Pricing corporate photography is, without a doubt, one of the hardest things a professional photographer has to learn. I’ve been in this business for a long time, and I still pause before building a big quote. It’s a mix of art, science, and a little bit of nerve. You don’t want to price yourself out of a job, but you absolutely cannot afford to undercharge. Your pricing is your most important business tool. It signals your value, covers your costs, and, most importantly, pays your bills. This guide will walk you through exactly how to price your corporate work with confidence.

Key Takeaways

  • Stop Quoting “Day Rates”: Your price is a combination of a Creative Fee (your talent and time), Licensing (how the images are used), and Expenses (your hard costs).
  • Know Your CODB: You must calculate your Cost of Doing Business (CODB) to find the absolute minimum you need to charge just to break even.
  • Licensing is Your Value: The biggest part of your fee should come from licensing. The wider, longer, and bigger the use (e.t., global ad campaign vs. internal newsletter), the higher the price.
  • Post-Production is a Job: You must bill for culling and editing. This is often where photographers lose their entire profit margin.
  • Efficiency is Profit: Using smart tools like Imagen to automate your culling and editing cuts your post-production time from days to minutes. This allows you to be more profitable and competitive.
  • Itemize Your Bids: Always provide a professional, itemized proposal. This shows the client exactly what they are paying for and establishes your professionalism.
  • Never Work Without a Contract: Your contract, proposal, and invoice must all match. Protect yourself, your work, and your client.

Why is Corporate Photography Pricing So Difficult?

If you feel confused about pricing, you are not alone. It’s a challenge for a few key reasons.

First, every job is custom. A request for “some headshots” from a 10-person law firm is a completely different job than a request for “some headshots” from a 500-person tech company for their annual report. One might be a simple, one-light setup. The other might involve multiple backdrops, locations, and a full team.

Second, you are selling an invisible product. Clients see you show up with a camera. They don’t see the hours of planning, the consultation calls, the gear prep, the test shots, the location scouting, the insurance policies, the software subscriptions, or the days of post-production. A huge part of your job is to make this invisible work visible in your proposal.

Third, fear gets in the way. We have all felt imposter syndrome. We worry that if we charge what we are worth, the client will laugh and hang up. Or, we look at another photographer’s website and just guess at their prices. This leads to a race to the bottom that helps no one.

Finally, most photographers misunderstand licensing. You are not selling a physical product. You are not selling a “photo.” You are a commercial artist. You are renting your intellectual property (your image) to a company for a specific purpose. This concept is the single most important key to unlocking profitable pricing.

The Core Components of Every Corporate Photo Bid

Forget “day rates.” That term will kill your business. Does a client “buy” a lawyer for the day? Or a plumber for the day? No, they pay for a specific service, plus parts and expertise. Your pricing should be the same.

Every professional corporate photography quote has three main parts.

  1. Creative Fee (Your “labor” and talent)
  2. Licensing Fee (How the images will be used)
  3. Expenses (Your costs to do the job)

Let’s break down each one.

Component 1: Your Creative Fee

Your creative fee is the base charge for your time, talent, and expertise to complete the shoot. This covers the pre-production meetings, the shoot day itself, and your professional skill.

Many photographers just call this their “day rate.” This is a mistake. What is a “day?” Is it 8 hours? 10? 12? What if the shoot is only 3 hours but involves a complicated setup?

Instead, your Creative Fee is a flat fee for the “job” of the shoot day. But how do you find that number? You start by figuring out your bare-minimum cost just to open your doors.

Step-by-Step: Finding Your Cost of Doing Business (CODB)

You cannot price yourself profitably if you do not know your expenses. This number is your floor. You must charge more than this to have a real business.

