One of the first questions photographers get when a client reaches out is what does a headshot cost? This is pretty normal to me. I’d ask it!
When we go to a restaurant we tend to know something about what to ‘expect’. We understand what things usually sell for. Because you have done it before you have your own standard as to what you expect. Hiring a photographer is not something you do every day. So how would you know what it costs?
I belong to a lot of professional photographer groups from all over the world. There is often the comment: Why do clients only seem to care about the cost of headshot when they should care about other things? It seems that many photographers are not business people. Again, what other questions would you ask since you don’t do this every day?
Many photographers seem to make pricing their services very difficult. You’ll often see ‘one look’ pricing, or a different price for a ‘second look’. Worse? Different charges for outfit changes and so on. Some times you even see X dollars per hour or location fees, or lighting changes. I’ve even seen travel fees in a normal sized city? Like a photographer finds it weird to have to drive to work. To me these are all the back end of the business and no customer cares.
To use the restaurant analogy again, a chef doesn’t charge a different price for a well done steak. They don’t differentiate between a medium or rare one either! You’re buying the end result.
A new way of thinking for headshot photography is to charge a session fee. Then add the number of images you wish to purchase to come to the final package. There shouldn’t be any pressure to purchase images you don’t want or have a use for.
Some might say why can’t I have all of the images you take. Well, first off why would you want them? Secondly editing each and every image IS adding to the work load. So it makes sense that you only should pay for the ones you want.
So pay the photographer for their time in the session fee then buy the images you love only. The session fee should reflect their level of experience. That’s way easier to calculate and understand for the customer. The more talented the photographer is at making you look good the higher the session fee.
To be specific about what a headshot costs is hard. Small sized markets are going to have less expensive pricing than larger markets. In Ottawa, where I am, I’ve seen headshot pricing ranging from $100 to $500 depending various things. Most are in the $200-$300 range for one image. It also goes without saying that the old adage ‘you get what you pay for’ plays a role here as well.
I recommend, since you will be one-on-one with this photographer that it might be good to get a ‘feeling’ for them in addition to looking at the price. Perhaps it would be good time spent speaking to them on the phone to see who the person is behind the lens. I really believe that you want someone you feel you can connect with for your headshot session. I think this is often overlooked.
