Ask most photographers what a session actually costs, and you’ll get some version of “it depends,” “every client is different,” or “let’s hop on a call.” I get why, but I’ve never trusted that dance, so I don’t do it.
Here’s my number, right up front: my clients’ average investment ranges from $2,000 to $3,000. I’m not telling you that to justify it. I’m telling you because you deserve to know it before you spend an evening messaging five different photographers and getting five different versions of “contact me for pricing.”
Why So Many Businesses Hide the Number
Here’s the honest answer: vague pricing gives a business more room to maneuver. If nothing’s stated upfront, nothing has to be defended, and every inquiry becomes a slightly different negotiation depending on who’s asking and how motivated they seem.
I understand the instinct. I just don’t think it serves anyone well, including the business doing it.
Why I Do It Differently
Withholding the number doesn’t make people spend less time thinking about it. It just moves that thinking to a worse place: a text thread with friends trying to guess, or a string of Google searches at 2 a.m., or a slow mental tally of every red flag a vague answer might be hiding.
Telling you the range upfront doesn’t cost me anything except the occasional inquiry from someone who was never going to be a fit. I’m fine with that trade. I’d rather have fewer, better conversations with people who already know what they’re walking into than a full inbox of people I have to talk out of the wrong idea about what this is.
There’s also something simpler going on: this is genuinely how the pricing works. There’s a session fee, and then a separate ordering appointment about three weeks later where you see your images and design the actual artwork you’re bringing home. There’s no hidden second act, no upsell disguised as a “consultation.” Telling you the range upfront is just an accurate description of the experience, not a marketing decision.
This isn’t a quirky personal preference, either. Across the luxury space, the businesses earning long-term trust right now are the ones being upfront about what things cost and why, not the ones playing pricing close to the chest. Vague pricing used to read as exclusive. Increasingly, it just reads as evasive.
Clients, especially the kind who are used to making thoughtful, considered purchases in other parts of their life, have gotten a lot better at spotting the difference between a business that respects their time and one that’s hoping to catch them off guard in a phone call.
What This Means for You
If $2,000 to $3,000 for a customized session and heirloom-quality artwork isn’t the right investment for you right now, I’d rather you know that before you reach out than after we’ve both spent an evening on it. And if it is, you already know what you’re walking into. Our first conversation gets to be about your dog and your home, not about circling a question I could’ve just answered on this page.
That’s the actual value of saying it upfront. Not that the number is small, or that it needs a disclaimer. Just that you get to skip the guessing part entirely and go straight to deciding whether this is right for you. I’d rather earn your trust with a number than win your inquiry with a mystery.
If you’re the kind of person who values knowing what you’re walking into, whether it’s pricing or the process behind it, we’re going to get along quite well. Reach out, and let’s talk about your dog.