Had an offer to take photos of art that will be for sale on website

[Talley]

Never done any type of paid photography but I have a Co-Worker who is having a website built for her paintings to sell. She does canvas painting and has not sold but a few and is going through and paying a company $2,000 to make a website and she asked that in about a month if I could take the photos of her paintings to be used and put on her website to sell the paintings.

I've always wanted to get into paid photography but considering I've only had an SLR for 9 months I didn't consider it yet. I figured maybe after about 2-3 years of experience. So I'm not sure one the rates. I was thinking just an hourly rate and be done with it... whats your thoughts? I was thinking around $80/hr (I'm a master electrician by day and this is my rate for when I ran my own company).

[5x5 photography]

It is tough to put an hourly rate on photography (keep in mind there is also a lot of time spent editing). I like to bid by the job, keeping in mind time on set, time in PP, difficulty, and usage (which is most important).
$80 an hour is cheap for a master electrician.

[Christopher Steven b]

Let's put aside the issue of considering electrician's work similar in value to photography--my question is: are you a professional photographer in the same way as you were (are) a professional (master) electrician ? In my mind (to tread into the subject of the other thread) unless you've done jobs like this in a professional capacity, it seems strange to charge as if you were a professional. At the same time, however, it sounds like there's nothing to lose here (quite unlike a wedding, re-shoots are possible); and so it sounds like a good opportunity to break in.

Whatever you charge, have a look at the ASMP site and look into distinctions between commercial and retail photography.