How Much do I charge? For your consideration

[surgeonhawkeye]

Great thread, i just finished reading the whole 31 pages, and I will go with the pros here, Nothing in life is free, someone pays for it, so its better if THEY pay instead of you.

[Bang Bang Boy]

Im just 19 years old. Got out of school just before summer this year.

Bought myself a 50d a kit lens and looked for gigs. With enough guts and balls you can earn alot of money. Its all out there, you just gotta sell yourself and not your images. Met a girl at a party, knew she was a good photographer since earlier. Started "dating" her and eventually milked enough contacts out of her to start shooting fashion. Had a coffe with her the other day where she realized I had become the competition.

Just now I am finishing up on the last couple of images and I am selling them to over 20 people. Payday is soon here.

I am a lazy person, trust me. I am not that good of a photographer, I know how to handle a camera but in photoshoop I am a true n00b. Yet I've got work. And I am living of it!
None of the people I have shot for has asked for sample images beforehand, they hire you and not your images. It's retarded but thats how alot of people think.

This thread is a blessing though, some great tips in it.

[Fanto]

Wow great thread, lots of useful info for starters.

[Jannie]

I had a chat a couple of weeks ago with a fellow who'd just got laid off from Corbis, he said that basically they all got laid off in the photo section and the only thing the company was really going for was intellectual rights for dead rock stars. I have no substantiation of this, it was just a conversation.

We asked why the drop kick and he said that flickr was doing them in. I'm not on flickr but he said that the major clients they had were going to flickr and finding front page of magazine photos and getting them for free, offering credit for the shots, he said it was hurting all the stock agencys but one he mentioned in particular was Getty. This has been done for a while, and now apparently the stock agencys themselves are getting underpriced. One of the stock agency's recently announced that they were reducing the rates they were paying their photographers.

I guess the bottom line might be to start shooting things that the client's can't buy elsewhere, i.e. something with their product in the shot, maybe that will work. Also it's unlikely that they can buy a really good portrait of themselves off the internet.

[1337.]

I was recently asked by someone to do family photos for their family when everyone was together over thanksgiving. They wanted a large group photo, individual shots, and individual family shots, and wanted a disk of all the images as well as a possibility of some prints. Would a grand be a good price to ask around? more? less? This will be my first big job so I'd like to get a good starting price to base future stuff off of.

[GerryDavid]

I was recently asked by someone to do family photos for their family when everyone was together over thanksgiving. They wanted a large group photo, individual shots, and individual family shots, and wanted a disk of all the images as well as a possibility of some prints. Would a grand be a good price to ask around? more? less? This will be my first big job so I'd like to get a good starting price to base future stuff off of.

A family portrait and individual shots is not a ton of work, unless its like 50 people. but if its 10 or less the photography would be about an hour or two, and then some time behind photoshop.

Around here, if I offered someone a family portrait starting at $1000 I would either be slapped or they would just walk away. But its probably more acceptable in high income areas.

[1337.]

A family portrait and individual shots is not a ton of work, unless its like 50 people. but if its 10 or less the photography would be about an hour or two, and then some time behind photoshop.

Around here, if I offered someone a family portrait starting at $1000 I would either be slapped or they would just walk away. But its probably more acceptable in high income areas.

yea, a grand was sounding a little too crazy, so I edited it down to this
http://i54.tinypic.com/126crh1.jpg

[GerryDavid]

If you can get $1000, why not. :)

[1337.]

If you can get $1000, why not. :)

I doubt I could. The reason I keep lowering stuff here is because i'm being told to charge 100, 200 tops from people on another forum. Of course, they aren't professionals and aren't used to the pricing...

[QueenChatty]

Whoa 100 would be way to cheap. Don't sell yourself so short. Prices for a studio shoot in my small city start at 50.00 for the sitting and then about 14.95 for a 8X10. If you are going on location like their home then the sitting fee increases to 75.00.

[GerryDavid]

Instead of giving them a fixed price, you could let them choose what they want. your not guaranteed a certain income this way but the customer will probably be more confident knowing they wont have to invest hundreds in something that may suck.

charge a sitting fee if you want to. travel if its not local.
some people charge $$ per person above 4 people.

then so much for prints, so much for wall portraits, so much for photo books. Ive been having good sales with photo books lately. Its a bit more work, but people love the idea of a nice presentation for the pictures. Then they gotta buy prints to give to people.

[1337.]

If you can get $1000, why not. :)

Whoa 100 would be way to cheap. Don't sell yourself so short. Prices for a studio shoot in my small city start at 50.00 for the sitting and then about 14.95 for a 8X10. If you are going on location like their home then the sitting fee increases to 75.00.

Here's my final invoice that I emailed to the client:
http://i52.tinypic.com/2z7e4u9.jpg

[QueenChatty]

Here's my final invoice that I emailed to the client:
http://i52.tinypic.com/2z7e4u9.jpg
I think that is very fair and they should be very happy!

