Photographers, Your Time is Worth Nothing! (And Why That's Good News)

David Hayden
Jun 14
6 min read

A black and white image depicting a clock at seven o'clock with shadows and wilting flowers, symbolizing the passage of time and the fading of life.

They just don’t understand how much time this takes!

You’re right, nor do they care. I was recently culling and editing a lot of images I shot for an event, I was tired, under pressure to deliver and feeling sorry for myself. My mind drifted into the desert of “woe is me” as I lamented, “if they only knew how much time it takes!”

Fortunately, these moments are short lived for me and, as always, my enthusiasm for producing quality imagery prevailed. When I first started out, I was very concerned with the value of my time, a product, no doubt, of spending much of my career in manufacturing where “time is money” is a foundational principle.

It wasn’t always this way.

The whole concept of exchanging a unit of labor for a set price is a relatively new concept, born in the age of mass production and the industrial revolution.

Prior to mass production and the industrial revolution time was irrelevant. Either your bowl of grain was worth a pottery bowl, or it wasn’t. So, you either added more grain, or maybe demanded more bowls or moved on to the next pottery vendor.

Trade was ad valorem. Money was and remains just a more flexible form of barter. Instead of having to find someone who needs our bowl of grain, we exchange it for money. The grain finds its way to someone who needs it, and we have money to buy some fruit. Or a camera lens.

So, unless you think of yourself as a production worker in a large image factory, your time has no value, certainly not to the client.

All clients buy something much more important to them than your time or image.

If you think your clients are buying your image or time, you are sadly mistaken and probably leaving a lot of money on the table. Clients are buying a result. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.

Of course, the definition of results varies wildly. The manufacturer, restaurant owner, real estate agent wants images that sell and/or make them look good . . . also resulting in better sales, reputation or brand recognition. That’s it, they could care less about your time, your gear, your years of experience.

Do you think a corporate executive cares either? They don’t. They just want the head shot that makes them look powerful, strong, sincere, trustworthy, and competent for a webpage, annual report or social media profile. If your image helped them get that next $1,000,000 career move, they’d be very happy.

Families that want photos, unless personal friends or family members, don’t care either. For these clients, their needs are centered around, memories, emotion, and your ability to make them feel comfortable through the process. They want you to capture the essence of who they or their family member are. They want you to capture that subtle look in the eye that is the quintessential “little Mille.”

How can we possibly determine the value to our clients?

That’s simple. We ask, and listen carefully. Sometimes, we even need to offer guidance and help them understand the potential value they stand to gain.

Very early in my conversations with clients – often right after they tell me what they need but before they start asking for a price list – I simply ask, “What is your budget for this project?”

This seemingly simple question does a number of very important things, setting the stage for a successful and mutually respectful engagement:

It brings into sharp focus this is a business transaction. Many clients, especially those new to professional photography, might view my craft a creative pursuit or even a favor, rather than a specialized service that requires significant investment in time, equipment, and expertise. When I ask about budget upfront, it’s immediately established that I’m a professional running a business, not a hobbyist.
It puts the client in the mindset of value and reflection on “what is this worth to them?” This is perhaps the most crucial point. When I ask for their budget, I’m not fishing for a number. I want them to consider the value they expect to derive from my work. If they haven't thought about it, this question forces them to. My question shifts the focus away from simply comparing price to understanding what my photography will do for them. I want to encourage them to quantify the potential impact on their sales, brand, or personal legacy. The goal is to get them thinking:

o “If I sell more of my product, what’s that worth?”

o “What's it worth to build my brand image?”

o “If I attract more customers that each spend $X, what’s that worth?”

o “How much is that perfect headshot worth to my career?”

o “How much are irreplaceable family memories worth to us?'"

It separates wheat from the chaff. This question acts as a filter. Clients who genuinely value professional work will usually have a budget or be prepared to discuss one. Those who view photography as a trivial expense or a glorified hobby will often reveal themselves here, either by having no budget at all, or a laughably low one. This saves time and emotional energy for both of us. I’m able to filter out leads that aren't a good fit for my business. I think it is important to reinforce my passion is a business, and that free work is a deliberate act of generosity, not an expectation. Asking the question immediately clarifies whether they're looking for a professional investment or a casual favor, allowing me to manage my time and expectations effectively.
It uncovers their perceived value baseline. If their budget is surprisingly high, it tells me they already deeply value the outcome. It is then important for me to ask qualifying questions to understand exactly what they expect in return, so it can be documented in the proposal to prevent scope creep, missed opportunities and so on. If it's surprisingly low, it tells me I may need to do more work to work with them on the value of professional photography (or that they're simply not a target client). This information is invaluable for crafting a proposal that meets their needs and expectations, or for politely declining if there's no alignment.

There is more to a project's value than what the client wants.

As an entrepreneur, small business owner and creative generating income is important to me, but not the end all be all. For me to take on a project it’s important that the project satisfy my criteria as well. That is not to say that I march around saying “I’m an artiste, I simply don’t do that lowly work!” No, not at all.

My criteria are about an honest assessment of skills vs project demands, whether or not it is going to be a mutually respectful relationship and so on. I find a decision matrix helps.

This is just a sample and the likely scenarios could be anything my intuition detects in interactions with the prospective client. You can see any change in criteria may affect my decision one way or the other.

Likely scenario	Probability of occurrence	Benefit (+) Detriment (-)
Client is respectful and collaborative to work with?	Good	+8
May need to buy accessories to complete the job	Fair	-2
May need to hire assistants	Low but not impossible	-1
Client aware of additional assistants and agrees to proposal covering cost	High but low probability	+5
Job is interesting and will be a new addition to my portfolio	High	+10
This project has tight time constraints and will be rough to complete on time	Medium, I’m booked and this client wants priority, and willing to pay for it	-10
Total		Score +10 worth considering

Likely scenario	Probability of occurrence	Benefit (+) Detriment (-)
Client is friend wanting a favor	High	-5
Feel good project I’ll enjoy doing it, and it will be fun for those around me	High	+10
It’s an event and there will be a lot of time in post so I don’t release reputation damaging images	High	-8
Could be some great shots for a portfolio	Medium0	+8
Client and friends will likely post pictures all over social media with out giving photo credit	Medium	-10
Client personally will give credit and give a google review	Low	+5
I have the time, and it does not interfere with commercial work and I’m happy to do it for them.	High	+10
Total		Score 0. I may or may not want to consider

One criteria not listed here is if they expect me to handover copyright. That is a deal breaker. Unlimited usage in perpetuity is one thing, copyright, well that’s a discussion for another time.