Unfortunately, passion and job fulfillment alone won’t be enough to put food on the table. That’s why many aspiring creatives contemplating making a jump to a career in professional photography often wonder:
“How much can I make as a new professional photographer?”
This is followed up by further research concerning relevant camera accessories such as backdrops, light stands, lenses, marketing costs and more barriers to entry that’ll require a significant investment for anyone wanting to dip their toes into the field.
And after doing your homework on coming up with a rough blueprint of how your first year as a bona fide professional photographer will look like, the end game comes to mind:
“How much do some of the best photographers charge?”
After all, you know a lot of them. Some of them are branching off to YouTube so you have a very good sense of what their quality of work looks like. The prices they command, however, is another topic altogether. Let’s talk about that.
How Much do Photographers Make on Average?
Before we look at how much the top percentile is charging by the hour, let’s first take a look at what the average pro can make annually.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the 2020 mean annual wage for photographers comes in at $50,290 and translates to about $24.18 per hour. For context, the estimated annual mean wage for all occupations is at $56,310 with a mean hourly wage at $27.07.
If you’re still here and that wasn’t enough to make you rethink your impending career jump, here’s a bit of good news for you. Where you’re currently based affects a lot of what makes up your earning power. For example, the 2018 mean wage for photographers in Minnesota and Rhode Island is reported to be around $54,000, while Massachusetts tops the charts at a reported mean annual wage of $65,090.
Here’s the thing though, there are plenty of entry level photography jobs that skew the numbers down. The average photographer at a JC Penny Portrait Studio isn’t going to make much money, neither is an entry level photographer at one of the cheap Vegas chapels. I lived in Vegas, I was shocked to see chapels were hiring photographers at a mere $15/hr.
If you freelance, any competent photographer could easily start at $50/hr. That’s what I did… posted on Craigslist and did gigs for $50 bucks an hour until I built a solid portfolio.
However, if you’re still working on your photography (and business) skills, and you need a steady income…
How Much do Entry Level Photography Jobs Pay?
Now let’s step away from statistics for a second and get down to some real numbers. You probably already know this, but no one started out taking on $7,000 weddings or $1,500 headshot sessions on their first week of going pro.
A lot of the top earners honed their skills and gained invaluable experience working entry level photography jobs before they got to a place where they can comfortably charge what they charge. So let’s say you’ve decided on becoming a wedding photographer, you probably want to start assisting or second shooting. Multiple sources say that a second shooter can earn $20-50 an hour; for a 6 to 8-hour gig like weddings, that’s good money especially for a newbie!
If you don’t want to go the freelance route straight away and want the security of full-time employment until you get all experience you need, that’s great. Budding sports photographers for one can look at applying in magazines or newspapers to be a junior staffer, where they can expect to get paid around $20-35,000.
You could also try becoming a full-time studio assistant for a local pro if you’re interested in portrait photography. Shadowing a seasoned professional and getting real, hands-on experience working in a comfy studio, while you make $29,250 or about $15 an hour is probably one of the best ways to get your foot in the door.
How Much Do the Top 10% of Photographers Charge?
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the top 10% of photographers earn upwards of $86,850, with an hourly average that comes in at around $41.76. That’s all well and good, knowing that being in the top percentile of your peers pays really well. But again, this could be skewed down by salaried positions.
And let’s be honest, many photographers (myself included), don’t work 40+ hours a week. For many of us, we can earn a livable income on part time hours.
I remember when I started, I never wanted it to feel like a job. And if I had to work 20+ hours a week on a regular basis, then that’s what it would feel like. Instead, throughout the years I’ve increased my rates to work enough to make an income I’m happy with.
So perhaps the real question is – how much exactly does a top earning professional photographer charge for a session?
And the real answer is that it depends on your level of skill, your location, and your competition.
I can say after living in a number of different cities, as a photographer in Maui, Hawaii, my rate has increased compared to the mainland.
