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How much does a photographer cost in London?
Real ranges, where they come from, and what actually moves them.
Home · Prices
Real ranges, where they come from, and what actually moves them.
The honest answer is a range, and the range is wide for a reason.
A walk-in headshot and a campaign shoot are both photography. They share almost nothing else.
This page gives three things: what the UK averages are, what a London shoot costs by type, and what moves the number.
| Type of shoot | UK average hourly rate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Fashion | £300 per hour | Bark price guide |
| Food | £157 per hour | Bark price guide |
| Corporate | £150 per hour | Bark price guide |
| Event | £150 per hour | Bark price guide |
| Wedding | £150 per hour | Bark price guide |
| Property | £130 per hour | Bark price guide |
| Portrait | £125 per hour | Bark price guide |
| Pet | £115 per hour | Bark price guide |
Those are national averages. London sits above them, which the wedding figures below show directly.
| What is being priced | Range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Any photography, whole project | £150 to £350 | UK average, Bark |
| Photography, hourly | £100 per hour | UK average, Bark |
| Wedding, whole day | £500 to £2,500 | UK typical range, Bridebook |
| Wedding, UK average | £1,484 | Bridebook 2026 Wedding Report |
| Wedding, London and the South East | £700 to £3,000 or more | Bridebook, regional table |
Third-party figures were read from the sources themselves on 25 September 2026.
Fashion, portrait / personal branding and brand / commercial photography cost £300 per shooting hour. Event reportage costs £250 per hour; wedding photography costs £350 per hour. Four hours of fashion or brand photography cost £1,200 before extras; the price is calculated by the hour, not as a discounted half-day package.
The whole fashion, portrait or brand shoot includes 10 retouched photographs, delivered within two weeks. Longer shooting time does not automatically increase the number of finished photographs. If you need a larger collection, video or specific commercial usage, include those requirements in the brief for a separate quotation.
Two shooting hours at £300 cost £600. Bring your own wardrobe and use a street location with no third-party fee, and there is no wardrobe or studio addition. One look supplied by Mariya would add £100. Any applicable travel is separate.
Compare the fashion photography service and brand content portfolio, then use the current cost calculator or send your date, location and intended use. Hotel collaborations and other bespoke deliverables are quoted separately.
| Factor | Effect | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Hours on site | Direct multiplier | A half day and a full day are different jobs, not the same job twice |
| Usage rights | Often the largest single factor | Organic social costs less than paid media, print and outdoor |
| Number of retouched images | Linear | Retouching is per image, so ask for a number rather than 'a selection' |
| Crew | Stylist, assistant, makeup | Each is a day rate on top, arranged by you or by the photographer |
| Studio hire | £35 to £180 per hour in London | From the studio guide on this site |
| Location permits | Free to several hundred pounds | Royal Parks, boroughs and private estates each charge differently |
| Turnaround | Rush costs more | Same-day selects displace other work |
| Travel | Cost plus time | Outside London this is quoted separately |
Usage is the one most people miss. The same photograph costs differently depending on where it will appear and for how long.
A frame for an Instagram post and the same frame on a bus stop are not the same purchase.
Put them side by side on five lines: hours, deliverables, retouching, usage, turnaround.
If one quote is half the price, one of those five lines is usually half the size.
Ask what happens if the shoot overruns, and what an extra hour costs.
Ask who pays for the studio, the permit and the parking.
Ask when you get the files and in what form.
Studio hire, if the shoot is in a studio you chose.
Hair and makeup, which is a separate professional on a separate rate.
Models, if the shoot needs them.
Permits for a Royal Park or a private estate.
Travel and accommodation outside London.
Location costs and permit rules are on London photoshoot locations, and studio rates are in the studio hire guide.
At the bottom of the market you are buying time and a camera. Expect a short session, a handful of edited frames and limited usage.
In the middle you are buying planning as well: a conversation before the day, styling advice, a considered set of images.
At the top you are buying certainty. A team, a plan, a result the brand can put into paid media without a second thought.
None of those is wrong. They answer different questions.
The date, or the window of dates you are working with.
The place, or the kind of place if it is not booked yet.
How many people will be photographed.
What the images are for, and where they will appear.
How many finished images you need, and by when.
A quote built on those five lines arrives the same day. A quote built on 'how much for a shoot' takes three emails to reach the same place.
A date is usually held with a deposit, and the balance falls due around delivery.
Ask what happens if you move the date, because moving is common and cancelling is not.
Ask what an extra hour costs before the day, not on it.
For outdoor work, agree what happens if the weather makes the location unusable.
A shoot day is rarely a day. It is a planning call, a scout, the shoot, the cull, the edit, the retouch and the delivery.
On a two-hour portrait session, the editing afterwards usually takes longer than the session did.
That is why hourly rates on their own tell you very little.
UK averages and hourly rates by type: Bark price guide, read on 25 September 2026.
Wedding ranges and the UK average: Bridebook 2026 Wedding Report, read on 25 September 2026.
Studio hire rates: the studio guide on this site, priced from the studios' own pages.
My own prices: the published starting points on the services page.
Market prices move. If a figure here is out of date, the source page wins.
Next step
Send the date, the place and where the images will be used.
Six named clients on portrait, fashion, brand, hotel and event work: read the reviews.
Straight answers
UK averages run about £100 an hour or £150 to £350 for a project, according to the Bark price guide. London sits higher. Mariya's portrait and personal-branding photography costs £300 per shooting hour; two hours cost £600 before extras.
The Bark price guide gives a UK average of £300 an hour for fashion, the highest of the categories it lists.
Bridebook's 2026 report puts the UK average at £1,484, with London and the South East typically £700 to £3,000 or more.
Hours, deliverables, retouching, usage rights and crew. Two quotes that differ by half usually differ on one of those five lines.
Studio hire, hair and makeup, models, location permits and travel outside London.
The standard photography booking includes retouching of 10 photographs for the whole shoot. Additional photographs are quoted separately; agree the image count before booking.
State the intended channels, advertising requirements and usage duration in the brief. Confirm the licence and any additional fee in the written quotation.
Send the date, location and what you need photographed.