As a 15+ year pro, I would add that people will refer you to friends that expect the same price you charged the first person. That means you are very unlikely to get a $300 session fee referral if you only charged $40 to someone “because they have a lot of friends”. Earn your way into the market you want to work in. I also second the importance of perceived value. I know a studio that wanted out of the wedding business because their wedding clients basically were all bridezillas that wanted to choreograph every shot and were never satisfied . Rather than just stop shooting weddings, they literally doubled their prices thinking that would price themselves out of weddings. As you probably guessed, most of what they shoot are very profitable weddings, and the clients respect them as artists.

Your laptop placement is giving me anxiety.

I was impressed with how much you managed to cover at a nice smooth pace. Not too rushed, but also did not drag. Good and casual interplay between the 2 of you. Well done.

"I have a whole lifetime of experience with dudes underestimating things." Fantastic quote there Tony.

As someone who works with both private and business clients. We have done stuff from shoot weddings, instructional video's to content for live events playing on a screen. It really can be different to how I try to price. In our case, if it's a brand new client.. I talk to them, find out what they want and what they really need. Often by talking to the client you can tell how much they can or are willing to spend. If I know we can deliver the service the client wants, by then I have tried to do a quick 'time spend + how much work ( difficulty ) ' calculation for myself. For a business I don't mind charging a fair but professional price, knowing that if I spend like a full day shooting + a week of post production. I need to keep in mind that I can't do any other work and need to make enough to cover a 3rd of a months cost. I also want to make sure that I get returning clients, so I don't want to overprice it, so I often try to probe them to see if they have more potential work for us. And I don't mind to go down a little bit in price knowing I could secure future work if I do the current project to their liking. For private clients, I pretty much assume a 1 time job. depending on how they reach out I can tell if they know our work, or if they came over someone else that we have worked with. Those clients are easier in my experience, because they already have an idea of what to expect. I usually suggest a price based on that same 'time + what kind of work'. And by talking with them I can usually tell what peoples financial income is and their is nothing wrong with asking what they are looking to spend if you aren't sure. If they ask an hourly or daily rate, I give a range ( depending on the work ), but I usually mention that we prefer a "per project" pricing that includes most of everything. So that they know what they get, and we know they can afford it. No one likes hidden costs. Of course we try to maximize the price, but we never go too far over what we would be willing to pay if we needed to have the same thing done by a colleague. Unfortunately we're not big enough to reject work, since every bit of work is always welcome. Even if you might not like the client for what ever reason or the pay isn't as good as you expect. But there are two ways to handle people low balling / not being able to afford your services.. 1. Explain that you need to be able to pay for your tools and costs of operation, and that you know your work is worth that price because of your portfolio of previous work. That people pay for your experience, skill, and time you spend perfecting your craft VS 'some guy' with a camera that does it for a 3rd of your price. As a "pro" you offer a consistent level of quality and professionalism, this is a selling point for your pricing. The amount of times we have heard and seen on jobs that the 'some guy' didn't have anything that was near acceptable, is too often. Maybe offer a payment plan, to ease the financial costs of shooting something like a $3000 wedding. You would be surprised how people will be more willing to accept a higher price then they expected. 2. Simply stand you ground, thank them for reaching out to you. Tell them that you understand the situation and would still want to work with them in the future. But that you need to decline their request due to the fact that their budget or exceptions currently don't allow you to provide the services you offer. And sometimes we accept smaller projects or lesser payed work, because we need to fill in space between bigger / better projects. Just so we have some extra cash to upgrade some gear or cover some costs that we had to make. As long as the client feels like they got a good deal for their money and i know i am not heavily underpaying myself for the work you do.. I don't mind being "generous" from time to time.

Love you guys :)!! Love how you're both so full of information and support and the way you're both so loving and gentle with each other :)

Tearing up the print "sales strategy" is priceless! Interesting how most customers see so much additional value in a finished print (that may only actually cost a few dollars to print), yet they see so little value in most photographer's "time"!

Another highly beneficial video! Thank you Tony and Chelsea! The quality of your relationship shows through this video and it is invaluable. Thanks again for your hustle!

Love this video! So informative in a fun and entertaining way!

A friend of a friend called me so I can shoot her wedding. We talked about location, time, etc., we got together to show her my portfolio, she did not have a computer. We talk about my price and she said that it was too much, and counter offered me half of what I asked. She proceded to tell me of her daughters sweet sixteen photos she had a month before, she went to Miami and paid $1500 for them. She traveled 6 hrs, hotel, food, etc., and she wanted to pay me half of my fee. At that moment, I said thank you for your interest, and walked away. I did recommend a person that does weddings for less than $500. I do give discounts, but this was ridiculous. Lots of my photographer friends are no longer doing weddings because of this reason.

