How to Raise Your Photography Prices with Confidence (Even if You’re Scared)
The Work Between – Episode 7
Raising your prices as a photographer can feel terrifying. You second-guess yourself. You wonder if clients will disappear. You worry your work “isn’t worth that much.”
But here’s the truth: waiting until you feel confident is often what keeps photographers stuck, overworked, and underpaid.
In Episode 7 of The Work Between, we’re walking you through how to raise your photography prices - strategically and sustainably - so you can build a profitable business that actually supports your life.
Confidence Doesn’t Come First
If you're waiting to feel ready before you raise your rates, you’ll wait forever. Confidence isn’t the starting point. It’s what happens after you take action - after you get clear, raise your prices, and back them up with real data. The good news? Pricing confidence isn’t hype. It’s math. It’s boundaries. It’s clarity. And you can build it.
Step 1: Understand Your Value
Photographers do a lot more than press a shutter.
Prepping clients
Answering emails
Location scouting
Shooting, editing, and retouching
Delivering galleries and artwork
Managing timelines and follow-ups
And don’t forget the invisible labor: the emotional energy, the creativity, the empathy, the hours of unseen work.
When you step back and look at the full scope of your service, it becomes much easier to charge appropriately for it.
Step 2: Know Your Numbers
Let’s take the emotion out of pricing and go straight to strategy. Use a Cost of Doing Business (CODB) calculator to see what you actually need to charge to sustain your business and your life.
Here’s a quick example:
You want to pay yourself $100,000/year
Add 33% for taxes = $133,000
Add $40,000/year in expenses = $173,000
You want to shoot 100 sessions/year
$173,000 ÷ 100 = $1,730 per session
If you’re charging $350 per session and only keeping about $120 after taxes and expenses, that’s $12/hour - for 10+ hours of work. You didn’t build a business to earn less than minimum wage.
Step 3: Identify What’s Holding You Back
If your pricing is low, it might not be a math problem - it might be a mindset one.
What’s stopping you?
Fear of losing clients
Doubts about your skill level
Belief that your market “won’t pay that”
Comparing yourself to others charging less
These are common fears - and they’re solvable. But they’re not a reason to stay stuck.
Step 4: Build Pricing Confidence Over Time
Confidence grows as you do. Some ways to start:
Practice saying your prices out loud
Show up consistently online and in your client experience
Celebrate every “yes,” even the nervous ones
Streamline your systems to support a higher-end experience
Track your actual profitability so you can adjust with intention
Action Item for This Week
📝 Download the free Cost of Doing Business calculator (linked in the show notes)
🔍 Fill it out - even if it’s uncomfortable
⏱️ Calculate what you’re actually earning per hour
💡 Decide if you’re okay with that
📈 If not, set a plan to raise your rates and practice saying your new prices out loud
Weekly “Ask Us Anything”
“My family says $700 is too much to charge - how can I confidently charge that?”
In this segment, we unpack how to stop outsourcing your pricing decisions to people who don’t understand your business or your numbers - and how to stand in your value even when it’s questioned.
🎧 Listen to Episode 7: How to Raise Your Photography Prices with Confidence (Even If You’re Scared
📎 Free Resource Mentioned: Download our Cost of Doing Business Calculator in the show notes
💡 Ready to build a profitable photography business with real clarity and confidence?
Start your 7-day free trial inside MOTIV - our business growth system for photographers who are ready to charge what they’re worth.
If this episode helped shift your mindset or gave you a clearer path forward, we’d love for you to share it or leave a review. Your support helps bring these conversations to more creatives building real businesses that work for them.
