How Much Does a Photographer Cost in Ireland? Prices by Session Type

These are the floors at which each package is offered on Eriora. Photographers set their own price at or above them.

Each service page — for example couple photoshoots, proposals or elopements — lists what the starting package includes. All the figures are also on the pricing page.

1. Duration

Most of the price is the photographer’s time, including editing afterwards. A 30-minute session suits a quick portrait in one place; an hour gives a couple time to relax and two or three backdrops; ninety minutes allows a walk between spots. Every extra hour adds both shooting and editing time.

2. Location: city or scenic

A session in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Kilkenny or Limerick is city-priced. At the Cliffs of Moher, in Connemara, around Dingle and the Ring of Kerry or in the Wicklow Mountains, sessions start from €450: the photographer usually drives an hour or more each way on slow roads, the session runs longer, and the plan has to allow for wind and weather.

3. Date and hour

Summer weekends and sunset slots are the most requested. In June and July, sunset on the west coast falls after 22:00, which makes for a long evening for the photographer. Weekday mornings are the easiest to book and sometimes the quietest at famous places.

4. Travel

Ireland is small on a map and slow on its roads. Travel to the meeting point is either included in the package or listed separately; for remote locations it is usually part of the price. Your own admission tickets, parking and ferries, for example to the Aran Islands, are not included.

5. Add-ons

Video, drone footage where allowed, a second location, an extra hour, flowers or a set-up for a proposal, prints and albums all add to the starting price.

6. The photographer

Experience, style and demand differ. Each photographer sets their own price at or above the platform’s floor, and the proposal names who will photograph you, so you can look at their portfolio first.

Two couples ask for an hour of photographs in the same week.

The first is staying in Dublin and wants pictures around Trinity College, the Ha’penny Bridge and St Stephen’s Green on a weekday morning. That is a classic city session, from €320, and the photographer comes in by public transport.

The second wants the same hour at the Cliffs of Moher at sunset in July. The photographer drives from Galway or Limerick, arrives early to scout the light and the wind, waits out a shower if needed and drives home late at night. That is a scenic session, from €450, and a longer package is often the better choice because the drive is the same whether you photograph for one hour or two.

If your trip passes through a city anyway, a city session is the most economical way to get professional photographs in Ireland. If the photographs are the reason for the day out, book the scenic session properly and give it time.

A good quote answers the same questions every time. Before you accept one, check:

• The total. Is it the full price, including VAT where the photographer is VAT-registered? In Ireland the standard rate is 23%, and whether it applies depends on the photographer’s registration. Your proposal states the total either way.
• The duration, start time and meeting point.
• The number of edited photos and the delivery time.
• Travel: included, or listed separately?
• Weather: what happens if the day is unsuitable — a new date without charge, or a fee?
• Payment: deposit or full payment, method and due date.
• Cancellation: until when you can cancel without charge.
• Usage: personal use is standard; any business use needs a licence.

With those answers side by side, a cheaper quote that delivers half the photographs a month later is easy to spot.

1. Choose a weekday. Weekday slots are easier to book and the famous places are quieter.
2. Stay close to your base. A city session or a place near your hotel avoids a long travel charge. Howth gives Dublin visitors sea cliffs for a city price.
3. Pick one strong place. One well-chosen location for an hour gives more photographs than three places with driving in between.
4. Book the right length. If you will drive two hours to the coast anyway, ninety minutes there is better value than thirty.
5. Ask for an express session for a single portrait. For a solo traveller or a quick family picture, a solo traveller photoshoot or an express session from €190 is often enough.

• Proposal: from €490. Includes planning the hiding place and signal, the moment itself and portraits afterwards. Video adds to it. See the Ireland proposal guide.
• Couple or engagement session: from €320. Most couples choose an hour in a city or ninety minutes on the coast. See couple photoshoots in Ireland.
• Family session: from €350. Shorter sessions in the morning suit small children. See family photoshoots in Ireland.
• Elopement: from €950 for about four hours, covering getting ready, the ceremony and portraits in one or two places. See eloping in Ireland.
• Wedding: from €1,900 for a full day. See wedding photography in Ireland.

A starting package on Eriora covers the photographer’s time on the day for the stated duration, the planning beforehand and the edited photographs afterwards. In more detail, it typically includes:

• Planning: a short exchange before the day to agree the place, the hour, the meeting point and what you would like to capture. For a proposal it covers the hiding place, the approach and the signal.
• The session itself, for the agreed length, with gentle direction for people who are not used to being photographed.
• Selection and editing: the photographer chooses the best frames and edits them for colour and exposure in their own style.
• Delivery: usually a private online gallery or download link in high resolution, within the delivery time stated in your proposal.

What it does not usually include: heavy retouching, removing strangers from backgrounds, unedited files, prints and albums, video, drone footage, your own admission tickets and parking, and any business use of the photographs. If one of these matters to you, mention it in your request so it can be priced into the proposal rather than added later.

Because each photographer’s package differs slightly, the proposal lists exactly what you get — the number of photographs, the delivery time and the terms — next to the total price.