How I went from charging $1,500 to $13,000 for my product photography services.
For many product photographers, the most popular question behind “what kind of camera do you use?”, is “how do you price your product photography services?”.
There is no one way to price your photography services; however, I try to answer the question in this blog post.
When I first launched my product photography business in 2016, I had only an iPhone, 2 soft lights, some ingenuity and audacity. I share the story in this video.
Eventually I realized quickly I was on to something and decided to build out the systems + structure needed to grow a successful & sustainable product photography business.
Fast Forward, I’ve successfully hit the “coveted” 6 figure revenue. What’s crazier, I saw my first 6 figure year during the first year of the panini (my word for the pandemic, let me have this LOL).
A lot of people desire to make their creative passions the source of their income + livelihood. I committed to this dream whole-heartedly in 2018/2019 and I haven’t looked back since.
But what I find is people tend to make it more difficult than it truly needs to be. While I do believe there are many paths to success, there are certain business behaviors that reap the rewards that many of us seek: financial comfort, accelerated growth and confidence.
I’m going to share the 7 behaviors/practices I had to exhibit/develop in order to grow my business + increase my product photography rates. While this is not an exhaustive list, I’ve narrowed them down to the behaviors I consistently found to give me the biggest jump + success in my business (and life).
Fair warning: This is quite a lengthy post and I thank you in advance for reading!
I stopped offering all the services and focused on one thing. When I first launched my business, I was offering several services: social media management, photography (product & lifestyle branding) & website design. At the onset, a huge percentage of my income came from social media management. While I enjoyed social media I didn’t enjoy offering it as a service or having to keep up with all of the trends & unpredictability of social media (ahem Instagram). The same for website design. Although I could do it, I was not willing to invest the time in learning more about CSS, among other things. When I thought about how product photography allowed me to play with my strengths: styling and creativity, I felt more inspired to continue learning more about how to constantly get better. Moreover, I knew then product photography would answer a need in the industry. There was a demand and I was ready to supply it. I realized more people were launching products, but lacked the imagery that was a true reflection of their brand. I stopped talking about social media management + website design, immediately. There was no “weening” time. I simply stopped talking about it and focused my time + energy talking about ONE THING: product photography. People feel like they need to always justify or explain why they stopped offering a service or talking about it on social media. Aside from your existing clients, you don’t really owe an explanation to anyone. It’s your business and you have to take ownership + do what’s right for you. Pivot at any time. When I started talking only about product photography I noticed 2 things immediately: It was easier to show up online because I didn’t have to divert my attention across many things and I started being recognized for product photography. I was being recommended for jobs simply because I made it easier for people to understand what it is I offered and I kept talking about it, constantly.
I focused on providing a premium customer experience + creating intentional offers.
I’m a tinkerer. I love to tinker, but not too much. I knew at the onset of offering product photography, that I didn’t want to offer piece-meal or a la cart services. I didn’t want to constantly trade time for money. I decided to create packages vs having a price per image. For me, it just made more sense to focus on providing a full experience to justify a higher price point than to stress myself wondering how I would make $1,000/month charging $25/image. The math just wasn’t mathing for me. I kept the number of offers to 3 or less to eliminate the overwhelm for prospects and I followed that format through the middle of 2020 (we’ll get to that in a minute). Speaking to my clients, what they truly appreciated was the experience working with a creative that was organized + streamlined. Organization is my secret power. That’s why a considerable percentage of my clientele is return clients. I focused on tweaking + updating the customer experience throughout the entire process. I improved the onboarding process, I added a project management system and created a space where we could communicate in one place instead of losing messages in emails, among other things. A lot of people will miss this. People think people will stick with them ONLY because their images are amazing and yes that’s true. But how do you want your clients to feel? How do you want to feel? I love to control as much as I can and clients appreciate someone who can smoothly manage the flow of the relationship, even if it’s using 1 or 2 programs. Some of my clients have become my close friends (not a requirement) simply because of how we made each other feel. I realized & understood that I was being hired for the total experience, not just the final result. I responded in kind with providing packages at higher price points.
I managed my expectations, reviewed my own goals and left room for growth. Honestly, I can stop at 1 + 2 and you would immediately see a difference in your business, but I digress. When I first launched my product photography business, I didn’t come out of the gate expecting to make $100,000 in product photography, let alone even $50,000. My gosh I remember when I made $50,000 an annual revenue goal. I was a wreck! I knew that while I would EVENTUALLY hit my revenue milestones, I would work towards them by being the best that I can be at every level I operated at. The year (2019) I made $48,000 I did 40 photo shoots. From what I remember my average rate per shoot was $1,500 - $2,000. The year prior (2018) I made about $28,000. The major jump in growth came from doing 1 and 2. But I did the best that I could with the tools I had access to and when I was ready AND open to learn more photography tips I went looking for it. *I think it is fair to say that it’s hard to see what’s possible when you lack examples. To be honest, NO ONE was really talking about money and how to make it in product photography that looked like me. But what inspired me was reading photography pricing articles on Google AND seeing that there were Black women earning a lot of money doing creative things… think about celebrities, actresses or even early info-preneurs, creative entrepreneurs in other spaces who earn hundreds of thousands, even millions doing what they love. That was inspiration to let me know earning more money was possible, even if I didn’t see an exact example at the time. I’m also bold. You’re not going to tell me I can’t do something. This is my life. I don’t give a f*ck what someone says I can’t do… that’s on them.
