What Should You Charge for Photography? Pricing Your Work with Confidence

In this episode, we break down how photographers should price their work without second-guessing their value. If you’ve ever wondered what to charge—or worried you’re charging too little—this episode is for you.

We cover how to build pricing based on your time, experience, gear, editing, and market demand. You’ll also learn why hourly rates can limit your growth, how to structure profitable packages, and how to confidently explain your pricing to clients.

Whether you’re a beginner photographer or running a growing business, this episode will help you stop guessing and start pricing with clarity.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:09

Hey, hey, hey, hey, welcome back to the um visual historian podcast, everybody. Uh I am not a scholar historian. I am a pro photographer of 32 years. I am your visual historian. You know, I'm the guy that captures all those memories of your life, your weddings, your childhood, all those things. And I've been in business for a very long time. So when I created this podcast, I was like, what do I want to talk about? You know? And I want this to hit somebody who's in business, thinking of being in business. Um, that's what today's topic is. So today we're gonna talk about ACH fees, meaning, you know how you do online banking? Uh, you can go to your bank online and say, pay this person, this company. You ever wonder what happens after that? Because what I just noticed, uh, and I've been kind of knowing this, but even an ACH payment has a fee. It has a transfer fee. And depending on the time of day that you make the payment, depending on your bank, depending on the other person's institution, also depends on who's the middle guy that you're using for this transaction. Um, it's a lot. So when you're thinking, you photographers out there, when you're thinking of what should I charge, this is all of the cost of doing business that a lot of people don't think about. You know, you think 3% is not that big of a deal. Let me put this into uh a little reference point for you. Let's say you're in business, okay? Let's say you have a good year. Let's say you bring in $100,000, okay? Keep in mind a lot's gonna go to the government. I was thinking in my head, is it 20%? Is it more that it's 30? It's it's 30 and some change, uh, 30 as far as what the government gets. And you have all these other fees because being in business just requires all of these little things. So 3% of $100,000, you closed out your year, you brought in $100,000. Obviously, that's not what you made because you made 30% plus less than that on paper, but it's income, it comes through your business, you pay your bills, we all move on. That three percent of a hundred thousand is three thousand dollars. Now, right now, ask yourself, what could you do with three thousand dollars? What could you do if you put that three percent aside into a savings account, to an envelope? I don't care. Just what if you had a way of not even seeing it? Just three percent, dude. It's nothing, right? So the today show this morning was talking about how the fees are all getting nuts. Wherever you go somewhere, all these institutions are charging that fee. And of course, you know, the average consumer doesn't understand why. It's just an added fee. That's all they see, and I understand that. I really do. And I know if you're watching this and you're in business, uh, you're probably saying just include that 3% in your products that you're selling and don't do the extra 3% because it because it could bother somebody. I get it, you know, you don't want to irritate somebody on purpose. I deal with a lot of companies and corporations that monitor every penny when they come to an event. Like literally every penny needs to have a purpose. So, me giving them the opportunity of 3% or not, they could decide to do that. Okay. Now, on a wedding or a portrait sale or something like that, yeah, that is much easier to just include the 3% in there because it's it just makes more sense, you know. But giving people that opportunity to spend a 3% or not, in other words, you want to pay me cash or you want to pay me with a check, or you want to, you know, you have a way of paying me that does not require a fee somehow. But the reason why all these banks, no, it's banks, sorry, the reason why all these businesses, including coffee places and like like anywhere you go use your card. Now you got, would you like to tip? Which lately I'm just like, no, I don't care if you're standing in front of me or not. It's like, come on, man, it's not a restaurant. Um, that three percent is coming out of that business's pocket if they don't charge for it. So here's the deal: you don't know as a consumer when you go somewhere. Me going somewhere, my thing is good lord, just put three percent into your products and suck it up, man. Like deal with it. It is what it is. Having that extra is mainly because we're giving you the opportunity to not have to spend 3%. You don't have to pay by the credit card, you don't have to do it. You know, there's ways that you can pay. You have a choice, but we as a business want to give you that choice of do you want to do the 3% or not? There's no