The honest answer first: between € 650 and € 1,649 net for an event in Vienna. The rest of this article explains what that depends on – and why the hour is the wrong unit.
Search for “event photographer Vienna prices” and you’ll usually find one of two things: no numbers at all (“on request”) or an hourly rate with no context. Neither helps when you have to sign off a budget for a conference or a company party. So here are my prices, exactly as they appear on my event photography page, and the logic behind them.
The short version: my 2026 prices
| Package | Price (net) | Duration | Images |
|---|---|---|---|
| Half-day event | € 650 | up to 4 hours | 80–120 edited images |
| Full-day event | € 1,290 | up to 8 hours | 200–300 edited images |
| Complete package | € 1,649 | up to 10 hours, splittable across 2 days | 300+ edited images, press master set |
| Hourly rate | € 180 / hr | minimum 3 hours | approx. 25–30 edited images per hour |
Every package includes:
- a pre-event briefing
- travel within Vienna and up to 30 km
- post-processing of every usable image
- delivery through a password-protected online gallery within 3 working days
- full commercial usage rights – unlimited in time and territory
The full-day event is the most booked package. Not because it sits in the middle, but because a conference, an annual general meeting or a gala with a reception rarely stays under six hours.
Why the hour is the wrong unit
An hourly rate sounds transparent but hides what you’re paying for. For a full-day event with 8 hours on site, I spend about as much time again on what happens afterwards: backing up to three drives, selecting from 1,500 to 3,000 raw frames, editing, exporting in the formats your marketing team needs, building the gallery.
The package covers that time. So does the € 180 hourly rate – which is why it’s higher than mere attendance would justify.
What moves the price up or down
The number of images doesn’t. You get every usable image. I don’t sell photos individually afterwards, and I don’t make you pick 20 from 50 previews. Anyone offering that has moved the price, not lowered it.
Delivery time does. 3 working days is standard. If your press office needs 15 key images the same evening, that’s the “Social Media Rush” at € 150 – images ready to share within 2 hours after the event ends (which, for me, usually means a night shift).
Size does. From around 200 people, or with parallel talks in several rooms, one photographer can’t be everywhere. Then a second photographer joins, priced by scope.
The venue does – sometimes. If the rooms themselves need documenting alongside the event – exhibition spaces, a newly occupied office, a venue for marketing – that’s its own discipline with tripod, different lenses and controlled exposures: “Architecture & venue documentation”, € 350 as an add-on.
Distance only does outside Vienna. Within Vienna and up to 30 km one way, travel is included. Beyond that I charge the official mileage allowance, not travel time.
What to compare across quotes
When you lay several quotes side by side, don’t ask for the hourly rate. Ask these five questions – they are the difference between two quotes that look identical on paper:
- How many finished images do I get, and who selects them? With me: all usable ones, I select, there’s no preview hurdle.
- When? 3 working days. Anything that says “depending on workload” or “within two weeks” costs you the news value of your event.
- What can I do with them? Full commercial rights: website, LinkedIn, press, print, internal communication, with no time limit. Many quotes license “social media, 1 year” – and the surcharge comes later. More in the guide to copyright and usage rights.
- What happens if a memory card fails? Two cameras, dual card slots, every image exists in two places before I leave the room. That’s in no hourly rate, but it decides whether you have images on Monday.
- Is travel included?
A worked example
Annual conference, 9:00 to 17:00 at a hotel, 180 attendees, one plenary hall, dinner in the evening until 21:00: that’s 12 hours. On paper, the complete package (up to 10 hours, € 1,649) plus 2 hours at the hourly rate – or, more sensibly, a conversation beforehand about whether the dinner needs full coverage or whether the first 60 minutes are enough – they usually are. Then it stays at the complete package.
For everything that doesn’t fit a table – multi-day congresses, a second photographer, video – there’s the budget calculator on the event photography page for a first estimate, and then a phone call.
In closing
Prices that aren’t public aren’t a sign of exclusivity; they’re a sign of negotiating room – and that rarely favours the one who asks later. Mine are here so you can plan your budget before we ever speak.
The service Event photography in Vienna