Practice, Practice, Practice. Any craft or career you pursue requires study and dedication. That’s why it’s so important to have an honest conversation about what you’re willing to invest the next 3-5 years of your time to. While intimidating, I knew photography was something I wanted to continue pursuing. But I didn’t stress myself out thinking I need to learn all of the skills at one time. With each thing you learn, it takes time to get to a level of comfort. At one point I was intimidated by off camera flash. When I realized the look I wanted to achieve was beyond my reach with only natural light, I asked someone to teach me everything they knew about off camera flash + strobes. I then practiced and used those new skills with new projects. Along the way, when it came to particular techniques, I did invest in a few courses and mainly YouTube. Eventually I recognized there was a particular lighting style I wanted to really hone in on and I’ve been creating work in that particular style. But this was a revelation I recognized 5 years in. So many people beat themselves up about not being “the best” and not having the “right” gear & thinking that’s why it’s not working… Friend, it’s probably not working because of reasons 1, 2 or 3. Not because of your skill level. Photography is a career that I’ve had to extend myself grace in.
I’m transitioning myself out of doing all the work. I knew this was coming. When I originally launched Darden Creative, the breakdown was: I’m the Creative Director/Stylist & I’d always hire a photographer. But that didn’t last long and I found myself doing all of the roles. I’m not mad at it, because it gave me more gumption to charge more when the time came & I knew what I needed from each role! But eventually I started to experience serious burnout and resentment. I was becoming tired of doing it all. Plus I found myself wasting time doing functions that I could outsource and gain some of my time back. Sure I can edit these 30 images… but I bet I can find someone who can do this in a faster time and I can still hit my client’s deadline. I remember when I shared that I outsourced some of my editing and some folks wanted to tussle LMAO. I saw the bigger picture: gaining some of my time back and eventually transitioning back to a true agency model. When I’m only focusing on 2 roles vs let’s say 17, I don’t feel extremely burned out by the end of the day. I feel more capable executing on a project and having more space for thought, because I’m not executing every role. I knew I would continue doing photography (for now) and opted to look at other functions, like product styling (the role I started doing in the very beginning). Finding people who you mesh with takes patience and a lot of trial & error. Hiring and outsourcing requires giving yourself grace. Contractors, Employee, Interns? It’s all a lot. Think about which functions if removed would allow you to remain in your zone of genius and remove from your list slowly that way.
I needed to reposition my business, change the messaging and speak to a new clientele. This could be 3 separate notes but in the spirit of some “brevity” here is one of the last things I did. What a lot of people tend to forget about a creative endeavor is that when you’re beginning to get money in exchange for services, you now have a business. This means, you need to treat your creative endeavor as such. You cannot keep saying “I love what I do so much I’d do it for free.” No, no you won’t when the rent is due and you’re burned out. Let’s all keep it funky. If I wasn’t getting paid for what I do right now after investing 5 years of my life, I’d be highly upset and a borderline glutton for punishment. I was really fortunate that a lot of my interest and strong skill sets can be applied to product photography. Nevertheless, I realized in the middle of 2020, my clientele began to change. The reasons they were reaching out to me for product photography, were not for the same reasons when I originally started. They were in a different phase in their business and also in different functions. I was being pursued by small business owners who had 6 figure revenues, PR agencies, Business Executives , Magazine Creative Directors and Photo Editors. And the companies they represented had big budgets. I mean money bags LOL! I was noticing a shift and I needed to make a choice: Do I elevate and tweak a few things to respond to the shift of being recognized for my talent by those I’ve aspired to create for? OR stay the same, because I don’t want to “leave a few businesses behind?” Based on the title of this post, I did the former. It didn’t require that much change. I simply started using copy and messaging that I would hear my new client base say. I showed up on my social media channels differently. I made sure my website showed the growth & messaging to attract the new clientele. The systems + structures were already created, I just need to show up in the new market. I realized I’d outgrown my original market. There is certainly grief there. A lot of people will have the knowledge (or intuition) that they’re outgrown certain things, but will continue to still do it because of their fear of disapproving other people. This only leads to more resentment and not doing what they were MADE TO DO. You can’t take everyone with you when you’re growing. People will find other photographers who will be able to fit their needs. Hey, you may even be able to recommend some really great people. But just because something is scary, doesn’t mean it’s impossible and cannot be done. Do it with one eye open if you must. I’m saying this to myself just as much as you.
I listened to myself first and foremost before anyone else. I recently saw an IG post from The Nap Ministry that said “Stop asking so many questions of others. Interview yourself.” AND THAT HIT! Because a lot of the decisions I’ve made in my career have been decisions that I’ve had from having conversations with MYSELF. I do understand the importance having a strong peer group. I also find valuable following other people outside of your industry to observe how they operate and find synergy that way. But at the end of the day, if the shit doesn’t feel good to me, I gotta let that shit go. We’ve become so accustomed to asking strangers on the internet what we think feels good or what we should do or how we should do things, that we forget we are fully formed humans with our own thoughts and systems. No shade. For example, if I don’t want to do reels, I’m not going to ask you if you want to see reels from me! If I don’t want to offer coaching anymore, I’m not going to ask if you want me to offer coaching. There will always be someone who will say YES, but what does your body + heart say? That’s what matters. **If you have issues trusting yourself, this is a great opportunity to advocate for therapy or guidance. I’ve invested in this practice since I was 28 years old and it’s been extremely helpful in filtering out the noise and fear and listening + trusting my instincts.
If you’ve made it to this point I want to say thank you! I was inspired to share this post because well, not enough Black women in photography talk about money ENOUGH. It’s tough to see if it’s possible for you, when there isn’t anyone talking about it. I understand representation matters and I’m open and willing to answer that call in a way that feels good to me & you in blog form. Plus I don’t want to keep up with social media! 😂😂😂
What I’d love from you, if you’re cool with it…
If you’ve finished reading, I’d love to hear your thoughts on which piece of advice resonated with you the most. You can simply take a screenshot of this article and tag me on Instagram @tamera.darden. I love talking to people via DMs and I see every single one.
Until Next Time,
Tamera