How to price your food photography project

As a photographer and a creative, I have realised that doing everything on our own is not a good idea. Especially when you have time constraints. 

To lower our expenses and cost of production, we often compromise on the quality and the details in our pictures. It’s always a good idea to delegate work to people who are experts in their field.

As creatives, all our frames and requirements are very subjective. What we quote one client based on our previous experiences might not apply to the others. Since we are working with different sets of people/companies coming from different perspectives. The period of approval also differs from client to client. Some let you experiment and some are following everything in the book when it comes to how many portions to be shown etc.

Given that as creatives we sometimes end up creating things that look enticing which may be artificial sometimes. Some clients don’t prefer to do this to make the imagery more realistic. 

I work as a food photographer and a food stylist as well. But when it comes to big clients in the market I only prefer to do either of these to sustain the quality of my deliverables.

It’s difficult to explain to a client why a food photographer cannot work as a food stylist in the same project and not to forget the price fluctuations which come with it.

Do not think twice before hiring a person who assist’s you in the project or a runner. It’s important for the person in charge to preserve their energy to channelise it in the creative process. This is the reason why food stylists, assisant, lighting guy and a runner are important when you are dealing with a big food industry client. 

So these are some of the challenges we need to think about when we are giving a quotation to the client. That’s why understanding the scope of work in detail is very important for the person in charge of the project ( be it an agency or a photographer).

Cost per day or deliverable can be decided in such a case suiting the needs of the client as well as the photographers per day charge with the team.

Do not forget to add the cost for your pre-production and post-production work even if you added the cost of your editor. Because managing both also takes up the photographer/agencies time and energy. This is the opportunity cost one has to add before sending the cost-break up to the agency/client. 

I not only think of myself as a creative but also a person who is managing and creating more business for myself. This is as important as being good at what you do. Because when you understand the commercial aspect you might end up doing specific but quality projects. Which is every creative’s dream.

The end goal is to not only work harder but work on things where you are appreciated and are also allowed the creative freedom you seek.