Photos for friends.

[KartGirlsMom]

As I am getting better with this whole photography thing, friends are asking me to do some photography for them. One wants me to do her Senior pictures (she knows I have no studio skills and only wants outdoor photos, another wants me to do her Christmas card photo and yet another take some kids basketball photos.
As I am just learning, plus these people are all friends, I don't want to charge more than I am worth, but feel like my time should be compensated in some manner. What did you all do when you were just starting out?

[timmyquest]

I have been in similer situations lately and have always just done it for free simply because i didnt know what was fair. So i'm also interested in a reply.

[minatophase3]

I too am in a similar situation and here is what I have done so far.

I break it down into 2 categories:

Category 1 - Friends I ask to photograph to help build my portfolio
Category 2 - Friends that ask me to take pictures for them

First photo shoot for Category 1 was with my friend Nicole. I told her that if she posed for me she would get free pictures, I didn't put a limit on the number of free pictures, although she didn't take advantage of the situation.

Second photo shoot for Category 1 was with my friend Brooke. I told her that she could have 5 free sheets (8.5 x 11) and then $10 per sheet after that. After seeing the pictures I took of Brooke, her sister has scheduled a photo shoot with me for $50 which includes 2 sheets and then $10 per sheet after that.

Third photo shoot for Category 1 was with my friend Michelle and her family. I told her that she could have 3 free sheets and then $10 per sheet after that. She placed an order for 15 sheets!

After doing these shoots I now have Category 2 people asking me for pictures. They will not receive any free sheets and for the next couple of months my pricing will be at $10 per sheet.

Soon my prices will be going upt to $20 per sheet, or the customer can join my frequent photo program I will be offering for say $50 per year and can then get sheets at $15. I figure a frequent photo program will get them to come back to me.

I am still trying to figure out my pricing as well. I think us newbies tend to give away too much at first, but if you pay attention to how people receive your photo's you will start to understand what they are willing to pay.

I am also going to put together photo packages at a discount, but don't really know what those prices will be.

My friend Michelle is thrilled to get a bunch of nice pictures for only $120 ($10 per sheet but I offered 3 free). I am thrilled to know she wanted more than the free ones!

Also, by selecting nice subjects for the Category 1 shoots, I have already gotten 3 other Category 2 jobs!

So, my best advice is to give it away when you can use the photos to help build your portfolio. Then, put your pricing somewhere in between Walmart and a professional studio.

Tim

[Vegas Poboy]

To start I would look around on the local market to see what is the average pricing, per hour & per print. Then wisely build you a price list from there and don't forget about your skill level. Then find a couple of good photo print shops to see how much it will cost to print and check your profit margin.
I usually give friends 1/3 off my market price for prints and sometimes give them free labor, depending on the friend. This way you'll have a base to grow from & when others come to you the base pricing will be set.
Don't bite off more than you can chew :)
Good Luck

[AprilShowers]

I had a similar situation- I was at a bodybuilding competition taking pics for fun. I want to also get my name out there with the bb'ers.

One of the bb'ers parents gave me a line like 'oh i forgot my camera can u take a pic and send it to me?' I smiled, took the picture and at home, discovered I had taken a slew of pics of her son. I emailed her the pics.
She wrote back wanting hard copies, asked how much it would cost.

I fudged, didn't research the prices enough, just made a gestimation of print prices and shipping.

Turns out I made about 5 bucks profit from these incredible pics.

Don't make the mistake I made, give yourself credit and if they request it you can charge them enough to cover the basic costs and a few bucks for you. Minimal charges cover camera costs (it wasn't free, right?)

Like the guy up there mentioned, make two categories. One for practice (for yourself) and one for friends who would like to use your talent towards good use.

[Harry Settle]

I am in the same situation. I was asked to do family picts, senior picts and wedding picts at a friends 50th wedding anniversary celebration. I did the shoot for the cost of developing. I gave them all their requested pictures with a price sheet for reprints. The orders were good.

It isn't necessarily that you've never done them before, it's whether they like the results or not. A good set of photos is still a good set of photos.

[Cheese]

I think that if you are doing something for a friend then you should only cover your out of pocket costs and not charge for your time. Isn't helping our friends out a part of what friendship is?

However if you are taking pictures for a 50th anniversary or some such event and pictures were requested for the other guests then it would be reasonable to charge those people for your costs and time. You would have to of course take into consideration your skill level and what a "professional" would charge for the same service.

It's like if your friend asked if you could come over with your truck and help move some things. You would reasonable expect your friend to cover the cost of the gas but not pay for your time. If your friend asked if you could help his neighbour move then it would be reasonable to charge for gas and time.

These are just my feelings.

Ron