“Roughly How Much for Two Hours?”

Every now and then, an enquiry arrives with this question: “It’s about a two-hour shoot — roughly how much would that be?”

We can certainly give a rough figure. But for photographers, it’s a surprisingly hard question to answer — because the price of a shoot isn’t determined only by the time spent shooting.

Two hours can mean completely different shoots

Two hours visiting an office to take relaxed profile photos of a few people. Two hours at a hotel covering guest rooms, the restaurant, exterior, staff and food. Two hours lighting advertising products one by one to build their texture. Two hours moving around an event, capturing speakers, guests and atmosphere.

Each is “a two-hour shoot,” but the equipment, preparation, crew and post-production are entirely different.

A photographer’s job isn’t just the two hours of pressing the shutter

The work begins well before the shoot: meetings with the client, organising the brief, checking schedules and shot lists, confirming locations, choosing and charging equipment, preparing storage. Sometimes there’s location scouting, or arranging assistants, hair and make-up artists and stylists.

After the shoot come backups, selection, colour grading, retouching, exporting and delivery. Even a “two-hour shoot” involves many hours of work before and after.

So how do we quote?

At LS STUDIO, we don’t simply think “one hour × a fixed rate.” We ask: What are we photographing? Where will it be used? What level of quality is needed? How many shots? What preparation is required? Then we quote.

Even for portraits, a profile photo for internal documents and a key visual for a major advertising campaign demand very different things. Because what matters isn’t just the time it takes to shoot, but the role the photograph will play.

Still, “just a rough idea” is absolutely fine

Many people are still at the planning stage and simply want a sense of budget. That’s completely fine.

If you tell us something like “about two hours,” “profiles for around ten staff,” “an office in Kyoto,” “for our website and social media,” we can give you an estimate to start with.

From there, we’ll make suggestions to fit the shoot: “This approach would keep costs down,” “Three hours rather than two would actually be more efficient,” or “You won’t need an assistant for this.”

Let’s start from “how much for two hours?”

Most people don’t commission photography or video very often, so it’s fine to get in touch even if you’re not sure what to tell us. “We want photos like this,” “We’d like the feel of this website,” “We’re thinking about two hours” — that’s more than enough to begin.

LS STUDIO photographs everything from advertising, architecture and hotels to companies, products, people and events. Even from a simple “roughly how much for two hours?”, we’ll work out with you the approach that fits your goals and budget.

Feel free to ask.

LS STUDIO — Photography / Film / Visual Production — Kyoto, Japan