reason why any business, any business should absorb that fee when it's cost doing business, unless you can incur it in your products or your services. That just makes a lot of sense. So anyway, I I know this this concept is gonna be a lot of a lot of conversation. You if however you're listening to this podcast, if you can leave a comment somewhere, I know you can on Spotify, uh, I know you can on some other platforms. And um, I would love to see your version of this because I think we all come back to the same beginning and the end, the same alpha and omega. You know, yes, it's a cost of doing business. No, we don't have to take your credit card payment. You just need to pay. So it's really a consumer thing. The business itself, if that's $3,000 on $100,000. Somebody who's bringing in, you know, a million dollars, that's $30,000 a year. And I know a mil is a lot, but you deduct all of your costs and your employee and your health insurance. Oh my god, just deduct all the costs. Trust me, it's a lot less than you think. A lot. But that is the main point of income for yourself. So you might be saying, GK, I just started, I'm happy if I bring in 50,000 this year. You know, me clearing 30,000 from that would be fantastic. It would still give me a happier life. I'm doing something that I love, and I'll I'll deal with the IRS along the way. And that is the smartest, best thing you can do because, you know, when you're starting small, get into these payment habits. Hopefully, you have a CPA, not a bookkeeper. Uh, a CPA needs to um abide by all the laws and rules. So I feel I sleep knowing my CPA is handling my, you know, quarterly taxes and yearly taxes and that kind of thing. Um, a bookkeeper can claim ignorance, meaning they don't have to by law um be certified and keep up with all the laws. So if they make a mistake, oops, you know, it's not cool. Uh this is a heavy topic. This is almost like talking about religion in politics, because everybody has an opinion, everybody has 10 different ways of how to handle their money, you know. And I I encourage somebody to message me and dial in, call in and and be a guest. Well, now let's talk about this. Um, because not only am I a business person, I'm also a family man. I have a home, I have a home equity loan, like all this finance stuff that us adults deal with. Um, a lot of younger people are starting to get into um maybe stocks or trading or whatever it is you can do on your phone when you got an extra 50 bucks and say, let's invest in Apple. You know, um, there's a lot of talk right now. These big millionaires are like, hey, instead of going to buy that Gucci bag for $900, whatever it is, take that same money and invest it in Gucci. And then work harder to build up your money again and do the same thing. And eventually reward yourself with the actual Gucci bag. But the point is that money will grow where you bought the bag and you're in the red. You know, you you just had them, you don't have the money, you already spent it. But it's beautiful to invest in the actual company, earn your 10% or whatever it is over time. And it's like, oh wow, I could buy three Gucci bags, you know, in five years, whatever it is. So, anyway, if you want to come be on the show, I encourage you to leave it in the comments and uh let me know. I'd be more than happy to set up a date and time. Um, it's a phone call, dial in. We don't have to do video, and it's this is great because I love getting um some real-time situations that we can talk about in today's world that we're all dealing with, especially another business. And look, you don't have to be a photographer. If you want to just talk about you know credit card fees and ACH fees and what it did cost you the last five. What it what did it cost you the last five that you were not charging that three percent? So that's fifteen thousand dollars on five years if you only brought a hundred thousand in. That's fifteen thousand dollars. What could you do with fifteen thousand dollars right now? See where I'm saying that three percent is being taken regardless. So if we don't collect that three percent, we're at a loss. Okay, so as a business, we have our side and we need to have a cost of doing business and what is right and fair for our clients. I like giving them the opportunity of yes or no on the three percent. I'm curious, how do you feel? You know, do you want to just incur it in your product's prices and not even bother with the three percent? Or does the consumer want to have that option? You know, I think they do personally. I think most mature people want the option and they're fine with that 3%, because usually it's on a card with one to three percent cash back or whatever it is, so they have benefits for using their cards. Well, we we can talk about this, you know, once somebody actually gets on here and uh let's get a little convo going. So um, yeah, I know we're at a big 11 minute right now. I don't want this to be a super short podcast, but you know, the one aspect of photography, the business of photography, is how much non-fun stuff you have to do. You know, the the taking pictures is the easy part. That is the most fun part. I mean, even working on the images at home can be a grind depending on how much you