How do flat-rate and per-person pricing work?
With flat-rate pricing you book the station for a set time. The price covers the photographer, the lights and the delivery, whether 60 people show up or 240. Per-person pricing charges for each headshot, often with a minimum. Some vendors mix the two: a day rate, then extra charges for instant delivery or for each retouched image.
Read the add-on list before you compare totals. Published full-day booth rates we've seen in 2026 run $3,200 to $3,850 before add-ons, with instant delivery around $900 a day extra or retouching at $39 an image. Those extras turn a day rate into per-person pricing through the back door.
What does a flat rate cost per attendee?
Divide the price by the people you expect. The more people come, the less each headshot costs you.
| Headshots taken | Full Day booked by Dec 31, 2026 ($4,850) | Full Day booked from Jan 1, 2027 ($5,250) |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | $48.50 each | $52.50 each |
| 150 | $32.33 each | $35.00 each |
| 200 | $24.25 each | $26.25 each |
| 240 | $20.21 each | $21.88 each |
One station handles up to 30 people an hour, so 240 is the ceiling for a single eight-hour day. Expecting more? The station planner shows when a second station pays off.
Where's the break-even headcount?
Our per-person list is built for office team sessions. It's priced in blocks, like tax brackets: the first 10 people are $225 each, people 11 to 24 are $175, people 25 to 49 are $125, people 50 to 99 are $75, and everyone from 100 up is $55. There's a $1,200 minimum per day. Those prices are as of November 5, 2026.
| People | Per-person (Team Headshots list, Nov 5, 2026) | Flat Full Day, booked by Dec 31, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | $2,250 | $4,850 |
| 20 | $4,000 | $4,850 |
| 25 | $4,825 | $4,850 |
| 30 | $5,450 | $4,850 |
| 50 | $7,900 | $4,850 |
| 100 | $11,630 | $4,850 |
| 200 | $17,130 | $4,850 |
Break-even sits at about 25 people. Below that, per-person is cheaper. Above it, the flat rate wins, and the gap gets wide fast.
One honest caveat. The per-person list includes a fully retouched photo for each person. The flat booth includes basic touch-ups on the spot, delivered the same day. If you want full retouching at an event too, add the pro-edited portrait option at $1,850 per station per day (as of November 5, 2026). Even with it, a 2026 booking comes out cheaper than per-person from about 40 people up.
Why does turnout make per-person pricing risky?
At an event you don't control the headcount. Registrations aren't attendance. Nobody knows how many people will stop for a photo until the doors open, so per-person pricing turns a guess into a budget line that can run over.
Repeat visits are the other surprise. At Skift's Women Leading Travel Forum in New Orleans in June 2026, we ran 168 sessions for 143 people, and 12 of them came back for a second session. At Revolt World 2023 in Atlanta it was 492 sessions for 450 people. Under a flat rate, a second look costs you nothing. Billed per head, someone has to decide whether it counts.
Flat pricing also takes a job off your plate on the day. Nobody counts heads at the station. Nobody has to tell a VP at 2 p.m. that the budget's gone.
When is per-person pricing the better deal?
- Small teams: under about 25 people, the per-person list costs less.
- Office sessions where each person needs a fully retouched photo for the company website.
- A known headcount, like a leadership team or a new-hire class, where turnout isn't a guess.
For those, look at BLINK's office and team headshots in Los Angeles and Orange County. For conferences, trade shows and sales kickoffs, flat rate is the better deal. Not sure your event is big enough? Read the best events for a headshot booth.
What's in BLINK's flat rate?
| Package | Booked by Dec 31, 2026 | Booked from Jan 1, 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Full Day, 1 station, up to 240 headshots | $4,850 | $5,250 |
| 2-Day, 1 station, up to 480 headshots | $9,215 | $10,000 |
| 3-Day, 1 station, up to 720 headshots | $13,580 | $15,000 |
| Double Station Full Day, up to 480 headshots | $9,100 | Quoted per event |
Travel is included in any U.S. city. A 50% retainer holds the date, and the price depends on when you book, not when the event happens. Each guest steps up, gets directed by the photographer and sees the shot before leaving.
If a sponsor is paying, see how to sell a headshot lounge to a sponsor. The headshot booth cost guide compares vendor pricing in more detail, and our pricing page lists every package.
