How I Price a Project I've Never Done Before
Every so often, a project lands directly in my inbox that genuinely doesn't fit neatly into any of my established pricing categories, a type of shoot, deliverable, or scope I haven't actually priced before and can't simply pull a confident number for from any relevant past experience.
Over the years, I've developed a genuine, repeatable process for pricing these unfamiliar projects, one that lets me quote confidently even when I genuinely don't have any direct past experience whatsoever to draw from. If you're navigating your own approach to pricing unfamiliar work, the Adventure Travel Photographer's Playbook covers how I approach pricing as part of a complete business strategy.
Why Pricing Unfamiliar Projects Used to Cause Real Anxiety
Early in my career, an unfamiliar project request triggered genuine anxiety, a fear of either pricing too low and losing money on hidden complexity, or pricing too high and losing the opportunity entirely due to a number that felt arbitrary and unjustified even to me.
That anxiety often led to genuinely poor decisions, either wildly underpricing out of fear of losing the job, or avoiding unfamiliar projects altogether, missing out on genuine opportunities to expand my skills and portfolio simply because the pricing uncertainty felt too risky to navigate confidently.
Recognizing that this anxiety was actually a process problem, not a fundamental skill gap, pushed me to build a genuine, repeatable system for approaching unfamiliar pricing rather than continuing to navigate each new situation purely on instinct and nerves.
How I Break Down an Unfamiliar Project Into Comparable Components
My first step with any unfamiliar project is breaking it down into components I actually have priced before, even if the overall project itself is genuinely new, the individual pieces, travel, editing hours, specific technical requirements, usually map onto categories I already understand well.
That breakdown process has made pricing considerably more manageable, rather than trying to price an entirely unfamiliar whole, I'm assembling a confident number from parts I genuinely understand, adjusting only for the specific pieces that are actually new to my experience.
This component-based approach has become one of the more reliable tools in my pricing process, giving me a genuinely grounded starting point even for projects that initially feel completely outside my established wheelhouse of past experience.
Why I Research Comparable Rates From Other Photographers
Beyond breaking the project into components, I also research what other photographers charge for genuinely comparable work, reaching out directly when needed or researching published rate guides relevant to the specific type of unfamiliar project I'm actually being asked to price.
That external research has saved me from both underpricing and overpricing on unfamiliar projects, giving me a genuine market reference point rather than relying purely on internal guesswork that isn't actually grounded in how the broader market values this specific type of work.
I've found that most photographers are genuinely willing to share general pricing guidance for unfamiliar project types, especially when I'm not asking them to compete directly for the exact same specific opportunity I'm currently pricing.
How I Account for the Genuine Uncertainty of Unfamiliar Work
Unfamiliar projects carry real uncertainty that familiar ones don't, and I've learned to build a deliberate buffer into my pricing specifically to account for that uncertainty, rather than pricing as confidently as I would for a project type I've handled many times before.
That buffer isn't about padding the price unfairly, it's a genuine acknowledgment that unfamiliar work carries real risk of unexpected complexity, and pricing without accounting for that risk has burned me on a few early projects where the actual scope turned out to be considerably larger than initially anticipated.
Building in that buffer has protected my actual profitability on unfamiliar projects while still keeping the price genuinely competitive and fair, a balance that took real trial and error to calibrate correctly over several years of taking on new types of work.
Why I Communicate My Uncertainty Honestly With the Client
Rather than projecting false confidence about an unfamiliar project, I've learned to communicate honestly with the client about where genuine uncertainty exists, explaining which parts of the pricing are firmly grounded and which carry more inherent variability given the unfamiliar nature of the work.
That honesty has generally been well received, clients tend to respect transparency about genuine uncertainty considerably more than a falsely confident number that later requires an awkward, defensive renegotiation once the actual scope reveals itself during the project.
I've found that framing uncertainty honestly, while still providing a clear, actionable number, actually builds more trust than pretending to have complete confidence in a price for work I've genuinely never done before.
What I'd Tell a Photographer Facing Their First Unfamiliar Project
If you're currently facing your own first genuinely unfamiliar project request, I'd genuinely encourage you to break it down into comparable components, research external rates carefully, and build in a real buffer for uncertainty rather than either avoiding the opportunity entirely or pricing purely on anxious, uninformed guesswork alone.