have to do. You know, when you're busy, it's too much of anything isn't good. Yeah, well, having two weddings to process, plus your corporate job that needs it in two days, and your seniors who need pictures for their sorority submissions, and you're by yourself, you know, it's a lot. That right there is a whole nother conversation as far as workflow goes. Um, I'm not a big guy, I'm not a big fan of releasing your RAWs to some company or whatever. I've even tried, uh imagine, I've even tried after shoot. And when you get a picky way of liking things, you only want that way. And that's not just photography, that goes with anything in life. You know, like most girls that I know, they know what they like and they stick to it, which is great. Because honest to God, that makes your life easier when you know what you want, when you know what you're looking for, when you know how to get what you're looking for, and how to keep it consistent. A consistent life is a happy life, if you ask me. All right. So man, it's really hard to let go because I keep doing a little something different in Lightroom. Um, I like how Capture One reads color better than Lightroom. I don't know what's going on with Lightroom, but I fiddle way more in Lightroom and all the settings compared to Capture One. I can't explain it. Can you get the same look in both? Yeah, you can, but trust me on this. I'm doing a video for my YouTube channel, Focus with GK. I might just change that to uh the visual historian, also. I don't, I don't know, man. I'm jumping back into all the social stuff, and I don't like being too widespread, you know. I love my podcast, it's getting some traction. Uh, I am gonna start having some more guests on here. My YouTube channel is more my behind the scenes, and now that things are rocking again because when we went through COVID, everything kind of stopped, and then I stopped doing videos. Uh, I didn't have anything to really show behind the scenes. And eventually, when you start watching more videos than you're actually posting yourself, it becomes a habit. And next thing you know, I'm I'm just watching. I'm still watching Casey Neistat. I'm still watching Peter McKinnon instead of instead of going home saying, I gotta do a video. Um, it's difficult because I have all the other things I mentioned earlier to process. It's uh what time is it? It's like 2:45 in the afternoon. I've been on that computer since eight, just doing emails, just doing a contract, just doing work that I have to get done, you know? So for me to do a YouTube video, I can't do a piece here and a piece there tomorrow. I if I'm I'm in the mindset of doing a video, that is gonna be that day. I'm gonna shoot it that day. I'm gonna edit it. I know the songs I want, and it's a thing. It's just how my life works right now, as far as when do you have time to do all these things, man? And look, I keep saying, if I had one person, one, if I had one person that could help me with um behind the scenes coverage, or maybe even editing, you know, my video here, I could easily shoot more. It's it's the editing time that's destroying my life. And knowing that is waiting for me, it makes me not do a video. You know what I mean? I mean, I could do a quick and easy one, but that's that's no fun. So, um, so anyway, how you been? How was your Easter? You had a great day, huh? You had a great day? Yeah, I knew you'd like that. There's a really cool effect. It's just really cool. Not that one. Not that one. Nope. Nope. Oh no. Where's my effect? Wait a second. I don't know what happened to all my effects. I don't know. I don't know. I thought I had a this pad as uh I gotta turn it off. Hey. Guess what? Well, there it is. Breaking news, flash photographer of the year. Nope. Nope, let me see. Hey everybody. Hey, we're back to normal. Okay. So, yeah, looking for some help. So come on, what's going on? Okay. Pick it up, pick it up. So if you're like me, you you scroll through quite a bit of TikTok and some Instagram, and you know, people are always I'm always having some photographers ask me, hey, if I was getting started today, you know, if you were me, if you were getting started today, what would you do? You know? And the one thing that I definitely would not do is copy as much as being copied. You know, if you're trying every effect in the book, if you're copying every pose you see on Instagram, you know, the the person shopping, that younger bride, the older bride, doesn't matter, the client shopping in general, if they scroll through 10 different photographers and they you go to their websites and they all have the same poses and same kind of lighting, that same whatever preset is going on, then it just becomes a phone call, and either you know, the first person you get along with or cheapest price wins. And that is not, in my eyes, doing business as a creative uh entrepreneur, you know? To me, uh being creative is it shouldn't be as hard as it is, but because if you're creative, then that means you naturally are and you always tend to do things like that you like, and you attract clients, you attract people who like what you like, you know. I think the more different you are, the easier it is to separate the mess, the c the clutter, you know. Um I have