One of the most common questions I get is some variation of "how much does a shoot cost?" and I completely understand why people lead with that. You want to know if it's within budget before you invest time in a conversation. I get it.
So here's the actual answer first, and then I'll explain the things that move it.
The Short Answer
| Shoot length | Standard | Local rate |
|---|---|---|
| Two hours | £275 | £220 |
| Half day | £415 | £330 |
| Full day | £690 | £550 |
That covers the shooting, the editing and full commercial usage. The standard rates apply within about 25 miles of Southampton. Go further than that and a distance rate applies, and if there's a substantial train fare or similar involved I'll add that at cost, though I'm not precious about small ones. There are no per-image charges and nothing gets held back for an upsell later.
The 20% discount is for local independent businesses and charities within about 30 miles of Southampton, and honestly, most of the businesses I work with around here pay those rates rather than the standard ones. Supporting the places on my doorstep matters to me, so it's built into the pricing rather than being something you have to ask for.
If you're an individual booking a portrait or a headshot for yourself, rather than for a company, I'll generally just quote you the lower rate as well. You're one person, not a business, and charging you like a business has never sat right with me.
Businesses that trade nationally, wherever they're based, pay the national rate: £385 for a two-hour session, £580 for a half day and £965 for a full day. Worldwide campaign work and weddings are still quoted individually. I'll come back to why weddings are their own thing further down.
What that looks like in practice
Someone who needs headshots of themselves is almost always a two-hour session. One location, we get through a few looks, and that's the job done. £275, or £220 if you're booking as an individual.
A restaurant with around 20 dishes and no drinks to shoot is usually a half day. £415, or £330 for a local independent.
Food, lifestyle and hotel rooms all in one visit, which is what I did for the Mortimer Arms in Romsey, is a full day. £690, or £550 locally.
About the Number of Images
This is the part people seem to be most surprised by, and I'd rather say it here than have it be a nice shock later.
Every shoot comes back as a fully edited gallery. Not a curated ten with the rest sat behind a paywall, not a "select your favourites and we'll edit those" arrangement, just the set. I've had a fair few clients tell me they got considerably more than they expected, particularly compared to other photographers working at a similar level, and that's very much on purpose. If I've spent the day in your venue, you should end up with enough images to actually run your website, your menu and your socials for a good while, not just enough to fill a homepage.
Why I Still Ask Questions Before Quoting
That table gets you most of the way there. The reason I'll still usually come back with a few questions is that the length of the shoot is the thing being priced, and working out the right length is where it gets a bit more complicated.
The Menu Question
A really common example of this is when a restaurant gets in touch and says something like, "Hey, I'd like my menu photographed. How much will it be?" Totally reasonable question on the surface, but I have to come back to them and ask to see the menu first, get an understanding of what sort of products are on it, how they're plated, all of that. Sometimes I don't even get a reply to that follow-up, which is a bit strange to me, but the reason I'm asking is because the type of food makes a massive difference to how long the shoot takes.
Take a burger, for example. A burger takes considerably longer to photograph than a plate of Italian pasta. Pasta generally looks pretty good most of the time - it's quite easy to plate, quite easy to garnish, and you can move through those shots at a decent pace. A burger, on the other hand, needs to be constructed in a way that shows what's inside it, that it looks full and stacked properly, whether the bun looks good, if there's anything dripping out of it that we want to capture. It takes more work. So a burger restaurant could approach me with fewer items on their menu than an Italian place, but the shoot could still take longer. That's the kind of nuance that people don't always think about.
People also tend to forget about drinks. Someone will send me their food menu and then halfway through the conversation mention that they've also got a range of milkshakes or smoothies or cocktails they want captured. That's absolutely fine, but it does change the scope of things, and I'd rather know about it upfront so I can quote accurately.
Half Day vs Full Day
My two most common shoot lengths are half day and full day, and the difference between them isn't just about the number of hours.
A half day shoot tends to focus on one main goal. For example, it could be a lifestyle shoot where we get certain people in and they're interacting on camera in a way that's relevant to the business, and we focus primarily on that. Maybe we mix in a bit of headshot work or some additional people photography alongside it. But a half day doesn't always leave enough room to then pile on lots of interiors or loads of product shots on top.
A full day shoot opens things up quite a bit. You can cover a wider range of styles and scenes, which is where the real value comes in for a lot of businesses.
A great recent example of this was a shoot I did for the Mortimer Arms in Romsey. We started with a food shoot covering their full menu (breakfast, mains, and desserts), then moved into more of a lifestyle section - capturing bar staff pouring drinks, staff sat at a table eating some of the dishes that had already come out. After that, they also needed shots of their hotel rooms upstairs, so I photographed those as well. Three completely different styles of photography in one day, and that's exactly the kind of thing I'd always say is a full day shoot.
The reason it takes a full day isn't necessarily because each individual style takes that long. It's the changing between them. When a scene is set up and we're just switching plates in and out for a similar style of shot, that moves pretty quickly. It's when we need to break everything down, move to a new location within the venue, set up lighting differently, test a few angles - that's where the time goes.
The Cocktail Problem
Cocktails are probably my favourite example of this. Someone might want their cocktail menu photographed, but they want each cocktail to have a different look and feel. And that's brilliant from a creative standpoint, but it means finding different spots around the venue for each one.
