Photography quote example: what it must contain
A good photography quote states eight things: the session and its duration, the number of delivered images and their form, the options, the usage rights, travel costs, the VAT, the deposit and the validity period. If one of those lines is missing, ask before you sign.
The fixed lines, one by one
- The session: what is photographed, where, for how long, with how many people.
- The delivery: how many edited images, in which files (web and print), within what timeframe.
- Every option has its own price: extra hour, second photographer, studio, drone. None of it buried in a package.
- The usage rights: what you may use the images for (see below).
- Expect travel at the official kilometre rate: that is what an honest photographer bills in Belgium, not a round guess.
- The VAT: 21%, or a mention of the small-business exemption scheme.
- The deposit: the norm is 50% at booking, the balance at delivery.
- Check the expiry date: a quote without one can change silently.
Usage rights: the most forgotten line
Personal use should be included. Commercial use (website, social media, advertising) is usually billed as a surcharge, for instance +30% of the price of the session and options; packaging and large campaigns more, for instance +50%; a full rights buyout is priced separately. One important point: those surcharges add up, they don't multiply. A quote that stays silent on rights moves the problem to the day you want to use the images.
Belgian ranges in 2026
For reference, excluding VAT: a portrait session from €150 to €200 per person (from €200 with me), corporate headshots and team photos from €600, an event from €200 for a short slot up to €850 to €1,500 for a full day (from €600 for a half-day with me), packshots (product photos on a neutral background) from €125 per image, real estate from €250. Below those levels, your photos absorb the discount, in quality or in rights.
Red flags
- Not a word about usage rights.
- No deposit and no delivery deadline: nothing binds the photographer.
- “All inclusive” without detail of what “all” covers.
- No VAT mention: you don't know what you're actually paying.
Try it yourself: a quote in two minutes
Want to see this structure for real? My online photography quote computes session, options, rights, travel and VAT live, deposit included. And for the full offer: photography services.
