How to price your photography work + License Fees

In today's video, I cove the dreaded topic of how to price your photography work and how to charge for license fees and usage.. I go through my past prices, pricing structure right through to what I currently charge and what people ahead of me are charging. I cover a brief idea on how to budget for a photography business as well as how to make sure that you make money with photography. Hopefully by the end of the video you know how to price your photography as well as how and when to add a license fee.
The calculator that I use for usage fees is from the AOP and you can find it here www.the-aop.or...
In my bag I have;
Canon 90mm TS-E lens amzn.to/2YBUPxh
Canon 45mm TS-E Lens amzn.to/33iZwel
Carl Zeiss 100mm Makro Plannar Milvus f/2 www.wexphotovi....
Sigma Art 50mm f/1.4 amzn.to/2N0yi6D
Sigma Art 35mm f/1.4 amzn.to/2M99No6
Canon 5DS. amzn.to/2KpHjnX
www.scottchouc...

[@bettymaguireuk]

As a self-taught photographer this has BLOWN my mind

[@ginavadanaphotographer]

@@bettymaguireuk same here girl! I am just wrapping my head around usage and rights fees

[@stroudswebs]

Not picked up a camera since 2007 and thankyou for relighting my passion and started to use my electronic education to build unique lighting effects

[@halimmellick]

I have been approached by Nike who want to licence an image from me and I have no idea what to charge. This video has been so incredibly helpful

[@TinHouseStudioUK]

You can contact my agent Lisa Pritchard Agency and they can manage that for you as part of the pop up agency service to make sure you get what you deserve.

[@burrdaddy]

One of the most honest and open channels I've seen about the business side. Much appreciated.

[@kennethjonesphotography]

I've been primarily shooting real estate since 1979. Although I've done a little in the way of product photography from time to time, I've recently started to concentrate on product photography and find I really enjoy it. My "style" is currently straight-forward advertising shots. But, I'm now venturing into trying to create more stylized shots with varying effects. I'm a quick learner and not afraid to experiment. And, while I appreciate your 10-year timeline, I'm a bit too impatient (and, too damned old) to wait that long to get better quality work. I appreciate and enjoy your videos and look forward to viewing more. Thanks for your insights.

[@benharris3949]

The best video on pricing I’ve ever seen. It’s a tough subject and thank you for not making any promises. Also: it took you a decade of working, not just shooting but working. Sage advice.

[@ricardograyson5781]

I guess Im asking randomly but does anyone know of a tool to get back into an instagram account?? I was stupid lost my password. I would appreciate any help you can offer me

[@gageadrien9429]

@Ricardo Grayson instablaster ;)

[@ricardograyson5781]

@Gage Adrien i really appreciate your reply. I got to the site on google and im in the hacking process now. Takes a while so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.

[@ricardograyson5781]

@Gage Adrien it did the trick and I actually got access to my account again. I am so happy! Thanks so much you saved my ass :D

[@gageadrien9429]

@Ricardo Grayson No problem =)

[@benharris3949]

Coming back to this again and the advice is refreshing and bears repeating. But also your production value has skyrocketed, it’s fantastic to see your development

[@oleleclos]

We charged hourly when I ran a commercial studio in Copenhagen back in the 1970s, but it sounds like the rates were similar. I charged DKK500/hr in the last year before I changed business, which would be something like £3-4,000 for an 8-hour day in today’s money, plus expenses for models, travel and whatnot. Usage fees were not invented, but of course I could work 12 or 15 or 18 hour days if I wanted, which I did, and that's what wore me out.

[@codylutz9237]

Scott - this is the best pricing video I've ever seen. Honestly, this channel is one of the most helpful photography channels from a business perspective I've found. So grateful to you for these!

[@iraaikman]

Love your videos and channel, nice to have an honest voice from the industry that’s actually doing it and can offer sound advice for aspiring professionals

[@merandadevan4228]

I don't think I have ever heard anyone talk about this subject. Gosh, thank you for educating me on it!

[@TinHouseStudioUK]

Hey, Thanks, glad you enjoyed it :D

[@jimmylee7422]

Actually pretty spot on, been shooting 5 years i am in my 3/4 year in business if i am honest what i shoot is a bit of a mix so havent found my niche like you have I would have no way been able to stay afloat if i had tried to license with the clients i had at the start, now i am in the process of dropping out those clients and moving on to bigger ones and trying to licence where ever possible. i mean its not the figures you have above per image but its better than getting a day rate and nothing else

[@theguitarrepairchannel]

Great info, watched this to make sure I billed the client properly. Happy that someone is talking about licensing fees. Cheers!

[@Smiithrz]

Great content mate, very useful to me as I seek a career change and venture out into the photography world! Thank you.

[@ijyoyo]

Hope that you did!