[sharon11]

Photography is my hobby....But now i want to make it as my profession ..for this i am going to set up my own office...please help me in making a budget...

[1337.]

Photography is my hobby....But now i want to make it as my profession ..for this i am going to set up my own office...please help me in making a budget...

Sharon, what are you looking to get? what do you already have? things you think you need?

[ni$mo350]

A friend contacted me about shooting some product shots for the company she works for as well as a couple portrait pics and a group pic. I'm still saving for my lighting so I'm thinking I'll need to rent a setup which will be around $50 (Ranger Quadra 2 head set). I don't mind doing that as I'm planning to pick up the quadras when taxes come back and would like to try them out first.

This is a first for me though as I've only charged for car shoots and senior/family/e-sessions as well as a few weddings and have no clue what to ask for these. She said there will be anywhere from 30-40 overall finished pics on their site. No prints will be needed and from what i can estimate the shoot should last around 3-4 hours on location.

I'm lost as far as what to charge here. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[DiegoV]

I just found this thread and I'm loving it. A lot of good advices :)

Now for the tricky part: as some of you, I'm also having trouble deciding how much I should charge for my photos. I've been contacted by a print-selling website owner who wants to sell prints (50cm or 80cm wide) of some of my photographs. He's interested in buying the rights for a limited number of prints or a limited period of time - not the full rights.

I don't know yet how many prints they'll want but I have no idea of the fair price to ask for an image. All I know is the obvious - the more prints he wants the rights for, the more expensive it gets.

Any thougts?

Thank you very much :)

[opianstate]

just started a thread on this, but figured a post here would be pertinent as well -

Hello everyone, I was recently approached by a friend who said their executive office needed portraits done for the company website. I'm not familiar with this type of work and the pricing it brings with it; was wondering what everyone else had in mind as far as a good quote.

As I understand it, it's B&W, edited images (any imperfections removed in post, they were adamant about that, haha) for use on their website. Their office contains 5 or 6 people that will be getting their shots done. I'll be using a beauty dish and a speedlite or two.

What kind of quote should I throw out? Their corporate office is here in Phoenix, but if they like me they'll fly me to another office out in OC to do theirs as well.

Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Monkey-KC]

in everyones opinion,
how much do you charge?
do you charge by hour?
the photos? etc.....

break out on how to charge people in the photography business. it would be nice to have a starting rate for pro-am photographers.

[GarethLeigh]

I asked this question in a different thread but figured I should ask it here.

For those that charge hourly, do you track the time spent editing photos in the total number of hours to charge for or do you just charge for the time spent during the photo shoot and make sure the hourly fee covers editing?

[es1]

I asked this question in a different thread but figured I should ask it here.

For those that charge hourly, do you track the time spent editing photos in the total number of hours to charge for or do you just charge for the time spent during the photo shoot and make sure the hourly fee covers editing?
What I've seen many people doing is that they charge xx$/image from post. So shoot is charged seperately and everything you do in post is charged per image. Different prices for different styles of post. For example, xx$ per image you will do the usual color corrections etc that doesn't take too much time, but then for more hardcore retouching and those special styles it can be way more.

One another way for example is to include few post processed images in the hourly rate. If you have your own "style" and are known for it, people that want you to shoot them are usualy expecting to get pictures that share the same look as the other pictures in your portfolio. In this case you know what you have to do in post already before the shoot and it's easier to just give hourly rate that includes as many ready for print images as your client wants. Some people actually think that the final image is always coming straight from the camera and if you shoot them for xxx$/hour, send the photos to your client with minimal corrections in post, they will be like "why aren't these images looking as cool as your other images" and after that you tell them that it takes around 1 hour to edit one image before it starts looking like that... and then it gets akward. It's still always best to ask what kind of look your client has in his/her mind regarding to the final image.

Everyone works differently and you just have to charge in the way that suits you the best.

[QueenChatty]

I like to make things more simpilfied so what I do is first I charge a sitting fee. There are two separate sitting fee charges...one for my studio location and if I have to go on location a different charge.
Then after the shoot is done I hand the client a pricing sheet with the costs per image. There is not separate charges for each image other than size. I think it is better to have a price sheet for the size of photo rather than what I do in PP to a photo. I think what I do to achieve the best PP should be done to each photo anyways. My style is my style and hence my work flow is the same for each image I do. After all that is why they wanted me to do the shoot right??

