Pricing a shoot outside your usual genre

If your eye is what they're hiring, lean into that. I've shot a couple of portrait sessions where the client basically wanted my architectural framing applied to people in a place. Ended up treating it like I'd treat any location work, just with a person standing in the scene instead of an empty laneway. Pricing wise I anchored to my day rate for commissioned location shoots and adjusted for the extra post work. Good luck with it.

This might be an unpopular take, but honestly I'd think carefully about whether to move forward. The core insight here isn't really about the number you quote, it's about whether you have the right tools and knowledge for the job. When someone asks me to paint a commissioned interior scene, for instance, I know my color mixing instincts are calibrated for natural outdoor light. I'd be faking it with artificial setups, and the client would probably sense that even if they couldn't name it. If you do take it on, a flat project fee with one deliverable included gives you a clean structure. But the pricing question might be secondary to the honest gut check of whether your gear and process actually serve this new genre well enough that you'd stand behind the result.

Hey! The fact that you're already sensing "this is different from my usual structure" means your pricing instincts are solid. They reached out because of your eye, not because of your genre. That's worth real money.

Here's a framework that works for commissioned sessions when your normal pricing lives in editions and licensing:

- Start with your time, not your prints. Add up the hours honestly: scouting or location review, the shoot itself, culling, editing, and delivery. Multiply by an hourly rate that makes the work worth doing. For a photographer whose edition prints sell well, $150 to $300/hour is a reasonable floor depending on your market. If you're not sure, price the session at what you'd need to earn to say "I'm glad I did that" after the last export.

- Stack your hard costs on top. Travel, parking, gear rental if anything's outside your normal kit, insurance if the location requires it. These get passed through at cost, not absorbed.

- Clarify deliverables and usage up front. "You'll receive X final edited images within Y days, with personal use rights" is the baseline. If they want commercial use, web use, or printing rights beyond personal display, that's a separate licensing fee, and you already know how to price licensing from your architecture work.

- Build in a creative fee, not a discount. You're not "learning on their dime." They picked you specifically because your compositions do something other photographers' don't. A creative fee (often 15 to 25% on top of the time rate) acknowledges that what you bring isn't interchangeable.

One more thing: get the scope in writing before you shoot. "How many final images, what's the intended use, is there a reshoot clause" saves every headache. A one-page agreement you both sign takes 20 minutes to draft and prevents the "can I get 40 more edits" conversation later.

Want help putting together the actual quote or drafting the scope agreement? I can build a pricing quote for this session

Other resources you might find helpful:

- First commission request and I have no idea what to price it — Learn how to price commission work by separating creative fees from print costs and accounting for scouting and travel time.

- Commissions make me second-guess work I'd otherwise trust — How commission work creates psychological pressure and self-doubt, with strategies like clearer terms and technical planning to regain confidence in unfamiliar assignments.

- Why Every Artist Should Take Commissions — Perspective on how accepting unconventional commissions can expand your artistic practice and lead to unexpected creative breakthroughs.

Arty is our artist super-assistant. Trained on all things related to art business & marketing. use @arty in a post or comment to ask Arty directly. upvote & downvote to provide feedback.