That process, while it takes real time to work through carefully, will give you a genuinely confident, defensible number even without direct past experience in that exact specific type of project you're being asked to actually price.
Developing this systematic approach to unfamiliar pricing has opened up genuine opportunities I would have otherwise avoided out of pure pricing anxiety, expanding both my skill set and my portfolio in ways that have benefited the broader business considerably over time.
How I Decide Whether to Take an Unfamiliar Project at All
Before even getting to pricing, I first evaluate whether an unfamiliar project is genuinely worth taking on, weighing the learning opportunity and portfolio value against the real risk of unexpected complexity that comes with any project type I haven't handled directly before.
That evaluation has kept me from taking on a few unfamiliar projects that, in hindsight, weren't actually worth the risk relative to the modest reward, a discipline that's saved real time and stress compared to my earlier tendency to say yes to nearly anything unfamiliar out of pure curiosity or financial anxiety.
Making this evaluation explicit, rather than deciding purely on instinct, has made my selection of unfamiliar projects considerably more deliberate, ensuring the ones I do take on genuinely offer enough upside to justify the real uncertainty involved in pricing and executing them well.
Why I Reach Out to My Network Before Finalizing an Unfamiliar Price
Beyond general market research, I've found real value in reaching out directly to my specific professional network before finalizing a price for an unfamiliar project, asking colleagues with more direct experience in that particular niche for honest, candid feedback on my proposed number.
That direct outreach has caught pricing mistakes I wouldn't have noticed on my own, a colleague pointing out a genuinely hidden cost category I hadn't considered, or confirming that my instinct on a particular number was actually reasonably well calibrated given the specifics of the project.
I've come to see this kind of network consultation as one of the more valuable resources available when pricing unfamiliar work, a genuine shortcut to experience I simply don't have yet in that specific area of the business.
How I Structure a Pricing Buffer Without Making It Feel Arbitrary
Building in a buffer for unfamiliar project uncertainty required learning to structure it in a way that felt genuinely justified rather than arbitrary, tying the buffer size directly to specific identified risk factors rather than simply padding the number with an unexplained round figure.
That structured approach, breaking the buffer down by specific risk category, unfamiliar equipment needs, uncertain timeline, or unclear deliverable expectations, has made the resulting price both more defensible to the client and more accurately calibrated to the actual risk involved in the specific project.
I've refined this buffer structure considerably over several years of pricing unfamiliar work, and it's become one of the more reliable tools in ensuring I'm neither overpricing out of excessive caution nor underpricing out of an unwillingness to properly account for genuine uncertainty.
What I've Learned From Unfamiliar Projects That Went Over Budget
Despite my best efforts at careful pricing, a few unfamiliar projects have still gone over budget, and I've made a genuine practice of reviewing those specific cases afterward to understand exactly what I missed in the original pricing process that led to the unexpected overrun.
Those honest post-project reviews have directly improved my pricing process over time, each overrun revealing a specific category of risk I hadn't adequately accounted for previously, insight that's now folded into how I evaluate genuinely similar unfamiliar projects going forward.
Treating these overruns as genuine learning opportunities, rather than simply painful one-off mistakes to move past quickly, has made my overall pricing process for unfamiliar work considerably more robust than it was in the earlier years of my career.
How I Test Unfamiliar Pricing on Lower-Stakes Projects First
When possible, I try to test genuinely unfamiliar project pricing on a lower-stakes opportunity first, a smaller client or a less critical deadline, rather than working through the full pricing learning curve for the very first time on a high-stakes project with a major brand watching closely.
That lower-stakes testing approach has let me refine my pricing process for a genuinely new project type with considerably less real risk attached, catching mistakes and adjusting my approach before applying the refined process to a more significant, higher-profile opportunity later on.
I don't always have the luxury of choosing which unfamiliar project comes first, but when I do, deliberately starting with lower stakes has consistently paid off in a more refined, confident pricing approach by the time a bigger unfamiliar opportunity actually arrives.
Why I Build Contingency Language Directly Into Unfamiliar Project Contracts
Given the genuine uncertainty involved in unfamiliar projects, I've learned to build explicit contingency language directly into the contract itself, clearly outlining how scope changes or unexpected complexity will actually be handled financially if the project deviates meaningfully from what was originally priced.
