What does this cost?

Why every photoshoot starts with a conversation

One of the most common questions I get is “how much does a photo session cost?”

And it’s a totally fair question, but it’s a little like walking into a restaurant and asking “How much is food?”

Well…how much food? What kind of food? Dinner for 5 or coffee and a muffin? I genuinely want to answer the question, but I need a little more information. And honestly, you want me to ask for more information.

These are three clients I’ve had recently -

1 - A woman looking for a boudoir session, to turn into a photobook for her husband.

2 - A dancer looking for photos for audition and social media posts.

3 - A cosplayer who wanted “super awesome” photos of her latest cosplay.

All three clients want to work with me, all three have completely different planning, details, prep, and execution. Sure, they’re all photoshoots, they’re even all studio photoshoots, but they are different products, with different deliverables, and a different process to get from A-B-C.

A dancer and I need to talk style of dance, I’m going to need Rebecca (dancer and choreographer) there to have her eye on technique, and we’re looking at a larger collection of finished images, but less editing to get those images. Very little prep time will be spent on outfit, hair/makeup, and style, because the set up speaks for itself. We all know what we need.

Compare that to a boudoir session, wherein a lot of planning will go into the outfits, hair, makeup, set up, mood, privacy considerations, level of…. spicy we want to hit, how many images for the final book, what style of editing we’re looking for, how much editing do we want (natural vs “airbrushed”)…. it’s a lot of planning and work on both sides of the shoot itself.

The cosplay shoot is… somewhere in the middle, but potentially with a very different style of editing.

Four different photoshoots, four different goals, four different plans, one excellent photographer

With all the variables in play, I would never want to have a Cheesecake Factory style menu, with pages and pages of possibilities. Works for them, but not for me.

Our plan is always to talk out the idea, and the final product first. We’ll ask questions about subject, mood, timeline, deliverables.

Then we’ll roll out a few package options. Usually 3.

We’ll have a “here’s how we can do it”, a “here’s how we make it shine”, and a “Here’s the Platinum Plus version”

Every client gets to steer their investment based on their needs. Some people want the deluxe experience, other just want beautiful images. Nether approach is “right”, and our job is to build the perfect shoot that fits your goals.

We have a huge list of variables that we track. We know what we can flex, and what we can’t. We can telescope the idea out (“What if instead of shooting at the studio, we rented a suite at this fancy hotel?”) or draw it back (“Ok, so instead of getting the premier photobook for this session, let’s do a set of prints in a gift box. Same great images, smaller price point”) to find the sweet spot for both of us.

I said to someone years ago, after they were…. let’s say uncomfortable with my pricing. I was told that they could find someone cheaper, and my response, while off the cuff, was spot on. I said “Yes, I will never be the cheapest photographer you can find. I’m completely aware of that. I will, however, always be a photographer who can deliver a great experience and a great product. I will always be a great value, but I will never be the cheapest.”

The best photoshoots aren’t built from a menu, they are built from an idea.

Tell us what you’re imagining, what you want the finished images to feel like, if they’re going to be on your wall, in a portfolio, or for someone you love. From there, we’ll create some options, and you can decide what feels right.

That’s why every great photoshoot starts with a conversation.