One problem when a photographer charges a one-size-fits-all photo fee, (i.e., an hourly fee or a day rate), is that the photographer ends up providing a variety of services to their clients all for the same price.
For example: an editorial customer may require the photographer to use one camera to cover a one-hour press conference. A corporate customer may need the photographer to bring four cases of equipment to produce several studio-quality executive portraits within an allotted one-hour period.
Those two assignments require different equipment, different skills and different talents. So why should both clients pay the same price (i.e., the same hourly fee or day rate)?
Charging by the hour can even penalize the customer.
For example: a certain photo might take one hour to shoot or it might take four hours. Either way, the benefits to the customer are the same. Charging by the hour would mean that the customer pays more for the “slower” photographer yet gains no additional benefits.
Pricing based on photography and usage may be confusing to some customers but it allows the photographer to customize the price to suit each customer’s exact needs.
