What Do Headshots Cost? // Understanding the Costs and Pricing of Headshot Photography

so you need a head shot and your first thought was probably what is this going to cost if you're currently shopping for a headshot maybe you're an actor real estate agent you need it for your business you're self-employed you're an author musician or a lawyer or one of many other professions that might require a headshot stick around for a few minutes because i'm going to talk to you about what headshots cost and why you should expect to probably pay more than you're thinking and why you should actually avoid photographers whose rates seem almost too good to be true my name is kevin patrick robbins i'm a professional photographer i've been at it for about 10 years full-time professional for the last eight and the core of my business is headshots i also used to run a long-form improv theater company in toronto i built a portfolio of headshot photographs photographing the dozens of actors and comedians in my company after i shut down my company in toronto i had this portfolio of headshots so i used that to transition into this career as a professional photographer i personally spent 15 years being someone who needed headshot and i've spent the past 10 photographing people who need headshots so i think it's fair to say that when it comes to headshot photography i know what i'm talking about from the perspective of someone who needs a headshot and the perspective of someone who photographs headshots as a majority of their commercial photography business so let's start with why professional headshots cost what they cost the primary reason is when you hire a professional photographer it's a business and businesses have business expenses for photographers a great deal of our expenses are cameras and lenses they're thousands upon thousands of dollars lighting equipment backdrops studio rentals whether we have our own studio or we have to rent one off every time we do a shoot having your own studio just isn't feasible for everyone i shoot frequently in toronto but i don't live in toronto so it does not make sense for me to maintain a studio in toronto i also don't maintain a studio in the city where i live we have computers for editing images software for processing and editing photos travel expenses gas flights automobiles or automobile maintenance fees for professional associations fees for business services accountants bookkeepers lawyers etc and another important expense is insurance basically any type of service your typical business might have as an expense we also have because as professional photographers we are running a business now beyond the business expenses of running a photography business we also need to make an income this is this is our livelihood so we have to make enough income after expenses to be able to live off of to pay our rent to pay our mortgage food family care health care if you live in the us pets basically any expense that any typical average person might have we have to cover those expenses in order to make a living doing what we do now if you're in the market for headshots i suspect you probably already know all this people who tend to be in the market for headshots are people who are entrepreneurs who are self-employed are independent contractors people who they themselves are running a business that is typically about them so what else are you paying for primarily you're paying for my experience as a professional photographer if you're a business professional a professional photographer will ask you what your brand requirements are and they will know how to shoot to your brand requirements if a photographer doesn't know how to shoot to your brand requirements or tries to convince you that you should get something other than what your brand demands steer clear for actors does a photographer understand what casting directors need what producers need what directors need do they understand the market the function they need to serve in toronto is very different than the function that headshots need to serve in los angeles and very different point the needs are in new york london melbourne sydney cape town wherever you are the requirements of industry in that city are very different your photographer needs to know the market and isn't just shooting based on their own limitations you're also paying for a specific quality of work a minimal base quality of work can they produce a high standard of work consistently every single time if you take a look at their portfolio it should be consistent and you should be able to look at it and say this person is going to make me look amazing you're also paying for their ability to work with you a lot of people quite frankly just are not good at communicating with their subjects and that makes images look stiff can the photographer build a report and a great way to find this out is to get them on the phone talk to them when you pay for a professional you're also paying for professional levels of communication and service how well do they communicate with you throughout the process preparing for your session leading up to it after the session when you're selecting your images when they're delivering your images now when all of this one thing you may have noticed is that i have not mentioned time you're not paying for a photographer's time you're not paying for my time you're paying for my experience my expertise and my ability to execute and deliver whether it takes an hour two hours five hours two minutes five minutes 10 minutes you're gonna get a consistent result if you're with me for 30 seconds and that's all the time you have you're going to get a great head shot the only thing that you're going to get out of that extra time is a lot more options everything's going to look great you're just gonna have more images to choose from so when it comes to price time should never be considered a factor in your decision making process how long is your session well this photographer's session is only 15 minutes but this photographer's session is the same and is offering an hour it doesn't matter more time does not equal better quality better quality comes from knowledge and experience so given everything that i've already mentioned you probably already understand why you should be very wary of a photographer who's only charging 150 200 250 300 here in 2021 which it is the summer of 2021 right now you should be wary of any professional photographer who is charging less than 400 for your head headshots and that's not someone who probably has the experience to know that they need to charge more people who've been doing this long enough know that they have to charge more in order to make a living less experienced photographers will often charge lower prices because they want to get the business and build up a portfolio that's fine people do that all the time there's nothing wrong with it you are getting what you pay for but i do want to highlight a few red flags that you should look out for and the first thing that i would put at the top of that list is portfolio if you are looking at a photographer in their portfolio their website first of all it should have a dedicated headshots section on their website you should be able to clearly see that this is what this photographer does if they do other work that's fine often photographers have to shoot a lot of genres in order to make a living so check the portfolio to make sure that they do this kind of work and it's not just portraits you want to find someone who specializes in headshots so that they can give you exactly what you need secondly professionals have insurance and they care about your safety and their safety and the safety of everyone who's on set who's in the studio you want to find out are they properly insured does your business if that photographer is coming in to your business location does your business require them to have not only carry liability insurance that your business is considered an additional insured and can they get a certificate for that if they're not properly insured that is a big red flag i would argue that a photographer who is not properly insured with business insurance with liability insurance they're not someone who is operating a professional business at a professional level every professional service should have insurance should have their own business insurance that is something that you're paying for a level of professionalism whether or not they're insured is a very simple way to determine whether or not this is someone that you should be working with another red flag would be are they stubborn about their style this goes back to can they execute your brand requirements or have they just figured out and learned taken a workshop and learned one specific way to light and one specific way to shoot headshots or are they experienced enough and flexible enough to be able to shoot whatever your brand requirements demand inexperienced photographers will stick to the looks and the lighting that they know if a photographer is trying to convince you that you should take the photos the way that they do it and they're trying to explain to you why their way is better than what your brand requirements are don't use them professional photographers are versatile enough and experienced enough to be able to give you the images you need the next red flag would be price you know are they cheap and if they're cheap that's typically someone who's inexperienced if the money doesn't matter to them they're not a professional professionals run businesses and money is important money is what pays our business expenses and our salaries so what should you do if you only have 200 in your budget i get it i've been there that's fine just be aware that quality experience and price tend to walk on the same side of the street for me to rent a studio in toronto for two hours is 150 plus hst 200 i'm losing money if you as a professional are serious about your image and your work and you value your work as a professional and you price your work according to your value why would you expect anything less from any professional that you hire whether it's an accountant a lawyer or a photographer your headshot is going to be the primary marketing image for you on all of your marketing materials on linkedin on casting workbook on all your socials your business card beside every single mls listing there's your photo why wouldn't you hire a professional to make you look professional professionals hire professionals if you're a professional photographer please consider subscribing to this channel for more videos like this but if you found value in this video at all please give it a thumbs up i really really would appreciate it it helps me out a lot and it also helps youtube know that this is the type of video that you want to see in the meantime please check out this video right here i think you'll find it very helpful you