Talking about prices has become a taboo among photographers for some reason 🙂 Sometimes I see photographers sharing their prices on Instagram stories. First of all, I would like to say this: Whatever works for you and you’re happy with your pricing, just keep going. Now drumsss, please:)

I did home sessions, studio sessions and both of them at the same time. I must say that it is very difficult to run a profitable process while you are confused about how to price your sessions:) Nobody can tell you that this is the price of this business. It all depends on you, where you are, and the ideal customer you want to serve.

But there are some things that do not change. The value of your time and talent. After working in corporate life for 13 years, I had an amount in mind that I said how much I wanted to earn monthly and how much I would be happy if I earned it. This of course changed when going to home sessions, and changed when studio costs got involved. Of course, it changed when we went to another country.

I think you should have a fixed package and price for newborn photography. If you have customers who want something other than this package, you can add it to this package. This should be such a price that your shooting will make you happy, cover your expenses and live the life you want. You can create formulas in Excel like this:

Write down all your fixed expenses:
Electricity, Water and Natural Gas bills
Internet
Studio Rent (If you have a home studio, you can add the rent falling on the area you use in your house)
Equipment fees (Assuming you will use it for an average of 5 years, you can set a monthly amount. This 5 year is completely up to you)

You can also average your variable expenses:
Budget for newborn clothes and accessories
Backgrounds
Equipment maintenance
Gas and parking fees if you’re going to a home photoshoot
And any other variable expenses you can think of

And below these, write down the salary you want to give yourself. What salary would you be happy with? Of course, this question has different answers, but put yourself in the employer’s place and how much would you give to your employee? :))
Then on the other side of the excel, write down the average number of shots you take or plan to do per week. Let’s say you take 4 sessions in a week. Multiply that number of shots by 48 weeks. Then divide the amount on the other side of the excel by this number. Here is your shooting fee 🙂
For example, your fixed expenses are 3,000 USD per month and your variable costs are 1,000 USD. 4,000 USD * 12 months = 48,000 USD
Give yourself a monthly salary of 10,000 USD. 10.000 USD * 12 months = 120.000 USD
Total= 168,000 USD
If you take 3 shots per week 3 * 48 = 144 Shots
1 session fee 168.000 / 144 = 1.166 USD
This is an example I made so that you can fully visualize it in your mind. Expenses can be very different. Your weekly shooting count can be very different. The salary you give to yourself may be different 🙂 This may vary from year to year. Always plan for the better, but also be realistic. Be CONSISTENT in your pricing, too. Do not work at shooting prices that will make you UNHAPPY.
How do you set your prices?