  1. List All Annual Business Expenses: Get out a spreadsheet. Be honest and thorough.
    • Gear: Camera bodies, lenses, lights, grip (stands, modifiers), computers, hard drives. (Estimate what you spend per year, or the cost of your gear divided by its 3-year lifespan).
    • Software: Adobe Creative Cloud, accounting software, gallery delivery, website hosting, and (most importantly) efficiency tools like Imagen.
    • Office/Studio: Rent, utilities, internet. (If you work from home, a percentage of your rent/mortgage and utilities).
    • Insurance: This is non-negotiable. You need equipment insurance and, more importantly, general liability insurance (at least $1,000,000).
    • Marketing: Website, portfolio printing, ads, client gifts, networking lunches.
    • Professional Services: Accountant, lawyer (for your contract), business bank fees.
    • Taxes: Put aside 25-30% of your income for self-employment and income taxes. Add this to your cost.
    • Education: Workshops, online courses.
    • Repairs: Things break. Budget for it.
  2. Determine Your Annual Salary: How much do you need to make to live? This is not a “dream” number. This is what you need to pay your mortgage, buy groceries, and live your life. Let’s say you need $60,000 after taxes.
  3. Do the Math:
    • Annual Business Expenses: Let’s say this totals $25,000.
    • Desired Pre-Tax Salary: To take home $60,000, you’ll need to make more like $85,000 (to account for taxes).
    • Total Annual Revenue Needed: $25,000 + $85,000 = $110,000
  4. Find Your Minimum Creative Fee: Now, how many days can you realistically work per year? It’s not 365. You have to account for marketing, admin, client calls, and time off. A busy pro might only have 100-150 “billable” shoot days a year. Let’s be conservative and say 100.
    • $110,000 / 100 shoot days = $1,100

This $1,100 is your baseline creative fee. It is your minimum. This number does not include any licensing, post-production, or expenses. It is the rock-bottom price just for you to show up and break even. Your skill, reputation, and demand will push this number higher over time.

Component 2: Image Licensing (Where the Real Value Is)

This is where photographers make their money. You are granting the client a license to use your photos. You still own the copyright (unless you foolishly sign it away). The price of this license depends on three things:

  • Usage:Where will the images be used?
    • Internal (company newsletter, intranet) = Low Value
    • Web/Social (company website, social media) = Medium Value
    • Print (brochures, local mailers) = Medium-High Value
    • Advertising (paid ads online, magazines, billboards) = High Value
  • Duration:How long will they use them?
    • 1 year = Standard
    • 3 years = Common
    • 5 years = More expensive
    • In Perpetuity (forever) = Very, very expensive
  • Geography:What market will see them?
    • Local (one city)
    • Regional (e.g., the Northeast)
    • National (USA only)
    • Global (Worldwide)

Example: A photo for an internal newsletter for 1 year might have a licensing fee of $50. A photo for a global billboard campaign for 3 years might have a licensing fee of $50,000. It’s the same photo. The value is in the use.

The “Buyout” Conversation

Clients will often ask for a “full buyout.” This is a vague term. You must get clarity.

  • What they usually mean: “We want to use the photos on our website and social media for a few years without asking you every time.”
  • What you should hear: “We want an unlimited, exclusive, worldwide license in perpetuity and the right to transfer it to anyone.”

Do not give them the second one unless they are paying you a life-changing amount of money. Instead, you respond with a question:

“A full, unlimited buyout is a very high-value item. Most clients find a 3-year or 5-year license for web, social, and print use is much more budget-friendly. Can you tell me more about where you plan to use the images so I can get you the best value?”

This positions you as a helpful partner, not a difficult artist. 99% of the time, a 3-year, non-exclusive, national license for web, social, and internal use is all they really need. And you can price that reasonably.

Component 3: Post-Production (The Profit Killer)

This is the job after the job. It includes culling, editing, retouching, and delivery. You must charge for this time. Most photographers just “roll it in” to their creative fee, work for 10 hours editing, and make no money.

Your post-production fee should be a separate line item. You can bill it in two ways:

  1. Per Image: “Includes 20 final edited images.”
  2. Per Hour: “Post-production estimated at 8 hours.”

The problem? Estimating this is hard. A 10-hour shoot can generate 3,000 images. Culling those down to the best 200 is a full day of work. Editing those 200 can be another two days. Suddenly, you have three days of unpaid work.