a hard time with that because I love simple, clean, beautiful, and you know, it's one of us it's so hard as a professional in business that needs to pay bills. And what I normally do is I call it shoot for mom, shoot for me. So, you know, when I have the high school senior, when I have the bride, when I have the whatever, um I like doing the basics first, kind of like knocking out a shot list, you know, like do the kinds of things that mom needs, or mom wants, or the business wants, or the boss wants, whatever. And um, and then I have to do one to five creative shots for me, not even for the client. And the reason why I do that is because one, it takes the pressure off of me because the client isn't asking for something crazy creative. You know what I'm saying? A lot of times people are hiring me for a specific function. They have they have a spacing that they're trying to fill. Shots on the website, shots of their business, people working, headshots. It's like they have a specific thing they need done. And yes, they want it to look fantastic. So I have no problems with that. I love all that. I'm just saying, when you shoot for them, then you shoot for you. The ones you shoot for you are the ones you put on on Instagram, you know? The ones that you're maybe pushing your own Ava a little, just a little bit. Doesn't have to be crazy, you know. Um, I still like people seeing my work and knowing it's mine by how I do what I do, even though it's it's creative. And the one thing I 1000% got away from is Photoshop. I uh I got away. That is not the effect I was looking for. Hey, I got away from Photoshop. Uh what I mean by that is that when we went from film to digital, the things that you could do digitally, it just became like an obsession. And I think AI is making that way too easy to do stuff something, stuff to an image. You know, it doesn't always make it better. It's just stuff, you know, it's clutter. I like no clutter. I have a busy enough life as it is. I I am here as a business. This is my 32nd year in business providing for my family. Um, it's been the only sole income since I was 23 years old. So, yes, I am prideful, I am protective, um joyful, I'm excited, and I still love everything about this industry. You know, the things that I can't change. That are um bending towards the negative, you know, side of this industry. I can't change it. It's not my job to change it. You know, um, the best thing for me to do is just keep doing what I'm doing, you know, and I encourage you to do the same thing. If you are pulling up a Pinterest page before you go do a shoot, you're already the problem. Okay. Now I know what you're saying. I just need a little help on poses one through three. That's totally cool, man. If if you need that to just break the ice, so to speak, you know. So when you have an engagement session and you did not do a consultation with the bride and the groom, you know, at your place or even a Zoom call, you know, a lot of times you're in front of these people for the first time. And I can't tell you how important it is to make them feel comfortable, you know, and there's just a rapport that I have that I've always had, I guess. Um I like people to be themselves, you know. I like to crack a few jokes, I like to walk around, I like to make y'all do stuff. And I I just get, I don't know, I know how to get the results that I want while paying attention to my background, my one-thirds, my light, you know. Um that's all in my brain. That shouldn't be theirs, shouldn't be their concern. I want them to just be in the moment, you know? And um, I'm not lying when when I say this, this is my 32nd year in business, and I'm not lying. I'm probably doing my best work right now. I'm definitely having the most fun because I can do all these things. Um, I put so much pressure on myself to do well. My wife Elizabeth, she's always asking me, Why do you still get nervous before jobs? And it could be any job, by the way. Not certain jobs. Um I don't know. I think it's that childhood version of me that wants to make the adults happy. You know, having that gratification, um, I don't know, man. Maybe it's an addiction. Maybe it's just part of my DNA. I I'm Italian, I'm German. The Italian side loves to please, you know, like my mom, she's constantly trying to feed you. Oh Lord, constantly. Food can already be out and should be pulling things out of the fridge that wasn't even part of the plan. You know, I got this, too. I'm like, Mom, it's okay. Get a glass of wine, join us. Uh, you know, so if you're a photographer having a hard time making your couples comfortable, um, there's there's a couple of things to that that I don't really honestly have a one answer for you. I mean, some people are just more introverted than others. Um, some people are not around a lot of people often. So starting conversation and what do you talk about can be awkward. I get it. I really do. But what I can tell you is to smile and be excited to do what you do. You're you're earning a living, trying to earn a living, you're on your way to earning a living with this device, this camera. And uh, the more you do this, the more you're gonna realize photography, nine out of ten times, actually doesn't have anything to do with the