New 20D, need to make money now...

[Bmaintz]

OK, my bank account has suffered with my new 20D, 50mm f/1.4 & 100mm f/2.8 macro..... I want to start a small local business doing birthday parties, anniversaries, graduations...etc (no weddings).... Say I take 100 pictures (candid & posing...no light set ups) & let the customer select 20 (review on site with a laptop) to print, then I give the customer all 100 shots on a CD.... Say I spend a couple of hours at the location, what would be a fair price to charge the customer?? $_______ .... Thanks, Bob :lol:

[jfrancho]

If you are giving them the CD, why would they pay you for the print? You may want to adjust your business model, or increase price accordingly.

[Steve Parr]

Charge what you're comfortable with, keeping in mind the number of hours you spend on site.

And I have to agree with jfrancho. If they're getting a CD, there's really no reason for them to pay you for prints...

Steve

[Bmaintz]

I would let them select 20 pictures out of the 100 & have them printed for them.... Just an extra touch of real prints to handle as well as the CD.... I believe there are many web sites that offer the printing at reasonable prices??.. If others at the party would want a CD or certain prints then I would charge extra for that.... Just want to know a general price range (I live in south Mississippi so prices are lower here in general)

[Sam]

If you give them a CD, friends and family will just get their pictures printed from that.

I charge people per hour on site for my time when asked to shoot parties, prints are something different all together. I factor in processing time and cost with that list.

See what other photographers are doing in your area. You skill level is something else to take into consideration.

[jfrancho]

Well, I am still not sure about selling copies of full res images, I doubt that you'd sell more than one, since they can be easily duped. I shoot live bands, and I get $150 for web res images. I work with the customer to get 20-50 keepers out of the shoot. Print packages or full res files are available at a significant extra charge. For online printing you could try White House Custom Color (WHCC), Mpix.com, EZPrint (smugmug's service) Shutterfly.com, Snapfish.com, or Kodak Galleries. I have used or seen first hand prints from these providers, and they're all decent. Some are better than others, for various reasons. Go check them out and you'll see what I mean.

[Bmaintz]

Looking for a laptop with a good screen to review the photos with the customer.... Be nice if the laptop had a CF card input....

[Big_B]

Lookup a couple of other local photographers. Use their rates as the basis for your charges (higher or lower depending on your level of experience)

[SuzyView]

That is something I am beginning to do a lot lately. I take pictures at my home and then show the customer (friend) the pictures right there on my laptop. I charge only for the time and give them the CD unless they want pictures adjusted and I will order them through Costco or Sam's Club and charge them for the time. I know some photographers who really like post-processing and will not surrender the CD to the customer. But I find post-processing tidious and would prefer not to deal with it if I can. I just walk away.

SuzyView

[am_pitbull_terrier]

OKI want to start a small local business doing birthday parties, anniversaries, graduations...etc (no weddings).... Say I take 100 pictures (candid & posing...no light set ups) & let the customer select 20 (review on site with a laptop) to print, then I give the customer all 100 shots on a CD.... Say I spend a couple of hours at the location, what would be a fair price to charge the customer?? $_______ .... Thanks, Bob :lol:

First I would agree with the others about giving the CD and buying prints. One other point to think about is, Say you take 100 photos..... Of that 100 what are really going to be "Good, Usable Shots"? Maybe being generous lets say 25 of the 100. Would you really want the other 75 "Okay" shots going to your customer? Post processing or not some photos will be no better that just "Okay" so remember this is your reputation on the line and the customer is going to show these photo to someone else.... Maybe another potential customer?

[jfrancho]

That's an excellent point, even though I sometimes include the band in the "selection process," I go through and cull the obvious duds. This can be more than half the shots sometimes - it's not that they are all bad either, sometimes there is 3-4 of the same shot due to shooting in bursts. It's also an easier process if there are 50-70 to pick 20 or so keepers from.

[Bmaintz]

Good thought on the bad ones.... I would probably shoot 150 instead of 100 & go through them before I get with the customer, that way most of the shots would be OK.... I am not talking about posed shots with set-up lighting but random candid shots with & without the flash (using the 50mm f/1.4)..... Trying to start a camera club in our area, will be a great help to me.... Thanks for all your help.....Bob

[jfrancho]

That sounds like a big improvement to your plan. I really like doing available light, somewhat candid portraits too. Don't be afraid to experiment with a flash, though. You can practice a few on your cusatomers without imapacting your customers by 1st reviewing and setting these shots aside, with your new plan. You can get some interesting results bouncing off the wall or ceiling when there isn't enough natural light. If you shoot raw, you can control the white balance and restore some of the warmness to the shots as well.

[Bmaintz]

Dito on the flash, would a 550EX do or could I get by with a 420EX....?
Will the 420EX tilt-up for a ceiling bounce??... Thanks, Bob

[jfrancho]

I'd look at this one (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=397664&is=USA&addedTroughType=categoryNavigation).

[Steve Parr]

Of that 100 what are really going to be "Good, Usable Shots"? Maybe being generous lets say 25 of the 100. Would you really want the other 75 "Okay" shots going to your customer?

It would depend, I think, entirely on why they would be considered unusable.

I had a guy not want the photos I took because he wore makeup when he performed, and he thought he looked silly. Well, he did. He looked damn silly.

But from a photographic quality perspective, they were very good shots, and most definitely "usable"...

Steve

[Sam]

One other point to think about is, Say you take 100 photos..... Of that 100 what are really going to be "Good, Usable Shots"? Maybe being generous lets say 25 of the 100. Would you really want the other 75 "Okay" shots going to your customer?

That's a pretty rough statement. My keeper rate is better than 25% :)

[PhotosGuy]

then I give the customer all 100 shots on a CD.... Then they take them to a drug store, make crappy prints, & when someone asks who took them they'll say...

[chtgrubbs]

Judging from what I read on the various forums and the number of new photographers who want to start business, I'd say you'll be able to charge about $75. Me, I don't take the camera out of the bag for less than $300.;)