding Photographer Pricing

 

Once you’ve found a few potential photographers, you’ll start reaching out for quotes. But here’s the thing: not all photographer quotes are created equal. You will get a range of prices and wonder why they’re so different. It’s like comparing the cost of chairs—are we talking about an IKEA chair, a Target chair, or a Restoration Hardware chair? Photographers vary just as much.

 

What Goes into a Photographer’s Price?

 

Generally, a photographer’s price includes:

  • Time: How long the photoshoot will take.
  • Cost: Expenses like equipment, lunch & coffee, studio/location rental, team/talent (models), props, and everything else you might see in the photo.
  • Use: How you plan to use the photos.

Let’s look at these three types of photographers and how their pricing might differ

The Influencer/content creator:

They often have a price sheet based on the number of photos and reposts. Their style is what you see on their feed, so make sure it matches your brand. Ask about file sizes to ensure they’ll work for your needs (online, print, etc.). Their number of followers influences their price.

Above is a screen shot from Inbeat Agency which is a great article about the range of costs for a content creator.

The Big Box Photo Studio:

They might advertise a low price per photo, but extras like different shadows, retouching, props, creative direction, and more are extra. Those changes can add up quickly. Take a look at this price chart:

This price sheet is an example from a Big Box Photo Studio. It looks do-able if you want a single photo on a plain background, but if you need 10 photos you’re paying close to the same as you would with many Solo Professional Photographers but you have less creative control because it’s a Big Box Studio.

The Solo Professional Photographer (SPP):

They’ll likely ask a lot of questions to understand your needs. This is because they want to give you an accurate quote and ensure they’re the right fit for your project. They’re thinking about time, cost, and use to deliver exactly what you need. There’s no paying for BIG company overheads or them to post and promote your product so often this works out in your favor.

Which Photographer Should You Hire?

 

Each type of photographer has its place.

  • Influencers/content creators can be great if their style aligns with your brand and you want a hands-off approach. Depending on their level of reach, this can be expensive.
  • Big Box Photo Studios might work for simple, straightforward low number of photos, but watch out for those extra charges or when you have more than a couple images you need.
  • Solo Professional Photographers often provide the best return on investment. They work closely with you, adapt during the shoot, and deliver high-quality images you can actually use.

In Conclusion

While photographer and content creators prices can vary widely at first glance, the price per usable image often evens out in the end. Consider what extra services you might be buying when hiring someone. More experienced photographers might charge higher rates but work more efficiently, while less experienced ones might take longer but charge less.

Finding the right photographer is about understanding your needs, doing your research, and choosing someone who aligns with your vision and budget. Happy hunting!

How to Make A Shot List for a Video and/or Photoshoot

by | Aug 30, 2022 | Advice, Commercial Photography

Communication with your team is key to the success (or failure) of your photo and video shoots. One of the components that you should start with is the shot list. The shot list is a document of each photo and video clip you need. It’s also the answers to all the questions the team will have when providing you with a quote and executing your photo (and video) shoots.

Knowing that you need a shot list isn’t innate, and honestly, it’s not expected that every person who reaches out to me will know the significance of it and that one way or another, if we work together, we’ll have one. I happily build them for clients all the time. Usually after a meeting I get a clear picture of what most clients need and can start building one. Art directors, agencies, producers and many other industry people also build these for companies. So if it gets overwhelming know that you don’t have to take this on. You’ve got helpers who can converse with you and create this with you. Please feel comfortable to send me an email if you think you’d like to get some help. I’m going to cover a lot here!

Shot lists aren’t exclusive to any one type of photography or video. I build and use them for everything from branding images for companies looking to build portrait and lifestyle images of their team (for example, real estate firms, law firms, beauty spas, etc), to new restaurants, to products/still life, hopefully you get the idea! There is no shoot that doesn’t benefit from some type of a shot list. Even those really avant garde concept shoots that want to move unplanned and follow the whims of the day, will still benefit from a very basic and bare bones shot list.

Occasionally, new clients ask for guidance on what my ideal shot list looks like. Having the advantage of getting many different types, there are some that work better than others. Although that said, you can use any program you’d like (Excel, Power Point, Word, whatever), my favorite is Google Slides in Google Drive. Many of the benefits of Google Slides format translate to other programs (though not all, I love that we can tag each other in comments to ask direct clarification) and so I’m going to focus on it. It’s fairly user friendly and easy to drop screenshots of images into and have text to discuss it.