camera. It has a million percent to do with you and how you communicate and how you direct, how you edit, what is your consistency, what is your time frame, how do you run your business? It is so much more than the camera. The camera is just a tool, bro. You can give me a Kodak camera from 1947, and I will know how to shoot that damn camera, and it'll look pretty cool. That's an old-ass camera. Did they even make them in the 47? I'm sure they did. You know, one of my favorite cameras is one is um Yeshika single lens, how you look down. And because it's a single mirror, sorry, single mirror, um, it's inverted. The image is inverted, so it's really weird to look down, and you go side by side and things are reversed. And yeah, it's odd, but it's cool. And I loved how that camera was meant to be waist level. And here's something you probably don't think about. This goes for you too, by the way, with your iPhone taking um selfies and all. The angle of the camera, the reason why that camera was waist level was because it made all of your lines that you're looking at straight because you're at waist level. When you bring the camera up to your face and you're bending it forward or backwards to get in the picture, you're distorting the crap out of that image. Okay? You just are. Talk to anybody who photographs real estate or architect, they'll tell you lines are everything. And that camera is usually around waist height. It's it's it's just you know, that 50 millimeter as you see things straight on with the camera. Like even right now, this video, it's up a little high, it's pointed down a little bit. So, you know, if you're seeing stuff, if you're watching this, um anyway, so it's neat. So you can get street photography or candids or whatever it is by keeping it at your wayside because you look down, you can see the image, it's pretty big. I think it's a two-inch square. Um, maybe three. I think it's two. And things are straight. And you because you kind of wonder, you ever see those old black and whites? And they're like, man, how come a lot of these look, I don't know, good? Like they all just, I don't know. They have this look to them. So when the camera was stayed at waist level, even a little bit higher, it was more straight on. So the buildings in the background weren't warped. I personally think the wide angle lens was maybe the worst thing that ever happened to photography with people, especially architecture. You know, you can get those wide-angle lenses that are what non-spherical to where they don't bend. Um, those are beautiful, by the way. Those are great. Once you have one of those lenses, you'll never buy a regular wide-angle lens ever again. Um, because you go wide and you don't get that bend. You can still make it bend, but it's not like the regular wide-angle lenses that we all know right now. Um, you know, but that's just all part of your gear. What the hell was I talking about? I really don't know. I know I started with business and now we're going into styles. Styles. Styles, yes. Okay, so let's just say you're a photographer and you don't know how to create your own style. Like, what is that? It does not mean a preset, people. Okay, that's an effect. That is not a style. Understand that, you know, it you know, and I also don't mean go throw five different kinds of presets on your work and nobody knows it's you. You know, I was looking at a buddy's uh camera roll last week, and he showed me five pictures, and I'm not lying. All five looked a little different. One was definitely different, and I'm like, are these all yours? He's like, Yeah, and I'm like, you never know it. He's like, hmm. I said, exactly. That's the consistency. The consistency of what is your good photography and duplicating that system over and over again. To me, that's what being a pro photographer uh is and can do, and we're paid to do, you know? Like I just got off the phone with uh a sweet older lady, it's their first time coming to New Orleans, and they got six grandkids plus the parents and them, and they want to do family pictures because it's a moment. Dad just made 65, she's 60. She's the sweetest thing in the world from Indiana, Miss Missy. And in my brain, the importance of this trip is important to me to give her this experience that she's gonna go home saying, Wow, New Orleans was amazing. The people were amazing. Well, the people, I'm gonna be one of those the people. Okay. So you see what I'm saying? So I instantly kind of bring on not so much pressure, but I like to pre-plan in my head locations, you know, time of day, where we're going. What can I do? The six small kids. So sometimes your window is shorter than you realize. You learn this kind of stuff through experience. And uh, I just want to create something that's fun and it's gonna be beautiful. Um, you know, I trust my photography. It's not that I don't trust me. I guess I always like delivering 100%, but I think that's the pressure that I put on myself. It's it's not doing what I do, it's feeling like when you get in the car to go home. Yep, that was 100%. Do you do that? Do you ever get in the car going home saying, eh, I'd say that's about 75%. And sometimes it's not you. Sometimes the day isn't great, or sometimes, you know, say it's an