How much to charge to shoot a business' products?

[Braddock Photography]

I've been approached by a friend who runs a business where he sells candles, soaps, speciality baskets, etc and he wants me to shoot his new product line. He wants me to shoot several candles and baskets each.

I have never been approached to do this and have no idea what to charge. I went thru the forum for an hour trying to find something similar and I didn't find a thing.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Rodney B.

[Zansho]

It would depend on the use of the image. Website use? Publication? Advertising at his place of business? You need to determine how the image will be used before you can think of how to charge.

You also need to consider how long you want to grant the license to use the image. Does he want to use the image for 1 year? 2? Forever? Those kind of things also come into play.

Then there comes the time it takes for you to create this image - you to photograph it, bring it into photoshop and do whatever edits may be required, then giving it to him in whatever medium he requests (print, web, CD/DVD). Don't shortchange yourself in this regard either.

One word of caution. You mention he's a friend - and while I realize that he wants you to do this because you're a good photographer and a friend, he might expect you to do this for lower than what you normally would charge. That's fine, and you might do that - but it's in my experience (not mine, but seeing others) that sometimes monetary issues between friends can turn the friendship sour.

Those are the kind of factors I would keep in mind.

BTW, I usually charge around $500.00 for one image for one year license to use, as they see fit. Some people balk at that, but once they realize how much revenue they can generate because my image helped them sell their product, they realize the investment pays for itself.