If it's an old fashioned, we probably want something earthy, warm, mature in the background. If it's a porn star martini, maybe we want something brighter, more vibrant, a bit more playful. Each of those setups involves repositioning lighting, testing options, finding the right surface and backdrop. A full day shoot of cocktails done this way might only end up with 10 to 12 cocktails photographed, and people are sometimes surprised by that number. But when you see the final images and each one has its own identity, it makes sense.
This is exactly why I can't just put "full menu package" on my website with a flat price. One person's full menu is vastly different to another person's full menu, and it's not even about quantity - it's about the type of items involved and how much variety there is in the styling.
Portraits and Headshots
The same logic applies to portrait work. If I'm doing a portrait shoot for one person, we're probably moving around different locations, trying various poses, experimenting with angles and light. The weather can change if we're outdoors, and sometimes the best shots come from just taking our time and letting things happen naturally. That takes longer.
Compare that to a corporate headshot shoot where I'm using the same setup and background and just rotating people in and out. Completely different pace, completely different quote.
A portrait session for one person might take an hour or two depending on how many looks and locations we want. But on a corporate headshot shoot, I might get through 15 to 20 people in the same timeframe because the lighting, backdrop, and framing are all locked in. The only variable is the person stepping in front of the camera.
That's a huge difference in pace, and it's why the pricing reflects the type of work, not just the time on location.
Weddings (The Most Nuanced of All)
I get a lot of wedding enquiries, and they're probably the best example of why "how much do you charge?" without any context is almost impossible to answer. People will email me asking for a wedding price and give barely any detail beyond that.
Immediately I need to know things like what the scale of the wedding is, whether it's a full day from getting ready through to a late evening reception or something shorter, whether they need me for the entire thing, where it's located, and various other factors. These all change the price, sometimes quite significantly.
I don't actually list a specific wedding price on my website for this exact reason - it's the most variable of all the styles I shoot. Any wedding photographer will tell you that even with set packages, things shift. Sometimes they need to quote a bit more, sometimes they can take a bit off, depending on the logistics of the day and the lead-up to it.
Some people want a portrait session before the wedding day. Some want follow-up shots. Some want a physical photo album created afterwards. These are all things I can absolutely do, but it shows just how many variables there are.
What Actually Helps Me Quote You
If you're ever unsure about how long a shoot might take or what it might cost, the best thing you can do is send me as much information as possible. Even if it's just a brain dump into an email that doesn't feel particularly well structured, that's absolutely fine. I will get back to you with a decent plan, timeline, and quote.
Specifically, things that really help include sending me your menu if you're a restaurant or bar, telling me how many rooms need photographing if you're a hotel, explaining the use case if it's a portrait shoot, and even sending a photo of yourself so I can get an idea of your style, skin tone (for matching colours and environments), and general look to maybe suggest some clothing options too.
This is far better than contacting me with a one-liner and then me having to reply asking for all of this anyway. It just adds an extra back-and-forth that slows everything down for both of us.
The Quote Calculator
There's a quote calculator on my website that gives you a figure based on shoot length and location, and I've structured it so local and small businesses are prioritised on price. The longer shoots gradually get better value per hour too, which I think is only fair. You might already have a sense of how long your shoot will take - if it's an event that lasts three hours or so, you probably already know you're looking at a half day booking. But if you're not sure, just get in touch.
I also build in some flexibility for food shoots specifically. Sometimes I'll suggest we aim for a half day, with each hour after that charged at an additional rate if we overrun. Other times I'll be upfront and say this is going to be a full day - it's a big job, and there's no point pretending otherwise.
I want the process of booking a shoot to feel straightforward. I want you to know what you're paying, why you're paying it, and feel confident that when I turn up on the day, I know exactly what we're shooting and can get on with the job in a way that takes the strain off your shoulders. The transparency is the whole point - I'd rather have a proper conversation upfront and get it right than have either of us surprised halfway through.
If you want a rough idea of pricing before we talk, try the quote calculator - it takes about 30 seconds and gives you a ballpark based on shoot length and location. Or if you'd rather just have a conversation, get in touch and we'll work it out together.
Quick answers
How much does a photo shoot cost in Southampton?
Standard rates are £275 for a two-hour session, £415 for a half day and £690 for a full day. That covers the shooting, the editing and full commercial usage. Local independent businesses and charities within about 30 miles of Southampton pay 20% less, so £220, £330 and £550.
How much is a headshot or portrait session?
For one person it is almost always a two-hour session, which is £275. If you are an individual booking for yourself rather than a business, I will generally quote you £220. Corporate headshot days are quoted differently because I can photograph 15 to 20 people in the same time.
How much does restaurant menu photography cost?
A menu of roughly 20 dishes with no drinks is usually a half day, so £415, or £330 for a local independent. Add cocktails or a large stacked-burger menu and it generally becomes a full day at £690, or £550 locally, because each drink needs its own setup.
Do you charge less for local businesses?
Yes. Local independent businesses and charities within about 30 miles of Southampton get 20% off the standard rate, which brings a two-hour session to £220, a half day to £330 and a full day to £550. Most of the businesses I work with in Southampton pay these rates rather than the standard ones.
How much does a wedding cost?
Weddings are quoted individually, because the scale, the hours and the locations vary far more than commercial work does. Send me the date, the venues and roughly how much of the day you want covered and I will come back with a proper figure. You can expect 300 to 700 edited images.
How many images do I get?
Every shoot includes a fully edited gallery with no per-image charges and full commercial usage. There is no package where you pick ten favourites and pay extra for the rest. People are regularly surprised by how many images they end up with, which is deliberate.