engagement couple and the dude doesn't want to be there, you know, and he's a little sour pus. I just want to slap them, by the way. Um, I don't really get those guys anymore. I really don't. My clientele are awesome. Awesome. Then they're not even clientele, they're clients, they're slash, they're clients slash friends. Like we we become friends quick, and I love that relationship, and I'm here for you. They know I'm here for them. Um, and I love learning things about these people. But yeah, man, if you're having fun and it shows they're gonna give you more because you're giving them more, if that makes any sense. Okay. So look, uh, I need to get out of here. I do have a high school senior downtown. I'm getting ready to go do. I need to go jump in the shower. I'm gonna shave. Uh the mom is actually a past client. Oh, yeah, the senior I did his pictures when he was uh itty bitty. I remember that. Okay, okay. This is uh this is gonna be fun. But what I wanted to leave every photographer who deals with people, listen to me. Okay, already one, two. Oh my god. If you're a counter, hold on. One more time. I stopped counting a long time ago because I learned that when I count, usually they're just you're teaching them when to blink, you know, and you slow down the rhythm. I cannot stand breaking a groove. It bothers me. Oh, like when I'm in the groove, I built up so much to get there. The jokes, the movement, the everything. I'm processing so much in my head quickly for them, for the clients um to have a great experience and not take so darn long doing simple things. Um, when you count one, two, three, you are doing those two things. One, you're telling them when to blink. You ready, very ready? One, two, three, blink. That's what you're telling them. Okay. The second thing is, you know how much happens in the time frame of one, two, three? Like, a lot happens. I don't know about you, but man, when I photograph kids, I'm shooting fast. Sometimes, I mean, I get two completely different shots in two and a half seconds. So the whole time you go one, two, three, what the hell are you waiting for, man? Or woman, well, man, bro, broette, is that a word? Broet. I'm just saying, good God almighty, stop. What I want you to do is this second thing I want you to take away from today's podcast, okay? Um, I know our cameras now, all the newer digital cameras, when you take a picture, you can see it immediately, either on the back of the screen or in the viewfinder. I know you can set your camera up that way. If you're one of the people that are still doing what we used to have to do, which was press play in the back of the camera, but you pull the camera down like you're chimping to see the image. Okay, when you are aiming at your people and you put that camera down, you just broke your own connection with your subject. So that vibe, whatever your vibe was, when you put that camera down to your waist and you're scrolling through it or you're zooming in, or whatever it is, you broke a connection. And I this is where you need to just do this for yourself and go figure it out because um something is happening there, something happened right there, and then you got to build it back up. I I can't explain it, but what I can tell you is take the camera, clickety, clickity, clickety, and then push the camera forward away from your face. So you're still aiming at them, all right? Now you can press play all you want, but the camera's still on them. You did not break that connection. Okay. I do that really quickly to zoom into the eye. I just want to make sure it's sharp. Is my lighting good? Let's rock. Okay. But don't count and stop bringing the camera away from your face down to your waist to look at images. Okay. Trust me on this. It'll be life-changing. Because when you stop counting and you have a group of people, or whoever it is, and you bring your camera up, they know what you're doing, bro. You're taking pictures of them and they're getting ready. And a lot of times I won't tell them anything. Because sometimes in a group, there's always like one person talking. Why are they talking? What are you talking about? You see me working? What the heck, man? But I would rather direct them or compliment them instead of saying one, two, three. Okay? It's like, look here, everybody, mommy, fabulous. Hey, dead. Straighten your tired really quick. You, sir, on the end. Love that hairstyle. I'm bald, so I'm a little envious, bro. They all just giggled. Clickety, clickety, clickety. No one, two, three. You follow me? All right. I'm gonna uh I'm gonna get us out of here. This thing's still going. Oh man. All right. So look, thank you for being here. I don't know where you are hearing this, but um I I have a lot more to talk about. We have some guests coming on. I've got a local florist, she's amazing. Um, my buddy Chuck is getting back on here. We're gonna talk about Jazz Fest and some talent and music to all of his industry in the world of New Orleans. Chuck is extremely tied to um everything happening. So he'll be a great little book of knowledge. So, anyway, glad you're here. Keep shooting, keep taking pictures. Remember, stop counting, don't break your line of sight, and keep rocking. All right. See y'all later, guys. Peace.