What should be optional in a photography proposal?

In this template: Extra edited photos ($25.00 USD per photo), Team headshots ($90.00 USD per person), Short social video ($600.00 USD). Optional lines sit next to the base price with a switch, so clients choose them without a follow-up email.

Pricing guide for photographers

How much to charge for photography

Updated October 23, 2026. Example prices in US dollars from the photography template.

Example starting total$2,000.00 USD

Short answer: Price photography as one fixed line (half-day brand shoot at $1,400.00 USD) with a starting total of $2,000.00 USD, then 3 optional lines (extra edited photos, team headshots, short social video) the client can switch on, and quantities the client sets within your limits. Set your own numbers; the structure is what gets accepted.

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Below: the price lines from our photography quote, what is fixed, what the client can switch on, and how to show it so the client accepts instead of haggling.

The example pricing

Line	Example price	How it is sold
Half-day brand shootFour hours, forty edited photos	$1,400.00 USD	Included
Extra edited photosBeyond the forty included	$25.00 USD per photo	Optional, off by defaultClient picks 1 to 40
Team headshotsTwenty minutes each	$90.00 USD per person	Optional, off by defaultClient picks 1 to 30
Short social videoSixty-second behind-the-scenes cut	$600.00 USD	Optional, on by default

Starting total with the defaults on: $2,000.00 USD, before the client chooses among 3 optional lines, with 2 quantities the client sets within your limits. Example prices in US dollars; the template works in 16 currencies and every number is yours to change.

How to present it

The core templates cover the projects most freelancers sell: a fixed-scope build, a retainer, a shoot, a consulting engagement. Each one prices the defined work as one line and everything negotiable as an option the client can switch on.

Fixed price for the thing you can define, recurring for the thing that continues, and countable options for whatever clients tend to add. That structure survives almost any trade.

Whatever you charge, the client should be able to see the total change as they choose. A total that responds is a total that gets accepted.

What goes into a photography price

Part	What to count
Time on site	The shoot itself, plus travel and setting up
Editing	Culling and editing usually take longer than the shoot; price them in, not on top
Deliverables	How many finished images, in what sizes, delivered how and by when
Usage	Where the client may use the images and for how long; wider use costs more
Costs	Assistants, studio hire, props, prints, permits

Per photo, per hour or per package

Per hour invites the client to cut the time; per photo invites them to count. A package names the day and the number of finished images, which is what the client actually wants, and leaves you room to work. Sell extra images by the number and extra hours by the block as optional lines, so the client sizes the job themselves.

Questions people ask

How much should I charge for photography?: Price photography as one fixed line (half-day brand shoot at $1,400.00 USD) with a starting total of $2,000.00 USD, then 3 optional lines (extra edited photos, team headshots, short social video) the client can switch on, and quantities the client sets within your limits. Set your own numbers; the structure is what gets accepted.
What should be optional in a photography proposal?: In this template: Extra edited photos ($25.00 USD per photo), Team headshots ($90.00 USD per person), Short social video ($600.00 USD). Optional lines sit next to the base price with a switch, so clients choose them without a follow-up email.
How do I present photography pricing so it gets accepted?: The core templates cover the projects most freelancers sell: a fixed-scope build, a retainer, a shoot, a consulting engagement. Each one prices the defined work as one line and everything negotiable as an option the client can switch on.

Why this structure gets accepted

One fixed line the client can say yes to. Half-day brand shoot is priced as a whole, so the conversation is about the result, not the hours.
Options on the page, not in follow-up emails. Extra edited photos, Team headshots, Short social video sit next to the base price with a switch. People choose what they can see.
The total moves as they choose. On a Quote and Sign page the client toggles lines and sets quantities, watches the total update, and signs with their name. What they chose becomes part of the signed record.

Put it in front of a client

Open this pricing as a real quote, change the words and numbers, and send the link. Your client reads it on a phone or laptop, picks the extras, and taps Accept. You both get the signed PDF.