What Headshots Cost
in Los Angeles.

Pricing pages in this town are a genre of creative writing. Some studios publish everything. Some publish a teaser number and save the rest for the invoice. A few make you email an assistant to learn what a photograph costs. I think that's silly — so here are my rates, complete, followed by a comparison of ten established LA studios with public pricing, because you're going to comparison-shop anyway and I'd rather you do it with useful numbers. I compiled them so you don't have to open eleven tabs.

Where the Real Cost Hides

Hair & makeup is the biggest swing in the market. Across the studios above, publicly posted women's H&MU runs $150–$450; men's grooming, where priced publicly, runs $125–$350. Some studios scale the fee with session length or looks, and one lists the service without publishing the price. Booking a quality independent artist yourself typically starts around $225 for a single look. The artist chair is where "affordable" sessions quietly become expensive ones — which is exactly why mine is flat-rate for women, free for men, and staffed by a 26-year celebrity makeup artist who is also holding the camera.

Retouching models vary widely: current public add-on rates run $20–$75 per image, while several packages include one or more finished images. Ask two questions anywhere you book: how many finished images are included, and what does each additional one cost. Those two numbers — not the session fee — decide what you'll actually spend.

The fine print: non-refundable deposits, card surcharges, rush fees, galleries that expire in 30 days unless you pay a storage upgrade, and usage restrictions. One studio's contract requires a photographer credit when your own headshot runs in the press. (For the record: credits on my work are appreciated and never required — they're your photos.) Read before you book. Anywhere. Including here.

What to Actually Budget

Actors

Actors often need more than one casting look. Start with the role range you actually need, then compare hair and makeup, retouching, extra-look pricing, and delivery policies before judging the advertised session fee.

Your headshot is the audition before the audition. Compare the photographer's current work and complete deliverables before saving $150 on the session that introduces you to casting.

Executives & professionals

A properly finished professional or executive session generally lands between $325 and $650. The appropriate budget depends on where the image will appear and how much variety you need.

A LinkedIn update may require one excellent look. A partner page, keynote slide, funding announcement, press kit, or company launch may justify additional wardrobe and image options. The more visible the photograph's job, the less useful it is to shop by the lowest teaser price.

Teams

Team projects use a different pricing model. Some photographers charge per person; others quote by time, location, setup, or the number of finished images. The final cost depends on how many people must be photographed, how consistent the images need to be, whether the photographer travels to the office, and whether employees receive individual galleries.

When comparing team proposals, ask whether the price includes equipment, time on site, multiple setups, finishing, file delivery, and future new-hire matching.

"I just need a LinkedIn photo"

For one strong LinkedIn or professional-profile image, budget approximately $200–$450. Read the deliverables before comparing prices: a lower session fee can become considerably more expensive after retouching, downloads, storage, or image-selection fees are added.

The useful number is not the advertised starting price. It is what you will spend to leave with a photograph you are comfortable using.

Seven Questions to Ask Any Studio

And ask the studio's past clients, too — I keep a living archive of client reviews from Yelp, Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn on one page, precisely so you can do that diligence on me in one sitting.

Pricing FAQ