If you’ve landed on this page, you’re in search of the answer to one of the toughest questions we get asked: how much do architectural photographers charge?
The honest answer is that there is no simple answer to this question.
That’s because the rates that architectural photographers charge are based on many variables.
Differences in any of these variables will influence not just the overall cost of an architectural photography shoot but can also influence the daily rates charged by the photographer.
These variables include:
- country and city where the shoot will take place
- experience level of the photographer
- type of building being photographed
- interior vs. exterior shoots
- length of shoot/project size
- number of pictures taken during the shoot
- duration and complexity of post-production
- the type of usage license that will be applied to the image
- the size and budget of the client hiring the photographer.
As you can tell, all the above are going to vary considerably between different photographers and architectural shoots, and a change in any one of these variables can have a big impact on costs.
Architectural photographer day rates
While it isn’t possible to provide a general figure for how much architectural photographers charge, it is possible to get an idea of the approximate day rates charged by these photographers.
Day rates allow photographers to control for some of the variables we identified before they dig into a project. They are covered for their time if the project succumbs to scope creep and won’t end up being paid for less work than they do.
It is important to mention that these daily and hourly rates may not be fixed for a photographer, and they may adjust these based on the type of client and/or any complexities they foresee in the shoot.
So, what are these daily rates already?
The daily rates charged by an architectural photographer will be determined primarily by their experience level and what they feel they can reasonably charge for a shoot.
On the lower end of this spectrum there really isn’t a minimum charge.
Emerging architectural photographers are going to be open to negotiation, as their primary interest will be in building a portfolio and establishing a reputation. Some may even collaborate for free.
At the upper end of the spectrum you’ll find photographers who work with budgets in the millions of dollars and are likely to scale their fees accordingly.
Therefore, the middle-ground of reasonably experienced architectural photographers who do not focus exclusively on big budget projects provides the best yardstick for daily rate price ranges.
| Location | Day rate |
| United Kingdom | £500 – £1000 |
| United States | $1500-$3000 |
Bear in mind that the above figures are very broad estimates and are going to be strongly influenced by which city the photographer is in within these countries. Rates outside of these countries are also going to vary, and you can expect to find lower rates charged in developing nations.
Post-production and architectural photography hourly rates
Day rates tend to cover the costs that photographers incur while on location. In other words, they cover the actual work involved in taking the shots of a building.
Once the shooting is finished, photographers start the next stage of their work. This involves sorting through the images from their shoots, selecting images for use and touching up these images.
Many photographers bundle post-production into the daily rates they charge on a project, agreeing to the number of images for delivery upfront.
However, there are other photographers who charge an hourly or per-image post-production fee. This allows them to scale fees to changes in the number of images a client may want from a shoot.
While the variables that bedevil pricing of architectural shoots do not apply to the same extent to post-production, location and experience levels are also important variables that influence cost.
| Location | Post-production |
| United Kingdom | £100/hour |
| United States | $200-$440/hour |
Licensing fees
When architectural photographers are contracted, licensing terms for usage of their images will typically be included in the contracts they present to clients.
In most cases, usage rights will be bundled into the price of the photography shoot. However, usage restrictions will typically apply to these.
These may include restrictions on how and where these images may be used, as well as limitations applied to the time period in which images may be used by the client.
If the client wishes to waive some usage restrictions, or continue using the images once the contracted usage period expires, they will be required to pay additional licensing fees.
It is not possible to generalize a typical cost for these additional usage fees as they are dependent on the terms of the contract and will also vary between photographer, project and location.
How to get accurate architectural photographer pricing in your location
While we’ve provided very rough estimates for what you can expect to pay architectural photographers for day rates and postproduction, it is quite likely that this information may not be relevant to your specific requirements and location.
The best way to get an accurate idea of what your architectural shoot will cost you is to contact several architectural photographers in your location and request a quote on your requirements.
Cherrydeck is the best tool for finding architectural photographers in your location.
To find and contact local architectural photographers all you need to do is:
- Go to the Cherrydeck home page.
- Select ‘Search’ on the top left.
- On the next page select your desired location and ‘Architecture & Interior photographers’ as the photographer category.
- Choose the experience level you are looking for.
- Hit the ‘Show results’ button.
This will pull up a list of architectural photographers in your area with sample images of their work. You can now view any profile to see more images from their portfolio and get in touch with them to enquire about their rates.
What to ask when hiring an architectural photographer
When you contact an architectural photographer, it’s important to know what to ask them in order to ensure that they will meet your requirements and that you’ll be provided with an accurate quotation.
Typical questions should include:
- day and hourly rates
- any area of specialization within the architectural photography field
- hidden costs (such as rental of specialized equipment) not included in their rates
- whether they scout image locations prior to the shoot and plan out their shoots in advance (this can decrease the costs of a shoot by saving time)
- how image licensing is handled
- how ‘overtime’ (hours in excess of those specified in their day rate) is charged
- whether time taken to commute to the shoot location is included in their day rate (you don’t want to pay the photographer to sit in traffic)
- how postproduction is handled and charged
- turnaround time for shoots.
Once you have all this information for several photographers, you’ll have provided yourself with the best and most accurate answer to what architectural photographers charge!
Get information and rates from local architectural photographers now. Browse Cherrydeck for the widest variety of professional architectural photographers.
For architectural photography inspiration, visit this blog post where we’ve highlighted some of our architectural photographers. For more information on the Cherrydeck services, visit our clients page or reach out to our team
