How Much Does Branding Photography Cost?

Branding photography can be on the expensive side–an average branding photo session can cost you upwards of $2,000. However, it can help your business stand out from competitors and serve as an excellent marketing channel to boost your overall revenue. 

What Is Branding Photography?

Let’s first clarify the concept of branding photography. What differentiates normal photography from branding photography?

Well, branding photography aims to build your brand and features your:

• Brand colors
• Brand persona
• Leadership team
• Products or services
• Office

It also tries to portray your vision, mission, and work ethic to the world. However, because these three cannot be really objectified, they are not must-haves for branding photography.

If you have an idea about how you can help your audience visualize these aspects of your business, that’s great! But if you don’t know how to represent your mission or work ethic visually, don’t sweat it–that’s where an experienced photographer comes in.

With that said, branding photographs may include headshots, team pictures, product pictures, social media images, blog images, and candid photographs of your workspace and in action.

Check how good photography can help you build your brand.

What Do Branding Photography Costs Look Like?

The following factors affect the pricing of your branding photography:

• Photographer’s expertise: A beginner photographer might charge you less, but an expert that has worked with many different brands before will charge you a  bit more.

• Photographer’s equipment: Some photographers charge by equipment. Expensive gear can mean more costly photos.

• Venue and props: If the photographer is arranging venues for the shoots and props that sync with your brand’s vibe, be prepared to pay extra. Props can also include outfits, which can cost up to $300.

• Number of images: Usually, one photo session means at least twenty finished images. However, the exact count differs from photographer to photographer, and the more images you want, the more you should expect to pay.

• Photo editing: Sometimes, photo editing is costlier than the photography session itself. So, if a photographer is including photo editing in their package, expect to pay more.

• Other services: Other services that may be included in branding photography are short videos, gifs, custom memes, and other visual content. Some photographers also charge for planning the shoot with you or setting up a consultation meeting.

In addition, there are three ways photographers charge for branding photography:

• Hourly rates
• Sessional rates
• Per photo rates

The average hourly rate of a brand photographer is around $250 to $500. Session rates can be around $1,000 or more, with one session usually sixty minutes long. Some photographers also commit to half-days per session.

When it comes to per-photo rates, you can expect to pay $50 to $150 per finished image. This makes the per-photo pricing model the most expensive one. 

Overall, if you want a decent brand photography session that involves high-quality equipment, an expert photographer, photo editing, and at least twenty images, you should expect to pay $1,000 or more. If you include outfits, venue, props, and other services, the price may easily exceed $2,000.

At a glance, this may seem expensive. But if you think about it, it might be a wise investment, because:

• You’ll pay this amount only once (until you rebrand yourself)
• It will bring you more business

Why Is Branding Photography Important?

You might wonder what you can expect from a branding photography session. Why do people spend thousands on branding photography when you can simply use a few stock photos? Well, here are three reasons why branding photography is important:

• It sets up a great first impression, which helps build trust if you’re a new brand.
• It makes your brand more human, which allows your customers to relate to it.
• It gives consistency to your brand image and makes it easier for people to recognize you.

Photographers create brands by adding their unique perception to each image they capture. They can also help you to choose colors and aesthetics or direct you in how to represent your brand, and they may suggest how to improve the representation you’re going after.

More about expectations for your personal brand photography session.

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