How Much do Photographers Cost? Industry Price Guide [2022]

Everyone can take a photo. But not everyone is a photographer.

You might have an Instagram feed full of gorgeous pictures snapped on your trusty iPhone, but we get the feeling you’re looking for something a little more polished for your upcoming shoot, campaign, or event – and we don’t blame you.

Humans are visual creatures. Seriously visual creatures. 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual and visuals are processed 60,000x faster in the brain than text (which means we probably should have turned this blog into an infographic…ah well).

For those reasons (and plenty more), hiring a photographer is one of the most important tasks on your to-do list. But that’s a challenge because there’s no ‘one size fits all’ cost for hiring a photographer. With so many variables involved it’s easy to overpay and end up massively out of pocket. Or, underpay and end up with blurry, amateur snaps that look like they’ve come straight from a MySpace feed circa 2007.

Throw in a wide range of photography types, retouching services, and confusing usage rights and it’s no wonder so many brands and individuals struggle to figure out how much photographers cost when hiring the best shutterbugs.

That’s where we can help. With a platform offering the best photographers in Australia (and internationally), we know a thing or two about affordable photography hire. Read on to learn everything you need to know to book a top photographer at a price that works for you.

First thing’s first, what type of photographer do you need?

This is the first question you’ll need to answer when determining your budget.

For example, a wedding photographer will charge a different rate than a photographer specialising in branded flay lay content. Just as an event-hire photographer will have different rates than a corporate headshot photographer.

Unfortunately, there are no industry averages to go off so it’s not as simple as Googling “how much should I pay a freelance photographer” and setting aside that amount.

To help you with a rough estimate, check out some of the example rates below for the most common photography skill sets.