The Smart Solution: Streamlining with AI

This is where I stopped losing money and started growing my business. I use Imagen to handle the most time-consuming parts of my post-production.

image

Let’s be clear. We’re not talking about cheesy “sky replacement” filters. Imagen is a professional tool. It’s a desktop app that uses powerful, cloud-based AI to learn your unique editing style.

Here’s how it works in my workflow:

  1. I Train My Profile: I gave Imagen 3,000 of my best, already-edited photos from past jobs (the minimum is 3,000). It analyzed everything: my exposure, my white balance, my HSL panel, my contrast. It created my Personal AI Profile. It edits just like I do.
  2. I Shoot the Job: I go to the corporate shoot and do my thing.
  3. I Cull: I get back to my studio. I can use Imagen‘s Culling feature, which is great at finding blurry shots or closed eyes. Or I can do a quick pass in Lightroom Classic myself.
  4. I Edit with Imagen: I upload my selected RAW files (from Lightroom Classic, Capture One, or just a folder) to the Imagen desktop app. I select my Personal AI Profile and click “Upload.”
  5. I Get Coffee: Instead of sitting there for 8 hours, I go do something else. Imagen edits my photos in the cloud at a speed of about half a second per photo. A gallery of 1,000 photos comes back in 15-20 minutes.
  6. I Review: The edits are applied right back to my Lightroom catalog. They are 95-99% perfect. I do a quick final review, tweak any small details I want, and I am done.

How this impacts pricing: My post-production time went from 2-3 days to about 1 hour. This is a massive business advantage.

  • I can now confidently charge for post-production because I know exactly how long it will take.
  • I can be more competitive. If I’m in a tight bid, I can lower my post-production fee slightly, knowing it’s not a huge time suck for me.
  • I can deliver faster. Clients are thrilled when they get their photos in 24 hours, not two weeks. This leads to more referrals.

If you don’t have 3,000 edited photos, you can start with a Lite Personal AI Profile (which uses one of your presets as a base) or a Talent AI Profile (built by other top-tier photographers).

Using Imagen is not “cheating.” It’s smart business. You are automating the repetitive, non-creative clicks to free you up for the creative work and client relationships. You must account for the cost of Imagen (a few cents per photo) in your CODB, but the time it saves pays for itself a thousand times over.

Component 4: All Other Expenses (The Line Items)

These are the hard costs for the job. You must pass these directly to the client. You should also add a 15-20% production markup on these items. This covers your time to book, coordinate, and manage them.

Do not ever “include” these in your creative fee. They are separate.

  • Assistants: 1st Assistant, 2nd Assistant, Digital Tech (manages the laptop/files on set). You pay them a day rate.
  • Hair & Makeup Artist (MUA): Billed at their day or half-day rate.
  • Stylist: Wardrobe, prop, or food stylist.
  • Location: Studio rental fees, location permits from the city.
  • Gear Rental: Any specialty cameras, lenses, or lighting you don’t own.
  • Travel: Mileage (at the federal rate), flights, hotels, per diem (food allowance for your crew).
  • Advanced Retouching: This is different from your basic editing. Basic editing (what Imagen does) is color, exposure, and cropping. Retouching is advanced Photoshop work (compositing, removing objects, head-swapping). This should be billed separately, either per hour ($100-$150/hr) or per image ($50-$250/image) depending on complexity.

Putting It All Together: Pricing Models That Work

Okay, we have our components. How do we present them to the client?

Model 1: The “All-Inclusive” Package (For smaller jobs)

This is great for simple, repeatable services like executive headshots or small-business branding sessions. You bundle the components into one easy-to-understand price.

Example: The Executive Headshot Package – $750

  • Includes:
    • 30-minute session at one location (client’s office).
    • 3 final, high-resolution retouched images.
    • 2-year license for web and social media use.
    • Online gallery for selection.
  • How you built this price:
    • Creative Fee (0.25 day): $300
    • Post-Production (3 retouched images): $200
    • Licensing (limited use): $250
    • Total: $750

Model 2: The “Itemized Bid” (The professional standard)

This is what you will use for 90% of your corporate jobs. It’s a formal proposal that lists each component as a separate line item. This is transparent and professional.

