How Much You Should Charge For Aerial Photographs

The response I have gotten to my book on starting your own aerial photography business has been amazing and the feedback I have gotten has been so positive but I still get questions about how much to charge for aerial photographs and video.  This is somewhat of a loaded question and depends on where you are at on the drone as a hobby spectrum.  For example, did you buy a drone specifically to start shooting aerial photography for business or do you want to just shoot enough to cover the cost of your awesome new toy?  One of the things Italk about in my book is how to build up your customers by emailing realtors and offering free or discounted pictures to build your portfolio and get some satisfied customers to start generating word of mouth referrals.  If you want to start building up a backlog of work and start an actual business you will make less at first but you will build your portfolio and customer base and you can slowly start raising your rates.  Under this scenario, I think you offer pictures for free to the first client and if you nail the job then you should charge a bit more for your next set of pictures for the next client, say $50-75.  You keep raising the rate up until you get to $100-250 per session.  Only move your pricing up if you have happy customers who gush about how great your work is.  Remember to always under promise and over deliver.  Say you will give them 3 amazing pictures but end up giving them 6-10 fully edited amazing pictures and a short video if you have a drone with a gimbal.  Word spreads fast if you are good at what you do and have great customer service.  

If you do not like the progressive approach and want to just make some quick cash, you can do this as well.  Depending on your RC and photo / video editing skills, you can easily charge $100-150 bucks for some nice pictures.  If you have the DJI Phantom and a GoPro, try and use the video and picture setting that records video and takes pictures and go ahead and make a 1-2 minute video and offer it to the client for an extra $50-100.  The bottom of the range is for less expensive houses while the higher end is for more expensive houses.  You should always size up the house and the client because more expensive listings should generally make you more money than cheaper houses.  Lots, ranches, and undeveloped land are ripe for aerial photography because they can be difficult to capture from the ground.  

Anytime the job requires more than a short car ride or involves something novel or unique, you can and should charge more.