A thorough shot list will tell the team how many shots or clips are going to be taken, what the inspiration images are for each shot or clip, and any other important details.

To get started, let’s focus on two key factors: How many shots/clips are needed and what is your budget. These two pieces of the shot list puzzle will influence the rest of it. It’s helpful to make a note if either of these are flexible elements as the development of the shot list might affect how many shots/clips you can afford.

To determine how many photographs/photo animations/clips you need, I recommend starting with identifying where you have holes you are trying to fill. Look at all the places you need to fill:

  • website banners & intro images
  •  social media (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, etc)
  • billboards
  • TV commercials
  • tradeshow posters
  • emails
  • magazine ads and articles
  •  product web pages
  • etc.

Make a note of the dimensions of these images (square, vertical, horizontal) and if you need room to put text on the images.

You can deduce this by taking a look at what you are selling, do you have a bunch of products? Write down how many. Are you selling a service? Write down what it is and what is the message you are sending. Do you have one product but need multiple images? Same idea as selling a service. Asking yourself how many images you need and answering that question while noting if it’s flexible or not is where you start.

Next is your budget. You’ll want to know this before asking for quotes as budgets dictate what we can afford to do. There is always someone who will do what you are asking for whatever your budget is, but the quality of the project is affected by budget. It’s a rough feeling when I get the call from someone who tried to do a project with a vendor who didn’t deliver the quality they needed, forcing them to redo the project. Usually the quote is for more than the first vendor charged. I often wish I could give these folks the discount they sometimes request but it’s not possible when what failed to make the project successful the first time was cutting costs and purchasing/hiring lower quality team/props/etc. Skimping on these the second time might mean failure again. That said, I always look to  find ways to adjust the shots needed to still get a client everything they need, while staying under their budget. And that is where the inspiration and details come in.

The inspiration images/clips are the guide that your team is going to imitate, (to some level). I hesitate to say imitate because usually these aren’t direct translations of what a client wants but it gives enough information to show your team the critical details that will influence your shoot, like:

  • How many people need to be involved (models, actors, stylist, hair & makeup artists, assistants, grips, directors, etc)?
  • What are the locations/sets?
  • What are the props?
  • What is the lighting/mood?
  • What is the energy/vibe? (especially with talent in the shots)

Some of the above might have the same direction throughout the project. If that’s the case, identifying that at one point in the shot list works well. Make a single section with inspiration images or clips for any overall project instruction/direction and write out the details for it. 

Above is an overall page from a shot list for a photoshoot that illustrated the coloring, poses and vibe a client was going for. After this was sent to me, we chatted about the specifics of what they liked about each image in there.

The goal of a shot list is to clearly share your needs with your team.

Here is an example of a page from a document I share with clients when they want a template to work with. It helps guide them on what to tell me and includes most of the needed details. The blank version and filled out version show just one way to communicate on a shot list.

 

Although very helpful, getting really clear like that isn’t always possible though. There are shoots that are more relaxed and where clients want the team to work along the lines of something but not be quite as specific and direct. And often for lifestyle or work with talent, we aren’t this specific. Especially when we shoot employees instead of models, keeping things a little more relaxed can be helpful to find the images that feel more natural. Something like this can work well in those situations:

When you are building a website though and want images to all feel consistant, the more direct the shot list is, the better.

This example is from a website rebuild I did and was taken from a product page. We had already decided on the color background so the images were our guide on the lighting and angles for each of the makeup palettes that needed pictures.

Collecting and organizing information like this will get you the most accurate quotes when you are asking photographers, producers, videographers, and all the team for estimates. It will also help the shoot day go smoothly and efficiently. 

Once a shot list is created, there are usually some conversations to get further clarity, so don’t be taken back if that happens. Even the shot lists built by full time art directors can have holes in them still. Having someone come back and ask for a bit more detail is a sign you’ve hired a good person. It shows that crew member is deeply thinking about what you’re asking them to create. 

Worth mentioning is that there are unlimited ways to build a shot list. Above are just a few examples. When I’m building for my clients I ask them to start a folder and collect images they love. If I’m being asked to create the list for them, I’ll do the same. Then we’ll share these images and toss any that we don’t think will work and put what does work into the document organizing it as we go. An organized guide is what a shot list is. Without it, you gamble that the people you hire will give you what you want. With it, you tell them clearly what to give you. One tends to produce better results than the other. I almost always have some version of this before I arrive on set. Usually it’s been shared with the client first and has been discussed and approved. The earlier on in the production of the shoot we have this the better the shoot results are. 