This video came out at the perfect time for me. I'm just starting out and just booked my first paid session 2 days ago. I'll definitely follow your suggestions regarding the pricing. I always enjoy your videos, Thanks for making them.

Very insightful guys! Thanks for sharing. I love all of your videos.

Terrific video - sound advice that would be applicable to any business. But it was also fun watching you guys interact with each other. I was experiencing a lot of stress when I sat down to watch this and afterwards I just felt GREAT! Thanks.

That actually opened my eyes to many issues. Thanks!

A year and more after, this is adding sooo much value to my current business planning process. Thank You 🙏🏾

Very helpful!! Thank you for posting. Im in the process of getting this in place.

Thanks, great stuff! You covered a lot of area with great tips.

Again, another very helpful and informative video. Thank you very much for your wonderful books and Affordable educational materials!

Thanks for the great video guys! I just booked my 1st pro photography shoot on location today with a deposit and the price I asked. I'm diving in deep to be current and as skilled as possible, considering. Lol I've been an amateur since forever so taking it to the next level is both exciting and a lil daunting. I appreciate your down-to-earth approach and reasonable pricing suggestions for equipment. -Wish me luck.

Excellent info. I subscribed. Really instructive! Thanks!

You guys are great! Opened my eyes to a lot of possibilities.

I suggest two excellent books. _Accounting for Dummies_ and _Cost Accounting for Dummies_ . "For Dummies" is a publishing company. These books will help a person figure out what it costs to provide services. The books won't replace an accountant, but they will provide a good starting point for figuring out expenses, including hidden costs.

Good stuff (as always). Here in northern Virginia I haven’t had many requests for prints - whether doing a portfolio builder for a model; head shots for clients; or family photos - it’s always a digital delivery. After post I export just the number of jpegs needed, and have an optional add-on fee for extras. I shoot with a Sony Alpha-99 SLT, M2, so even my full size jpegs are ~20-24 meg, so should a client want to print, the image will be great (even at poster size). Most of my work comes in as flat rate (folks find it easier) but I also offer an hourly rate - with a 2 hour minimum for shooting and a 4 hour minimum for post & delivery. Lastly, I have an annual membership at a local studio. If using the studio ($200/year membership fee and $45/hour, min 2 hour fee - my costs), I’ll add a $150 studio fee (per 2 hours). I don’t charge that add-on if shooting at a customer site or in my home studio. Keep up the outstanding work - great Podcast and YT show!

Guys thank you so much this helped me a lot I struggled so much on this pricing thing it is a great blessing thank you.

Informative and entertaining, great video.

Takes me at least 1.5hours to do basic (but pro) retouching for only 1 photo. I charge $25/hr. Some people and high-end charge $50-100/hr (magazine “tears”, flagship marketing photos, etc.); and these retouchers take several hours or even days for 1 photo. Don’t sell yourself short people; it keeps our pay higher and helps us all.

Love listening your podcast while editing photos.

Thanks guys. Great info in an entertaining way.

Well, here in Brazil all things are to dificult, and my first attempt to set a Photo business ruin, but people like you keep me up to date and with high moral to try again. The simplicity as you do the things are awsome! And you're are like a perfecto couple. Thanks a lot, for everything!

Very helpful and perfect timing!

Hahaha... How about a video on "clients to avoid"?

I love your podcasts. Your insights have been extremely helpful for me, and when I repeat some of the stuff you tell me to my friends they think I'm some kind of genius. I just want to say, Tony has got a great sense of humor, but somehow Chelsea makes me literally laugh out loud on every episode. I don't know, she just has a direct line to my funny bone. Thank you guys.

22:05 - Unretouched? No way. You're not getting any product that *I* don't think is finished. :)

James from Sweden here, Thank you soooooooooo much!!! This was really helpfull!!!!! ❤️😘❤️

Well, it's a good thing that you have this channel and your audience to back up your book's reputation. We all know it's quality work.

Golden video! Thanks guys!

Excellent video. Love you guys.

Great advice! Good lessons for all levels of professionals and beginners.

I needed this information today.

Such a tricky thing, shooting sports is probably the hardest thing. I have shot a motorsport event (for porsche owners...) in 38 degree+ heat, 8 hours + processing time When i posted up the gallery, I had one owner say "oh we have to pay? I thought we were giving you a good subject to shoot so they would be free".... Dont get me started on the whole argument of should images be put on facebook for publicity to hope drive sales. Putting a huge watermark over them to stop theft, or low resolution isnt a great ad Put up decent res and small watermark, good luck selling one!