- Location dictates demand – Everyone wants to capture the memories on vacation, whether it’s through family photos or getting engaged, or eloping on the beach. The demand for photographers in Hawaii is very high. When I lived in Las Vegas, event photography and business headshots were in high demand due to the regular expo’s and conferences on the Las Vegas Strip.
- Competition – You could have the best portfolio in the world, but to a prospective customer, if your portfolio is very close to competitors who charge 50% less, they’re like to head in that direction. So you can either a.) differentiate yourself from your competition, or b.) lower your prices to coordinate with market demand.
- Skill – The top 1% of photographers often demand the highest prices, they’re often sought after by celebs, etc. Let’s start with…
Peter Hurley – Headshots
Peter Hurley is easily the most recognizable name in the headshot photography business. He’s the guy you want to shoot your headshots if you’re a high-level executive or a Hollywood celebrity, and he definitely belongs in the upper echelons of the industry. With Hurley’s caliber, it makes a lot of sense that he can charge what he charges for his work. An individual headshot session with Peter Hurley starts at $1,500.
An individual session would start at fifteen hundred bucks, but he can also cover hair and makeup for an optional fee of $400 and up. Pretty simple arrangement so far, but here comes the curveball. After the session, you’ll have a sit down with Peter where you pick which of the batch you want to keep and purchase for $300 apiece, with professional retouching and “unlimited licensing” for personal use included.
If you’re stuck rereading the last bit of the paragraph, don’t worry! There’s this little thing called copyright law and licensing. It’s an entirely separate discussion, but it boils down to this: the photographer owns all the rights to every photograph they make, even if a client hires them for the job. You basically need to pay for the right to use the photos for an agreed-upon list of terms. The general population includes licensing fees on their packages so it might be a rare topic to come across upon, but at Peter’s level, licensing fees are to be expected.
So to recap, that’s $1,500 for the session, optional $400+ for hair and makeup, and $300 per photo. Assuming you needed help with hair and makeup and wanted to get at least 8 photos out of the set, then you’re looking at a $4,300 invoice. Peter also offers individual portrait sessions, with the difference being you’ll have an assortment of looks (aside from chest-up shots for a conventional headshot session), and it starts at $3,000.
That may sound like a lot of money for a headshot, but there are a lot of things that go on behind the premium price tag. Let’s start with the session itself. According to Peter Hurley’s site, the session will last 3 hours at the minimum.
If you split the $1,500 price tag into three, then a $500/hour sitting rate suddenly doesn’t sound too otherworldly. For the right clients, $500/hour to hire literally one of the best possible photographers for the job almost sounds like a bargain considering the value you’re getting. And because a session can go on for this long, you know Peter and his team are pouring in every bit of their expertise into you, helping you bring out the best images you can get out of the experience. Plus, you’re getting Peter’s expert opinion on what works and what you need for your brand!
Speaking of teams, Hurley will no doubt require additional personnel for the session, makeup artists included. Peter says makeup and styling will change as the session progresses to better suit the lighting being used so it isn’t just a one-time thing you’ll be paying for. Then there are also assistants who’ll take care of Hurley’s complex lighting system which will have to be set up differently for every client and every look.
Professional photo retouching is another major component of the service. Peter will have long time collaborators that’ll polish the final images up to his standards. Keep in mind that a single, professionally retouched portrait won’t be done in less than an hour. Add all the time spent between the photographer and the retoucher’s back and forth, and you’ll be looking at even more work hours that go into the final product.
Now I want you to remember that New York, being one of the major cities in the country, will have significantly higher costs of living than most states, and will therefore have a higher average salary for pretty much every occupation. A professional photo retoucher alone in New York earns $25.58 on average. The Peter Hurley brand plays on a completely different level, however, so it’s only fair to assume his retouchers would be on a significantly higher segment.
Peter mainly operates in a nice studio space in Manhattan. I have a funny feeling that renting a nice space anywhere in Manhattan won’t come cheap, so operating costs covering the studio plus overheads should be taken into account.
If you don’t know anything about Peter Hurley, this could serve as a nice sneak peek into his process: