How much does corporate photography cost in Manchester?

The obvious answer is, it depends.

While these is typically a way of avoiding putting a specific cost on to a project, sometimes in order to gauge the budget of a client first, it is also true.

Many different factors affect how much a particular project may cost, my approach is to first understand exactly what the brief is and then cost each element of the project accordingly. This means we can plan around budget and needs, either cutting unnecessary services or simply scheduling to suit when they’re needed. This can help make the total cost more manageable over time by prioritising what will give the most return.

Essentially, the cost comes down to how much time is required, potential additional costs like the need for studio time, specialist equipment or additional support like assistants and models.

However, all my quotes on begin with a very simple principle, cost per hour which at the time of writing is £150 for the first hour and £100 per hour after that.

Ok, so what about the cost of event photography?

Most corporate clients come to me looking for event photography, this service is very easy to cost as it’s very much a time-based service.

A typical request is often an early evening event such as an awards or celebration. This is usual in the region of 6 hours starting at 6pm through to 12pm.

Our conversation normally focuses on when photography is actually needed and my suggestion is often to start a little late and end a little earlier than the scheduled hours. This accounts for people typically not being there for the very beginning and also for the fact we aren’t there to photograph the ‘party’ people how stay until the very end.

That normally means 4 hours of photography with £150 for the first hour and £100 per hour for the remaining three hours, totalling £450 all inclusive, the same as my half day rate. I’ll talk later about how my standard rate was decided upon.

As our relationship progresses my corporate clients then start to think about how we can work together on other aspects of their business such as headshot and architectural photography.

What about the other services you offer?

Services such as Architectural photography are much more subjective in terms of the time they take to complete. However, with a little discussion and possibly a site visit, I’m able to offer a solid estimate on time needed based on past experience. A rough rule of thumb is 30 mins per ‘room’ or ‘space’ as often large office will be divided open-plans. A typical City centre office therefore being between ½ to a full days work.

What about the cost of headshots for my team?

Headshots, are priced on a per head basis with a minimum on site charge.

The reason for this approach is to account for the time savings of the repetitive process of photographing many headshots in a row, contrasted against the increased amount of time in editing that comes with offering high quality outputs.

There are also different approaches to delivering on site which can affect price. If your office allows, I can be right there on-site to work with your team which reduces opportunity cost and increase my efficiency. Equally, the minimum charge is there to account for my time on site when teams aren’t organised and well and either miss or delay there scheduled time slots. Also, the quantity of guaranteed images can shift the cost, if your planning a free for all at an event it may be slightly cheaper than, for example, a more directed and creative branding session.

In terms of costing, I typically estimate a per head cost between £30 and £50 per head depending on team size and location.

What about other types of services such as brand photography?

Brand photography is where we start to get very subjective, costing for these types of shoots starts to get more complicated as there is a significant times investment into planning and organising alongside an increase in editing the imagery to suit.

My typical approach to this work is to estimate between £650 to £1000 for a typical brand photography session. This can include a mix of services such as portraits and architectural photography and is best discussed in a pre-shoot recce.

What about additional costs such as equipment and studio etc?

These costs are very much on a case by case basis. I have an extensive selection of equipment specifically chosen for its usability and adaptability. This means equipment hire is very rare. However, whenever I do need to hire equipment I will highlight that in our discussions and cost that out as a line item in the quote.

My most frequent cost has been for the hire of specialist lenses which are typically in the region of £50 per day. Studio hire is typically around £150 - £300 per day depending on location and size.

Another potential costs could be a photo assistant, not only do they help me deliver on more complex briefs, such as large events needing more coverage or branding shoots where multiple lights and props are in play, assistants also increase time efficiency by reducing setup and tear down times, and facilitate mid-session image reviewing. In other words what is spent on assistant time is usually offset by savings on overall time spent photographing. Typically, an assistant will be charged at £50 per hour.

Why are you more expensive than X or Y photographer?

Setting my rates has always been a balance between the subjective opinion of the quality of my work, my past experience and the current market value.

Many early career photographers, including myself previously, under-rate themselves to compete on price.

At the time of writing I’ve been self-employed for just under 8 years, I have a BA and MA in photography and have been recognised in industry leading national galleries and publications.

While those qualifications in themselves don’t justify a certain rate, my history of working with national and international corporates and NGOs shows that I have become trusted to deliver on what I offer.

However, I also continuously check the local market to ensure that I base my rates around the upper mid-range of the average photographer cost in the Gt Manchester region.

My philosophy is, if I my set my rates at a point where I am able to freely adjust my time on site with out having to overthink whether an extra 20 minutes will mean I lose out, or I can easily say to a client that I can reduce the cost to reflect the time saved, whilst also knowing I’m able to use the best equipment, dedicate an appropriate time to managing the work and editing the images and offer a reliable, consistent and professional service to standard that I am proud of, and with the security to know that I will still be around next year, then I am most likely in the correct range.

This approach takes into account, sick days, holidays and slow times, it account for needing to replace equipment as it ages, keeping long term secure backups of my work and providing a long-term, consistent and reliable service for my clients.

But why those specific costs?

To give you a rough the break-down of where that £150 first hour charge goes…

This cost is all inclusive, travel, parking, wear and tear on equipment, income tax, NI contributions, pension contributions, editing time, briefing time, PR, advertising and all those interesting and fun jobs that go along with being self-employed.

Editing time, for example, averages out at about 1 hour per 1 hour, and my average parking/travel charge is £10.

If you were so inclined, you could easily work out my actual maximum earning potential if you accounted for holidays and sickness potential and time spent networking etc. Hopefully, you’ll agree that it works out to be a perfectly reasonable charge when considering the whole picture.

I also hope it shows how those charging significantly under this approximate range of rates would struggle to make the business case make sense.

Just give me the TLDR on cost?

Ok so you just want the headline info on the cost of corporate photography in Manchester?

I’ve spent ten year sin this industry now with 8 years being fully self-employed. I have a BA and MA in photography and worked with national and international brands on a broad selection of photography services.

I regularly compare myself to competitors across the region and based on the needs of the business, long term security and the consistency, quality and reliability of my services I set my rates in the upper mid-range.

That means all my costs are calculated based on a starting rate of £150 for the first hour and £100 per hour after that. With select services being more bespoke.

If that sounds reasonable to you and you like the look of my work get I touch below and we can chat over your needs!