Chances are, if you’ve searched for a headshot photographer in New York City, you’ve wondered how much they charge.
As a headshot photographer, I’ve actually wondered this myself.
For years, I had a general sense of what NYC headshots cost, but I had never really looked into it too deeply. So, I decided to look into it.
Like, really look into it.
Keep in mind, this is being written in the spring of 2022. Rates change all the time. I plan on doing this research – and updating this blog post – each year.
How I compiled the data
There are a lot of headshot photographers in New York City. I tried Googling just how many there are, but even Google doesn’t know. Let’s just safely say there are twelve zillion.
To keep things simple, I searched Google for “nyc headshots” or “nyc headshot photographer.” I clicked on the first 40 to 50 websites that popped up. I narrowed these down to 20 headshot photographers, using the following criteria:
Someone with a first and last name. I didn’t include headshot “companies,” only individuals who call themselves headshot photographers.
Photographers specializing in actor headshots. That’s not to say they couldn’t also do corporate headshots or family sessions, but I wanted their primary focus to be headshots of actors.
Those who list rates for all of their packages. Since I specifically wanted to look at rates, I needed to, you know, see their rates. Even if it said “packages start at” followed by a rate, I didn’t include them since their highest rate was unknown.
I didn’t click on any “round-up” posts, like “20 Cheapest Headshot Photographers in NYC” or anything like that. Only individual photographers’ websites.
So let’s say the data used for this post is, roughly, based on 20 of the most popular headshot photographers in NYC – at least, “popular” in terms of where they come up in a Google search in the spring of 2022. It’s not a huge sample size by any means, but I hope it provides a general sense of what NYC photographers are charging these days.
I will not be naming any photographers in this post, only providing data.
Headshot session rates
Call them sessions, packages, or shoots – most headshot photographers offer more than one. Three seems to be the norm. Rates are based on duration, number of looks, both, or neither. There doesn’t seem to be a hard and fast “rule” for this, at least not in NYC.
I wrote down (in an Excel spreadsheet, because I am that kind of nerd) all of the information I could find on what NYC headshot photographers charge, starting with their session, or package, rates.
Rates are on the y-axis. Photographers are numbered on the x-axis, from least expensive (1) to most expensive (20).
Some interesting notes:
There is an enormous range out there. The lowest packages for each photographer range from $59 to $750, middle packages from $99 to $995, highest packages from $179 to $1495.
The least expensive photographer (1) offers packages relatively close in cost, with a $120 range between lowest and highest. As photographers get more expensive, the range between their lowest and highest packages generally increases.
Note that the more horizontal the line, the more common that rate is – you can see that a few photographers charge in the $300 range for their lowest package, three photographers charge $1200 for their highest, and so on.
Number of packages
Of the 20 photographers in my final list, there is some variation in how many packages are offered, three being the most common:
2 photographers offer one package
3 photographers offer two packages
12 photographers offer three packages
3 photographers offer four packages
Extra retouched images
Headshot photographers typically include a set number of retouched images per package – fewer for less expensive packages, more for more expensive packages. Retouching is more labor-intensive than most people might realize, so it makes sense that photographers charge for anything that goes beyond what is offered in the package.
Not all of the photographers list their rate for extra retouched images. Of those who do, there is a range of $15 to $50 per image, with $50 being the most common rate.
Other photographers charge far more than this (the highest I found was $300 per retouched image), but because they don’t list their full range of rates on their sites, I didn’t include them in the results.
Average, median, and range
For all you math nerds out there (I can’t be the only one), here is a breakdown of the average cost of each type of package, as well as the median (middle number in a list), and range. Again, this is only based on my sample size of 20, but it’s a good starting point.
Makeup artist rates
Not every photographer requires clients to use a makeup artist. Some insist on it and a few have specific makeup artists you must use; others merely encourage it. A few don’t have any rules about makeup.
Makeup artist rates vary about as much as headshot photographer rates. Of the 20 photographers in my list, 12 have a makeup rate, or range of rates. These span from $75 (men only) to $400, with most of the rates falling somewhere in the $200-350 range. It’s standard for women to be charged more than men due to more attention to hair and makeup.
There are no rules
The photographers in my list have a range of backgrounds, skills, techniques, styles, experience, and more. Some are relatively new to headshot photography, some have been doing it for a few years, others have been in the business for decades.
Some photographers use only natural light, other shoot only in a studio, and some do a mix of both. Lighting, composition, editing style, and more vary from one photographer to the next. Although there is a general “standard” for what headshots should look like, I was surprised at the variety of styles out there.
In other words, there seems to be no absolute rule as far as what exactly a headshot should look like – other than you on a great day.
I hope this post helps give a better idea as to what NYC headshot photographers are charging in 2022. Next year, I’ll look into this again.
Of course, there is a conversation to be had about why headshot photographers charge what they do… but that can (and will) be another post entirely.