How much does dance photography cost? Well, isn’t that the million-dollar question? I get this asked all the time, I mean, literally, that question, although most of the time it’s “how much for a shoot?” The trouble is, there isn’t one answer. It’s a bit ‘how long is a piece of string’, so, I thought I would give a more comprehensive reply.
Every shoot is different, every dancer is unique and each has specific requirements. Some are after new headshots for auditions; some want a nice set of location images to share on social media. A dance school may want images for their website, or I may be required to set up a mobile studio at a competition. With this in mind, I have, until now, avoided setting out ‘packages’, as I believed they may seem a little restrictive. However, I understand that it’s good to at least have a baseline figure to start with, so everyone knows what we are working with.
My pricing is worked out, according to time, post-processing and travel.
Am I the most expensive? – No! One of the benefits of having a (very) northern-based photographer is that there are no crazy London prices, and I only charge travel if the location is more than a certain distance away – bonus!
Ah…. but, Am I the cheapest?? – also No!! (sorry he he) The most valuable thing I offer is time, and I am not in it to make a quick buck, so to speak. I could easily fill up ten slots a day and charge next to nothing, but the compromise would be time, individuality and quality. In order to do so many, I would need to be in a single location, have one lighting set up and offer each dancer the same thing. That isn’t the business model I use. Every single shoot is lit, and this is why we never rely on it being ‘a nice sunny day’. We can also make day look like night if that’s what we are after. The lighting takes time and consideration, so it does cost a bit more. But hey…. nobody takes the cheapest parachute, right???
But…. do I offer value for money? I absolutely believe I do 🙂
Example 1
This half-day shoot with the very talented Jessica had two locations, three different lighting setups and a costume change (There was also me nearly falling over a few times and some decent sunburn because I forgot to use sunscreen, but I don’t charge for the extra entertainment).
Location one, lighting set up one, costume one. With the glorious Cumbria landscape in the background.
Location two, lighting set up two. On the beach in the water with the sun behind. This was a more challenging lighting set up, done specifically for this shot.
Location two, lighting set up three, costume two! Making shapes on the beach with the sun behind me.
Example 2
This 2-hour portfolio shoot for performer Martins took place in a studio setting and was to highlight his skills and physique. One lighting set up with various tweaks, three costume changes (if you count removing a shirt as a costume change?) Four and five if you count changing hats.
Guideline prices are set out below, feel free to send me a message on any of my social media platforms, or via the website. If your question is “do you do weddings?” that’s a whole other blog…
Recent Comments