I love these video setups (picture this), keep these coming...👍

Another great and informative Video, all of this applies to every business

Very well articulated and informative. I think many people will benefit from this. Setting pricing is actually more difficult than many realize. Research is key and knowing what your time/expenses/expertise are worth is extremely important. So is presentation... Yup, more difficult than many think...

great video .. realy liked the tv studio style camera angles.. must be hard to get used to

This was super helpful! Thanks!

Thanks guys. I've been really struggling with this lately.

Absolutely love you two ! My wife and I started our photography business because of you. Purchased the book a few years ago and love it!

Great chemistry and great video 💪🏾

Thanks for sharing, it does help me to know how to approach responsibly for commissions with photographers and illustrators alike

why didnt it end at 42 ? tony was clearly right

Very useful, thank you!

Thank you so much guys you’re awesome

Nice hitchhikers guide to the galaxy reference, Tony.

Love the placement of the Photoshop book, very nice touch. Suggestive selling.

Enormous love for you guys

Hey!! Oklahoma guy here!! FYI: It's 3 goats and 2 chickens unless if the bride and groom are NOT related then it's an extra goat but I'll take a Walmart gift card too. 😁

I got lucky getting photos taken professionally in Korea. This was a large photo shoot in a studio with a bunch of different themes, for wedding photos. We asked for the originals because we wanted to post some to Facebook, and they gave us ALL of them (500+) on a CD. At the time we thought it was really nice of them, but now doing some videography I feel shocked they'd give us those. It was really a huge favor.

Hey guys great stuff! Wondering if you guys can make an updated pricing video with todays trends and changing genres such brand shoots for small and big companies, or even editorials with some insight as to how to approach it coming out covid lockdown.

Thank you! Very helpful video

Thanks for an excellent video!

What a wonderful couple of professionals sharing always something valuable. Whit you is always easy to understand where to go and where I am stand up. Thank you very much for share. 😘🙏🤗

heart touching topic

When our babies were little, we were POOR. My wife went to department store, "penny-a-pound," studios and just got the one free 8x10. Those pics are treasures today.

Thank you, excellent video!

Very helpful. Thank you.

And I was just creating a pricing list and this popped up lol

Love the podcasts

Extremely helpful

Hey T&C, Really enjoy this format great to have something I can play at work without having to constantly look up. After an intense week at work I've listened to the full Picture this play list! all 43 including the one in the middle 'B&W' that's actually a a T&C live! | don't really know if you take viewer suggestions for show but something you discussed in one of the video's has me thinking/inspired! And there isn't a lot of info out there to help me take it further BUT I think you guys probably already know it. Stock Photography! - I know there is no real money in it anymore - but I have a decent career like many photography is a sideline and it doesn't really matter to me how much I make from it enjoying it is more important and thus your comments on Stock got me thinking. Virtually every personal project I have ever done regardless of genre could be turned to stock photography and this might really help me improve the technical side of my work and maybe build up a little long term passive income. But I have some questions and the answers don't seem to be easy to find - it would be amazing if you could cover them sometime. - Which are the best agencies to submit to and why? what should we be looking for. - Do submitted images have to be submitted exclusively to the agency? - or can back catalogue stuff be used that I might have sold before? - and can i still sell privately things I have submitted? - Can i withdraw my images from the agency later? If i did would I get a list of who has got them etc. so I can know when they are being used with and without a licence? - Is there any sort of specific clause I need in model releases when submitting to stock sites? And anything else you think we need to know. Keep up the goodwork! And sorry for the length of this comment.

solid podcast, thank you

Thanks for the insight, you two are funny, entertaining and knowledgeable. Do you have any pricing advice for the landscape photographer?

I am a student and i was saving for a new camera but i loved you guys so buying your book will come before the sony a7riv😊❤️ Still have a lot to learn✊🏻

You guys are simply the best, this is why Pros watch your videos.

Tony it’s funny that you mentioned Oklahoma, which is where I live right now. People here are mostly penny pinching and I am struggling to find the right pricing. I am starting as a pro right now and trying to create a business for my retirement with portraits and real estate. Hopefully by the end of this video I will be less confused. Thank you for your great job!