Example Bid: XYZ Tech Company Annual Report

  • Client Need: 1 shoot day. Photos of 10 executives, office candids, and building exteriors.
  • Usage: Annual report (print) and website for 3 years, North America.
ItemDescriptionCost
Creative Fee1 full shoot day for principal photographer. Includes pre-shoot consultation and concept.$2,000
Post-ProductionCulling, color correction, and cropping for up to 75 final images.$1,000
Licensing3-year, non-exclusive license for North American use. Includes: Website, Social Media, and Annual Report (Print).$3,500
Expenses
1st Assistant1 day @ $450/day$450
Digital Tech1 day @ $550/day$550
Makeup Artist1 half-day @ $600$600
Production Fee20% markup on expenses$320
Subtotal$8,420
Est. Tax (if applicable)$—
GRAND TOTAL$8,420

This bid clearly shows your value. The client sees that your talent is worth $2,000, the use of the images is worth $3,500, and your time to edit is $1,000. The rest are hard costs.

Model 3: The “Retainer” (The Holy Grail)

This is a dream for many photographers. A client agrees to pay you a set amount every month for ongoing work. This is great for companies with constant social media, blog, or internal event needs.

  • Example: $2,500/month retainer.
  • Includes: Two 4-hour shoots per month, with up to 50 edited images from each, licensed for web/social use.

This is predictable, reliable income. And with a tool like Imagen, it becomes wildly profitable. You can do those two shoots, run the photos through your Imagen AI Profile, and deliver all 100 images in less than two business days. What would have taken you a full week of editing is now done in an afternoon.

Navigating Common Corporate Pricing Challenges

You will get pushback. Here is your script. Stay calm, friendly, and firm.

1. Client: “What’s your day rate?”

  • You: “My creative fee depends on the project’s scope. A simple internal-use-only shoot is priced very differently from a national ad campaign. To get you an accurate quote, can you tell me more about what you need and, most importantly, how you plan to use the images?“

2. Client: “We need a full buyout for all the photos.”

  • You: “I can definitely provide a quote for that. A full, unlimited buyout is a high-value item and is priced to reflect that. Just so I can provide options, most of my clients find a 5-year license for web, social, and print use is much more budget-friendly. Would that work for your needs?”

3. Client: “Your price is too high. [Competitor] is half that.”

  • You: “I understand. My pricing reflects a full-service, professional experience, which includes concept consultation, insured and reliable service, and high-end post-production. My quotes are structured to provide lasting value and eliminate any surprises. I’m happy to review the scope of work to see if we can adjust it to fit your budget, but I don’t price-match.”

4. Client: “We just need a few quick headshots for the website.”

  • You: “Great, my executive headshot package is perfect for that. It’s designed for busy professionals. It includes [X time, Y images, Z license] for [$Price]. This ensures we get high-quality, consistent results you can use right away. When would you like to schedule that?” (You control the conversation. You define the “quick headshot” as a professional package, not a 10-minute snapshot).

Your Proposal and Contract Are Your Shield

A phone call is not a booking. An email is not a booking. A signed contract and a paid deposit is a booking.

  • Your Proposal: This is your sales tool. It should look professional. It must include the detailed scope of work, the deliverables (how many images, what format, when), the exact licensing terms, and the itemized bid.
  • Your Contract: This is your legal protection. It should be reviewed by a lawyer. It re-states everything from the proposal and adds your terms.
  • Your Terms (Must-Haves):
    • Payment: 50% non-refundable deposit to book the date. 50% on final delivery. (No deposit, no shoot date).
    • Delivery: Final images will be delivered after the final invoice is paid.
    • Cancellation: If client cancels within 48 hours, they forfeit the deposit. If you cancel, you must refund it.
    • Licensing: State it clearly. “License begins upon receipt of final payment.”

Conclusion: Your Pricing is Your Brand

Pricing with confidence is the difference between a hobby and a career. You are not just a person with a camera. You are a commercial artist and a business owner. You are solving a visual problem for a company, and that has immense value.

