What goes on a photography estimate
Photographers mostly quote, and the estimate is for the jobs where the hours are genuinely open — a documentary project, an unscheduled event, commercial work where the shot list is still being argued about. Its job is to put a shape on something the client has not defined yet.
- What is being photographed, as far as it is known
- The hours or days assumed, and the rate
- Pre-production: scouting, planning, casting, permits
- Post-production hours, which clients routinely forget exist
- Deliverables: how many edited images, in what format, by when
- License: what the images may be used for, where, and for how long
- Expenses — travel, assistants, equipment hire — treated separately
The sample line items and example prices this sheet opens with are on the photography invoice template — the same table, which is about the trade rather than about this paper, so it lives in one place rather than on all six. Working out the price itself? The markup calculator turns your cost and markup into the figure to put on the estimate, and shows the margin it leaves.
What you get
A PDF, and a link your customer can open in any browser. Word and Excel versions are not available yet — if a spreadsheet is what you need, this is not yet the tool for it, and saying so is cheaper for both of us than you finding out after typing everything in.
Pick how it looks
Six looks, from a plain classic sheet through a bold top band to a shop ticket, and your initials go on automatically until you upload a logo. See all six.
How to send it
Most customers want the paper on their phone, so the estimate goes out by WhatsApp, text or email, or as a link that needs no app and no account on their side. Or download the PDF to print it or keep it for your own records.
Questions
Why separate shooting time from editing time?
Because the client is only picturing the first one. A day’s shoot is two or three days of selection and editing, and a price that bundles them looks like a very expensive day rather than a reasonable week. Split out, the number explains itself.
What should I say about licensing on an estimate?
Enough to stop it being assumed. Clients generally believe that paying for a photograph buys it outright, and discovering a license at invoice stage feels like a trick. Name the usage — where, how long, what media — and price extensions separately.