[@siprturo]

Hi Scott, thanks for the video. I have a few questions: 1. Let's say you are charging 1200 as a day rate that produces 20 photos. The amount of money generated by the calculator, is that licensing the usage of all 20 photos to - lets say - go on a company's website? If so, what if they only use one of the photos on their website? How do you then calculate the fee for that? 2. What does this calculator base its fees and result on? i.e. How exactly have the creators of the calculator determined that social media use is 75%, etc? 3. How do you deal with clients that think these numbers are ridiculously high because of their lack of knowledge on the subject? Thanks!

[@StewartSavage]

Great video, Scott. Thanks for clarifying what the BUR is.

[@ijyoyo]

Felt a lot more about Copyright laws then for photography. I saw the title 101 and had a feeling I might know what's up. Now to get into the granularity of everything. I feel like myself and other photographers need to step up the game when it comes to this. I see so many getting into different types of media and not realizing this. Great video nethertheless.

[@auteurstudios]

Priceless video, what an eye opener, amazing

[@robdwildlifephotography]

Hi Mate, thank you very much for all your help. I’m watching every video you have. One thing I’m still unsure about, is you have your day rate, broken down to production, creative fee and usage, but is it one just one photo per campaign or based on the day how many you can capture and edit in the one day. I find this part confusing.

[@tegidcartwright1202]

Subbed about a minute in - excellent video, great tone - look forward to watching more. Thanks man!

[@krystiankrzewinski]

Hi Scott, that's awesome you created this video. Do you know if videographers should license their videos as well?

[@joeymccallion]

Amazing insight and you deliver it so well. Thank you!

[@pontusstigberg]

Really good and helpful video Scott! I am just starting charging for my photography so this is really helpful!

[@pontusstigberg]

@@TinHouseStudioUK mostly portraiture and adventure, still watch all of your videos and read your articles lol

[@firasjannan3077]

I'm so glad and happy to have stumbled upon your channel! Such great content; thank you! I searched but didn't find a video about contracts. Have you thought about making one? or can you point us to some direction as to where can obtain one.

[@lefthandright01]

Bear in mind, 270,000 pound sounds like a lot. His example is a 4 year license. That equates to 67,000 pound per year. That also may well feature as a negotiated point in the contract. The license fee is paid over the duration of the license period and not all upfront.

[@darrensacks5120]

Super useful thank you. Epic work by the way

[@Tiffinandtea]

Thanks for this Scott. So very useful.

[@mouphasa]

Thank you so much! This was incredibly useful!

[@TinHouseStudioUK]

Thanks :)

[@EdAb]

Spot on again Scott, well done!

[@bennyhuang8934]

Thank you so much for this video, this is exactly what I needed. My client wants to put my photos on a magazine and I had no idea how to price the usage fee because I usually shoot for regular people who only needs personal usage. I just wanna ask does the usage fee only cover 1 photo or all the photos you shoot during that session?

[@bennyhuang8934]

@@TinHouseStudioUK Okay I see. Thank you so much for sharing!

[@gonzalonovoaphotography]

@@bennyhuang8934 Somehow I can't see Scott's answer. Can you tell me what the answer was? I imagine is a fee for the whole job, but I'd like to be sure. Thanks.

[@alexw9024]

Well, the concept was certainly explained in light speed

[@kyleanderson9281]

My only question left...does the licensing fee change depending on how many photos you deliver? Is there a standard for a number of deliverables? i.e. for a 3 day commercial shoot, is it a "standard" that you have say 100 deliverables per day? If not, how do you decide on a number of final deliverables and how does that affect the final licensing fee?

[@GabriellaViola]

Thank you for making this! so helpful

[@Imetnaj]

This definitely helped me, thanks man

[@cervoo]

Hey mate, love your videos! Question tho, how do you charge clients if they want all of the raw/unedited images?

[@customasmrbyx]

Where do you find an agent as a photographer? Do you need one if you're just starting out? I assume he helps you find commercial projects but for someone who doesn't have an agent yet and wants to do commerical photography how do you aquire clients? Where do you look? I don't know if you can include day rates + licensing fees on platforms like Fiverr 🤔

[@imranmazar7558]

This is just what i needed..thanks scott

[@roobie225]

thanks for this video, helped me a lot!

[@PhotoCameraTech]

Hi Scott, thanks for the video; very interesting. I was a bit surprised that that you said (at 4:00) that you would take rental costs out of your day rate. I have usually charged these as extra costs unless it's something really basic that I really should have. Not saying you're wrong by any means, each person does things their own way. BTW I also currently shoot food as well as still life and portraits, so I will be taking your advice to narrow down my focus mainly onto food, which I really enjoy doing.

[@customasmrbyx]

On an unrelated note, you look like you could be the model as well 😂 how is your photography business going now?