very insightful dialogue.. thanks

The Stunning Digital Photography book is great. I bought it a few month ago, and I have been learning a lot, and I genuinely recommend it. The thing is Tony mentions the 14 hours of video, and asserts that others would charge $500 for them. Maybe so, but they probably wouldn't give the same videos away free of charge at the same time. I'm not sure which 14 hours of video are ONLY for buyers of the book because the links in the book I've used go to KZfaq videos that are publicly available without buying the book, on this very channel, but with different titles to those linked in the book that go to Tony's channel. So they are not really added value, or exclusive to the book, and shouldn't be used as a marketing argument against what others would charge for them. For example, 'Architecture and Travel' (unlisted on Tony's channel) has exactly the same TUTORIAL content as 'Photographing Buildings and Architecture in Cities-Photography Tutorial' on this channel; and the 'Showing Depth' video linked from the book is the same tutorial as 'Composition-A Digital Photography Tutorial' on this channel. There are other examples of videos that I watched before buying the book that have the same tutorial content. When things are given away to almost a million subscribers with no perceived/market value attached, they cannot suddenly be worth $500 with a book for the same free tutorials. With all of that said, I still do recommend the book because you will learn so much about your camera and compositions; and all of the photo examples in the book were taken by Tony & Chelsea, so you know the result matches the advice.

Lol I now know where you are I grew up getting family photos at that jc penny in the crystal mall. Oh and the clam chowder in the bread bowl.

42. Perfect! The answer to life, the universe and everything.

Good video :) I would personally love a follow up to this (and the free photos to friends video) focused on contracts, that goes into detail on important aspects to include to avoid bad situations. :)

When I first started out the first year I only made 12,000 total. Definitely not livable, but for my skill level and location I couldn’t imagine charging more than $150 for an hour portrait session. Thanks to my sister, who was way more business savvy by the third year I was making way more and charging a better amount

ty great chat about prices.

Thank you for keeping you book so affordable. Let's say I'm on an extreme budget. Whereas I could never imagine spending $300 on each of the various courses offered on fstoppers, I can absolutely spare $10 for your book. Haven't done it yet, but as soon as I have money I swear I will.

Just got the Kindle version! THANKS!

Chelsea's sense of humour is priceless :-) cheers

I live in a large city and shoot editorial and advertising. Editorial usually pays a flat rate for the assignment and advertising I look at usage, time to shoot and post process and company size before I price my fee out.

Photographers who only give out analog prints are a nightmare to me. What am I supposed to do with them? Scan them right back into a digital file of course. The number of memorable moments I now only have as scans with dust and specks on them is depressing, simply because those photographers would not give out digital files. Offer me a good deal on prints, an I'll order some additionally.

So long and thanks for all the fish!

Just last weekend at the Stanford Shopping Center, people were lined up to have their kids' photo taken with the Easter Bunny. This in the heart of Silicon Valley, where everyone loves tech and their phones. But still, there's apparently a demand for a "mall photographer," and not just at JCP.

I don't care what the subject of the video is. I simply cannot refuse to watch 30 minutes of sassy Chelsea and chill/lit Tony.

Nice video, guys! The only 'complain' I have is related to overestimation of prints value. Current society is in the state of transformation how the information is shared and perceived as well as level of culture is definitely going down (in average people are less likely to go to see some play in theater then blockbuster movie). Not talking about 'Instagram'-generation. People care about nice social media photos, not 20x30 prints. As well as people are not ready to pay hundreds of dollars for metal printed portraits, that they will definitely want to replace with newer ones in a year (and might need to pile up metal sheets in backyard). I would even say that I can foresee future where digital picture frames will take their place and changing a wall-size picture screens will be the norm. Times when photography (and prints) will become a sign of good tastes and prosperity are not here yet, and might never come. Having said that I think that more agile and flexible photographers will rule the industry and properly prepared digitals are the way to move. Just my 2 cents.

Miss you guys :)

Hi Tony and Chelsea, and thanks for your great videos.Can I ask you: is there a squarespace equivalent for videos where I can set up a portfolio as a film-maker?

“I’m shook”. Chelsea you’re the best! 😂

Ya thanks for the video. It was also helpful for me here in India. 😊

I'm from Oklahoma, Tony. How dare y...actually, quite funny lol. Much love to you two, thanks and keep up the good work!

Work with a print maker is smart advice. Prints rarely look like your monitor (even your calibrated monitor will look different to a professional print, imagine someone's £200 laptop screen....). I used to work in a camera shop, where we also made c-type prints. I was shocked by how many good photographers were surprised (even offended....) that their prints weren't identical to their monitors on the first run.

Upvote just for Tony's "42" answer

Really great content. I have a few questions. How did you compile the local pricing details (web sites/calling)? Are you aware of any services which provide pricing details within given markets? Do you have a video or suggestions on getting your potential clients to view your Squarespace portfolio and pricing model? Thanks for the great content!

I love your books and videos, but 42... you just won me over even more. Especially Chelsea for knowing what Tony is on about! #DouglasAdams

Thank you for the very useful information about how to go about pricing. It's so confusing and I'm still just an amateur photographer working towards maybe one day going pro, but I'm not good at all with the business side of things. Still have a lot to learn.