Birthday party price?

[Lin-z]

I have been asked to come and take pictures for a child's birthday. The mother wants me to take pictures of the kids, cake, family, etc.

I am not sure of what to charge. I am thinking that I will probably be there for about 2 maybe 3 hours. I know she will ask me to do more stuff in the future if I do a good job with this party, and she will tell lots of people about me.

I am just not sure if I should like give her a flat fee for my time, and give her a CD... Or if I should try to do like a package with prints.

My prices for weddings and portraits are pretty low because I am just starting out so this price will need to be fairly low also..

I was thinking maybe like $50 or $60 bucks for time and a CD??? Too low?

[GPR1]

I think that's way too low, especially if you're going to give her the CD. Often time people get stuck into thinking just about their time at the event: "Let's see, 3 hours, 60 dollars, 20 bucks an hour...not so bad for a beginner." The problem is, you have thousands of dollars of gear, travel time, post processing time, etc. In the end, you're running real short. In addition, if she's going to use you for more, she (and her friends) will want the same rate in the future.

All that said, you can only charge what the market will bear. You have the better sense of that than we do.

Greg

[liza]

I charge a session fee of $50 per two-hour session plus the cost of prints. The only time I do the CD thing is with senior portraits, and it's $200 for 15 color corrected images or $300 for 30 with color correction and special effects.

[Lin-z]

I just hate to quote too high and then not get to do it at all...

[MikeMcL]

as said above, charge what the market will bear. i can attest to the fact that if this lady, and her friends all become your customers at a low price, you will never be able to charge them more.

think about this, maybe get $100.00 for it, give a cd with a moderate amount of images, and "include" a package of her favorite prints. Maybe let her proof off of the disc, and choose her 3 favorites, and give her an 8x10, a couple 5x7's and a group of wallets.

some people will tell you not to work cheap, but i say for a beginner, work is work. many of the people that advise you not to work cheap might be the ones who have said that doing work for free is sometimes necessary when you start out.

It's a kids B-day, just have fun with it, limit your time spent to a fair "per hour rate" and only give her the great shots. dont give a disc with 500 images on it. give her a disc with the best 30 or whatever.

-just my take on it.

[deadpass]

I wouldn't charge less than 250, but i'd be willing to go as low as 200 if mom made a big stink about about it, but it all depends on what the market will allow. For me, If my camera is out, i'm atleast 100 an hour, regardless of content.

[Vegas Poboy]

I wouldn't charge less than 250, but i'd be willing to go as low as 200 if mom made a big stink about about it, but it all depends on what the market will allow. For me, If my camera is out, i'm atleast 100 an hour, regardless of content.

I totally agree and glad to hear that they're photographers on the market who knows their value.

[MikeMcL]

oh so congratulations to growing to that point.. but honestly can you say that you have always pulled that price? i doubt it.

keep in ming that we are advising a beginner who is in the "$60" range... better to give advice for the person rather than boasting about our personal worth.

i personally think this person would benefit more from real advice rather than "just charge alot".

it is practice, it is a kids b-day and it is practice. and its a kids b-day.

---I got an idea just charge two thousand dollars an hour, and dont get the job!

j/k have fun on the job, and get a good hundred or so and learn alot.

[chtgrubbs]

Call your local car repair and ask how much an hour they charge for shop time. Call a plumber or electrician and ask how much they charge per hour. You should be charging at least as much as these guys would. And remember, the garage doubles the price of car parts. You should do the same for your prints.

[Vegas Poboy]

To Clarify pricing, every area in the world have different market values, I once was new to the pro market a few years ago. I still treat every job as something new so I can learn from it,to me that makes photography fun. I've also have learned that once you start charging to shoot events that you have to have a good starting point and adjust from there. This party may lead to other parties it's hard to raise your price from $ to $$, that is the reason a good starting point is $75.00 to $100.00 everyone will not go for it but those who enjoy your work will.

The other factor if you really want to use it in your favor is state that you normally charge blank but since they're friend you will give them a discount. That way if anyone else looks for your service you have already set your pricing range.

Also make sure you get some type of contract with a model release, it will come in handy for future use.

My first job was a friend wanting a group family shot because he knew I was taking photography three years later I'm getting calls daily and still use some of the images for my portfolio.

Have fun, make it worth your time and their money and grow from there.

Good luck,

Just a ball park price if your really not sure 2 hours $200.00 - 50% and crop everything to 4x5 @300 dpi full rights.
That will get them a clean 8x10 print if they want. 70 - 100 images on the CD.

[Lin-z]

I am thinking for 100 bucks i will go, do it, and give them a small book of 4x6 prints in a nice little album. Probably like 20 prints. Then they can order reprints if they want, and I will give them a price list for that.

[MikeMcL]

i think that you have made a good decision. Keep in mind what poboy said about the contract. even if this is a great friend you still want to do this, if not only to CYA and for the practice.
make sure you go in armed with a pricelist, it looks very professional, dont just guess or fire prices off the top of your head. they like to see little packages too. it seems that you do this all the time, and you are in control of the situation.
make sure that you know the situation about the data CD. they WILL ask if they can have a disc of all the pics. Either have a price in mind, or just let them know that you dont release it. if you do give it to them, forget making any money on the prints.
I tell a customer that if their print sales go over a certain amount, they can get the digital copies of the pics for free. this certain amount is usually 150.00 for something small like this... it is amazing how fast you can sell 150 worth of prints if you put it on a site, and send the URL to all the grandmas of the kid.