[@GradeZfilm]

The original negotiated fee would normally include the following as industry-standard practice: 1 Year UK use or any single country plus any two media (a third media may be included depending on its proportion of the media spend), or; 2 Years UK use or any single country plus any one media. If I read this correctly. Does that mean if a company would only want pictures for their website you cannot get additional usage fees? Thank you for that video it is very informative.

[@lindseymiranda7742]

Loved this, even though I am nowhere near being able to charge that per image it helped me think about how I might scale it down for some small town clients that want to know how much I would charge for commercial usage per photo. I had never done it this way so it is nice to see how it Can be done (and hopefully will be in the future) and how I might scale it down to my present experience and clients. Also curious, do you use a food stylist or do you style your own food most of the time?

[@FoyersPhotography]

thanks, Scott, very useful

[@Call_Me_Mom]

Thank you.

[@benduncan3865]

Great video, how did you begin working with an agent ? Word of mouth from other pro’s ?

[@derekbilderoy7162]

You are inspiring, however I am struggling to get even 100 for a day's work 😢 It is not easy at all, I wish I'd have found your channel sooner. It would have saved me a lot of work. I did lots of tfp shoots of models to build my portfolio and it's got me zero paid work. Very disappointed. I am hoping to go into corporate next and advertising, and I will bump up my day rate as you advised. Many thanks for sharing such valuable wisdom with us.

[@anima6035]

Derek I've never seen your work so no offense meant but always be learning and improving, be so good they will be begging you to work for them x

[@stevekdigitalworx]

Do you ever do a per image rate instead of a day rate? And how does the day rate even work in negotiating your time? What if the client wants 20 images, and wants all of them shot in a day? Do you tell them "no, it'll take X amount of days, at my day rate" or "Ok, but it'll be an up-charge of X amount of money" And does your day rate include all the time you spend post-processing? Sorry for all the questions; I'm really that new. If I doubled my rate from my current, I'd still be at zero (0 x anything = 0) ;)

[@stevekdigitalworx]

@@TinHouseStudioUK yes sir! Thank you for your time and your great content

[@tomaskasparoff]

@@TinHouseStudioUK What about post processing as Stephen Krieger asked? Does your rate include all time you spend on post processing?

[@OtocinclusAffinis]

How do I calculate the usage if the photoshoot last multiple days. Do I add up day rate for all the days or do something like 5-10% day rate BUR per image?

[@charleskusi7791]

Really, thank you 🙏🏾

[@classicintelphotography3322]

Thank you for this video

[@chrisfrancis18]

Great videos very useful.

[@karenbengall]

Interesting watch Scott, thank you. How do you find it using an agent? Presumably worth it.

[@ShoutAtMeElmo]

went through this calculator with a client who just didnt want to believe licensing is a thing (weird enough). we are not working together anymore.

[@Splashphotoshoots]

I have a question to you , how i can find agent ,that can help me with negociacion ?

[@jsavak99]

I shot an influencer that wants to use the photos i took of her for an art exhibit. Do art exhibits make money ? What should i charge her ?

[@matrixphotodesign]

Hi Great Video got me thinking , have a question do you or would you charge for editing work separately and would you consider editing and PS work differently

[@gemini2261]

Great tips 👍🏽

[@A1Bokeh]

I do more video I'm very new Your photos are amazing

[@Alex-hongry]

“Seems like money for old rope, but I’m listening” 😂😅👌

[@DynastyUK]

Okay, So I know you deal only with specialists, but say a very new business wants to hire you to shoot an ad for their website. but they don't have any idea how long this ad is for. They want to run it for as long as they want. how do you price that in on the AOP?

[@SalimAdamcom]

Hi Scott - I thought BUR was 5-10% of your date rate, not the full day rate fee? Hope you can help buddy!

[@JasonSaylor]

Where did you find that calculator

[@matrixphotodesign]

Quick question . Do you get a deposit before you start a Job ?

[@SergioCuen]

Love the content!

[@capertureimagery6604]

How does one get an agent if you're not specialising? What steps do need to take to get one under such circumstances?

[@TinHouseStudioUK]

You don't. Agents will only sign specialists. You would usually set up a studio with a team inhouse for those wanting to do more than one thing in a genre.

[@capertureimagery6604]

Thanks Scott, loving the channel by the way - I'm probably your key demographic!

[@Incacal71]

How may image are you delivering for this quote?

[@g-lurk]

by the looks of your office i say you probably aren't charging enough. but i'll watch the video now and report back

[@matrixphotodesign]

Hi Scott , Do you have two day rates ? One for in studio and one for ( Local ) location ?

[@TinHouseStudioUK]

hey. Kind of. My fee remains the same, but I charge a half day if I travel the day before. Otherwise its just costs if I am driving somewhere that day to shoot.

[@matrixphotodesign]

@@TinHouseStudioUK Thanks for the answer , Cheers !!!

[@imranmazar7558]

This is just what i needed..thanks scott