That contingency language has protected me from absorbing the full cost of unexpected complexity on unfamiliar projects, giving both me and the client a clear, agreed-upon framework for handling deviations rather than an awkward, ad-hoc renegotiation once something unexpected actually surfaces mid-project.
Clients have generally responded well to this contingency language, appreciating the transparency it provides even before any actual deviation occurs, since it signals that I've thought carefully through the genuine risks of the unfamiliar project rather than pricing it naively.
How This Process Has Changed My Overall Confidence With New Opportunities
Beyond the specific pricing improvements, developing this genuine, repeatable process has changed my overall confidence when new, unfamiliar opportunities arrive, replacing the anxious uncertainty I used to feel with a real, grounded sense that I have a reliable method for handling them well.
That confidence has made me considerably more willing to actually pursue unfamiliar opportunities rather than avoiding them out of pricing anxiety, expanding my portfolio and skill set in ways that simply wouldn't have happened if I'd continued sidestepping unfamiliar work throughout my career.
I've come to see this confidence as one of the more valuable outcomes of building the process itself, a genuine shift from anxiously reactive pricing toward a deliberate, systematic approach that serves me well regardless of how unfamiliar a given new project actually is.
What I'd Tell a Photographer Who Keeps Turning Down Unfamiliar Work
If you find yourself consistently turning down genuinely unfamiliar project opportunities purely out of pricing anxiety, I'd encourage you to build even a simple version of this process, breaking projects into comparable components and researching external rates before deciding whether to pursue the opportunity at all.
That genuinely simple starting process, even without all the additional refinements I've since added gradually over the years, would likely give you considerably more real confidence to actually engage with unfamiliar opportunities rather than reflexively declining them out of an understandable but ultimately limiting fear of pricing them incorrectly from the very start.
Turning down unfamiliar work indefinitely out of pricing anxiety carries its own real, ongoing cost, missed opportunities for genuine growth and portfolio expansion that a real, even if genuinely imperfect, pricing process would likely have let you pursue confidently instead of avoiding entirely. The imperfection of an early version of this process is genuinely fine, mine certainly wasn't polished when I first started using it, what matters most is simply having a repeatable starting point rather than facing every single unfamiliar opportunity from complete scratch each time one happens to arrive.
How I Document Lessons From Each Unfamiliar Project for Future Reference
After completing an unfamiliar project, I make a genuine practice of documenting what I learned specifically about pricing it, what turned out to be accurately estimated, what I missed, and what I'd adjust for a genuinely similar project in the future rather than letting those hard-won lessons fade from memory.
That documentation has built into a real, genuinely growing reference over the years, a resource I now consult whenever a genuinely new but somewhat related project type arrives, giving me an increasingly rich base of actual, hard-won experience to draw from even for projects I haven't technically priced before in exactly that specific form. I keep this reference organized by risk category rather than strictly by project type, since the underlying uncertainty patterns often transfer across genuinely different kinds of unfamiliar work more directly than the surface-level project descriptions themselves would initially suggest.
Building this documentation habit has made each unfamiliar project genuinely more valuable beyond its immediate income, contributing directly to a growing, cumulative body of pricing knowledge that makes every subsequent unfamiliar project somewhat less daunting to actually approach with real, earned confidence. I now think of each unfamiliar project not just as a one-off pricing challenge to get through, but as a genuine investment in a broader pricing skill set that compounds steadily over time, making the next unfamiliar opportunity, whatever it turns out to actually be, considerably more manageable than the last one was.
Reflection Questions
- How do you currently, in practice, approach pricing a genuinely unfamiliar project you haven't personally handled before?
- Could breaking a genuinely unfamiliar project down into comparable components give you a considerably more confident starting point for pricing it?
- Do you actually build in a genuine, deliberate buffer for the real uncertainty that comes along with any unfamiliar type of work?
- How genuinely comfortable are you with communicating honest uncertainty to a client rather than projecting a falsely confident front?
If you're actively navigating your own approach to pricing unfamiliar work, the Adventure Photographer's Playbook covers how I approach pricing as part of a complete business strategy.
Dalton Johnson is a professional adventure and editorial photographer with over a decade of experience creating images on all seven continents. His client work includes Patagonia, GoPro, Arc'teryx, Four Seasons, Nike, Rivian, Big Agnes, Ford Bronco, and 160+ other brands. He runs Dalton Johnson Media as a full-service studio, from pre-production through post and distribution.