Shelter-in-place leads to creative new work for Fridababy

Shelter-in-place leads to creative new work for Fridababy

by | Apr 27, 2020 | Product

Shelter-in-place leads to creative new work for Fridababy

I’ve been pushing my creative boundaries during Dallas’s shelter-in-place order. One of my favorite clients to work with is Fridababy. They have a lovely new art director who I’ve worked with at other companies that I’ve been collaborating with. This video is one of our creations from last month. Despite not being able to leave and work on location, I’ve been able to build unique sets around my house and studio utilizing whatever I can that is on brand to help build an image library for Fridababy. I’ve also been shooting their new product’s e-commerce photography for their website, Target, Buy Buy Baby and other stores that carry their line of clever and useful products.

The right time to have a baby.

The timing of having my daughter overlapping when it’s incredibly hard to actually shoot models has played out really well for Fridababy. I’ve been able to use her as a model for them between my still life photography. The whole family has been working together to keep her happy and get her to look at the camera. I’ve even been able to jump into a couple of the shots to get the moments they were looking for.

I’ve got long, thin fingers and as awkward as the rest of me is, my hands aren’t. So for a little over a year, I’ve been hand modeling products for my clients. This was another creative way I was able to help build the image library for Fridababy. 

In addition to these specialty images (movement & models). I had quite a few still life in environment and in studio shots I took for them. The library needed more shots in places that felt real. So while homeschooling, chasing that baby, and working, I kept moving furniture around to different parts of the house to create sets. More than once that baby has made a mad dash for the wires and light stands that decorate the house these days.

Jewelry Photographer | Diamonds Direct Collection Photoshoot

Jewelry Photographer | Diamonds Direct Collection Photoshoot

by | Mar 13, 2020 | Jewelry

2019 was a very, very exciting year!

More and more campaign shoots came in and it seemed the HUGE life changes of 2019 (like having another baby and moving to Dallas, TX) didn’t effect business. I think after I moved out of Miami to Charleston, SC I had to learn how to master the remote client photoshoot. We had already been doing it in Florida. But there are some products that it doesn’t work with and I was concerned how being a jewelry photographer would work out for me in Dallas and Fort Worth. Fine jewelry, high end pieces, really can’t often get shipped to my studio. So relocating and trying to maintain my life as a product and jewelry photographer was going to be challenging.

As fate would have it, one of my favorite jewelry clients didn’t miss a beat when I moved and quickly adjusted their plans to keep working with me. Diamonds Direct is known for their engagement rings and making it super easy to buy exactly what you want. Pick out the setting, pick out your diamond, and viola, your custom jewelry is ready. But they have so much more than that! After I moved, they reached out and asked if I could come and shoot their one of a kind pieces. From previous conversations, I knew these were different pieces then I had photographed before. I knew these were unique and rare pieces. The art direction was simple, plain white backgrounds with some clipping paths so they can drop the files into artwork as needed. However, the project and jewelry was anything but.

The jewelry photoshoot was over a couple days in an undisclosed location behind armed security guards. The collection isn’t usually all in one location so pieces were flown in from around the country for me to photograph. It was a huge responsibility to do justice as their jewelry photographer to these stunning necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings. As is often the case with expensive jewelry like this, insurance regulated where the shoot would be. So I had to bring my studio to the location. Over the years, I’ve joked but the smaller the product is, the larger the studio setup we need! Every inch of the space they could give me to shoot was transformed with photography equipment. And in an organized furry we began capturing the collection.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. I see I missed a deliver that required a signature. Usually I’m aware a package that requires a signature is coming so I was caught off guard by this. When I was able to catch the delivery and sign for it, the Collections book was waiting for me. Although my work is commonly used in print materials, it is rare for me to get to see it. A big thank you to the team over at Diamonds Direct for trusting me with the project and following through to the very end and sending one of their beautiful Collections books over to me. I love it!

I can only hope that this shoot was a preview into my new life as a Dallas jewelry photographer because if it is, many more great things are to come! Follow this link to see more of work from this (not so bashful but hopefully not too boastful) jewelry photographer.

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