Calculate your costs. Define your packages. Create your proposals. And be firm.

Most importantly, be smart about your time. Your most valuable asset is not your camera; it’s your time. By using smart, professional tools like Imagen, you buy back your time. You cut the drag of post-production and focus on what clients actually pay you for: your creative vision and your professional service.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What’s the difference between corporate and commercial photography pricing? They are very similar. “Corporate” usually refers to photos for a company’s own use (annual reports, website, headshots). “Commercial” or “Advertising” photography often refers to photos of a product or service to be used in paid ad campaigns. Advertising use is typically licensed at a much higher value.

2. Should I charge per photo or per hour? Neither. Charge using the model in this article: Creative Fee + Licensing + Expenses. A simple headshot package might feel like “per photo,” but it’s really just a bundle of those three components. Never charge by the hour; you get punished for being fast and efficient.

3. How much should I charge for a single headshot? Avoid selling just one. Your minimum for showing up (gear, setup, time, editing) should be a package. A good starting point for a professional headshot package (e.g., 3 images) in a major city is often between $500 – $1,500.

4. What does “in perpetuity” mean and should I offer it? It means “forever.” You should avoid offering it unless the price is extremely high (think 10-20x a standard 3-year license). It’s a bad deal for you, as you can never re-sell or re-license that image again.

5. How do I charge for travel?

  • Local: Bill mileage at the standard IRS rate (e.g., $0.67 per mile in 2024).
  • National/International: Bill all travel as an expense. This includes flights, hotels, baggage fees, and a “per diem” (a daily food stipend) for you and your entire crew. You should also bill for “travel days” at 50% of your creative fee.

6. What is a “Cost of Doing Business” (CODB) and why do I need it? It’s the total annual cost of running your photography business (gear, software, insurance, etc.) plus your desired salary. You must know this number. It’s the floor that your pricing is built on to ensure you are, at a minimum, breaking even.

7. Can I use a tool like Imagen and still charge for editing? Absolutely. You must. Your post-production fee covers your culling time, your expertise in reviewing and approving the edits, the cost of the software itself (Imagen is a business expense), and your time to make final tweaks and deliver the gallery. The client is paying for the final, perfect image, not for the number of mouse clicks it took you to get there.

8. What’s the difference between “editing” and “retouching”? This is critical.

  • Editing (or Color Correction): This is adjusting global settings like exposure, white balance, contrast, and color. This is what Imagen automates. It’s applied to all final images.
  • Retouching: This is detailed Photoshop work on a single image. Removing blemishes, cleaning up backgrounds, compositing, etc. This is billed separately at a much higher per-image or per-hour rate.

9. Why can’t I just give the client all the RAW files? Never. First, RAW files are not a finished product. It’s like a chef giving a customer a bag of raw ingredients. Second, you lose all control over the final image. The client could edit it poorly and damage your brand. Third, your license is for the final, delivered images, not every photo you took.

10. How do I price a job for a non-profit? This is up to you. Many photographers offer a 15-25% discount for non-profits as a gesture of goodwill. You should still present a full, itemized bid showing the total value, and then add a line item for “Non-Profit Discount” that shows the amount you are discounting. They still pay for all hard expenses.

11. What if the client wants more images after the shoot? Great! That’s a new sale. You say, “I’d be happy to provide those. The license for additional images is [$X] per photo, which includes the post-production and licensing.”

12. How does Imagen’s culling feature help with pricing? Imagen‘s AI culling can go through thousands of photos and group them, find the sharpest faces, and flag all the closed eyes or blurry shots. This reduces your culling time from many hours to 30-60 minutes. Just like with editing, this time-saving makes your business more efficient and your post-production fee more profitable.

13. What’s the biggest pricing mistake new corporate photographers make? They are afraid to charge for licensing. They give away their work. They quote a “day rate” of $500, give the client all the photos with a full buyout, and spend three days editing. After expenses, they’ve made less than minimum wage. You must separate your creative fee from your licensing fee.