[es1]

I like to make things more simpilfied so what I do is first I charge a sitting fee. There are two separate sitting fee charges...one for my studio location and if I have to go on location a different charge.
Then after the shoot is done I hand the client a pricing sheet with the costs per image. There is not separate charges for each image other than size. I think it is better to have a price sheet for the size of photo rather than what I do in PP to a photo. I think what I do to achieve the best PP should be done to each photo anyways. My style is my style and hence my work flow is the same for each image I do. After all that is why they wanted me to do the shoot right??
Yeah, but an extreme example when this don't work is Dave Hill. The time used post on his black & white portraits is nothing compared to that super complex stuff he is known for.

[QueenChatty]

Yeah, but an extreme example when this don't work is Dave Hill. The time used post on his black & white portraits is nothing compared to that super complex stuff he is known for.
I don't know who Dave Hill is but like you mentioned EXTREME example.
You were asking about general pricing were you not. If you are thinking about extras then you would have a portfolio of examples that cover the out of the norm pricing. These would come into effect when the client has specified that they want that type of shoot from the get go I would think, I always have a meet up with my clients regarding the type of photo shoot they are looking for to discuss the mood of the shoot and what their expectations are and then the pricing can reflect that.

[vmichael@biktop.net]

Jeff

What a powerful post! I totally agree! I have been a pro-amatuer photographer for about 5 years now.

My first I gave away a lot of pictures and the pictures were used in billoards, advertisements, newspapers, sports publications, even National team websites.
I love soccer and I love shooting soccer. I was just thrilled that I could take pictures from the coaches bench. I'm not talking about kids playing, I talking about professional games. Needless to say, some of the picutres I have taken are no doubt poster quality and very very good. Problem: I gave them away for FREE before and now they don't want to pay for them. I had a gentlemens agreement with the President of the Club that if the team started to make money so would I. Well into the 5th seasons now and still no money. I told them that I would not shoot for them this year unless Iwas compensated. My equipment and my time cost a lot of money. My lenses alone are over 6K.
But I will miss being on the field. As it was after the 2nd year I told them I would only give them 5 pics per game of my choosing. So am I shooting myself in the foot and not go to the games anymore or should I continue to give them 5 pictures to be able to be on the field during the games?

I wish I could make money shooting but it seems that if I don't give it away free someone else will.
There have been countless threads on this forum from people asking for a price for anything from a single photo to be published to how much to charge for a shooting assignment.

Some say they don't want to make any money from this photo just a few bucks. Others say they don't want any pay at all just a photo credit to get their name out there or to see it in a paper with their photo credit.
Quick tell me the name of the photographer who took the last shot you saw in your local paper that made you say WOW!!What a shot! Can't remember his name? Nobody will remember yours either


There are also threads which talk about using some of these online stock agencies, which pay next to nothing.

Now consider this, if you support one of these online agencies by supplying them with images or, if you are willing to give your images away just for a credit consider the ramifications of those acts.

Let's say that a year down the road you and the little Mr/Mrs decide you want to buy some lake front property for a weekend home and possible to retire to in the future. How can you afford this? Hey I know, I can start selling my images instead of basically giving them away.
So now you start looking around for someplace to represent you, a stock agency or a photo agent. Hmmmm, your having some trouble finding one now. Why? Because editors have used Istock or some of the other give away stock agencies and have found that they can find something on there which will meet their needs. Why pay another agency $800 for that stock photo when they can get one for $4.00?
You finally get in contact by telephone with an editor at The Best Damn Stock Agency in the World. You explain you have quite a collection of great images. He asks if you have ever sold any of them. "Yes, lots of them on istock.com" CLICK "Hello? Hello?"

Now you decide that maybe you will call the paper that ran your hs football shots for the last 4 years and see if they would be interested in hiring you to cover the local hs sporting events, nothing major in the way of pay. Maybe $75 a game. Guess what? They would love to have you do it but, it doesn't pay anything. Why should they start to pay you now. You have been doing it for 4 years at no charge. You won't work for free anymore? Fine, Johnny Gotshots has a new camera and has been bugging them for the last 3 months with wanting to submit his shots from the hs game.

Maybe you can contact a calendar company and see if they would be interested in taking a look at your landscapes and wildlife shots. Nope, they don't accept submissions anymore. All their images come from istock or a similar agency. Sorry but we have stockholders who are now making $35 a share instead of $2.00 and they love it.

Oh there will always be sources which will pay "pro" rates but, they will have a strict list of people whom they accept images from and you ain't on that list now nor will you be on it in this or anyother lifetime. Because of your actions in the past there is no longer a market for your photos that will pay you. Your work now has no value and the freebie agencies and photo credit only guys are where you can look to to see why the market is gone.
So you have to tell the Mr/Mrs that there is no way we can afford that lakeside cottage, sorry dear.

One thing you have to understand, any image you create has value. Some more than others. If someone contacts you and wants to use that photo for X use, it has a value. If they are not willing to pay you for it's use then it has little value, to them at least. They will find something suitable for their needs and some other schmuck will be thrilled that his photo was used. Guess what? You both got paid the same....nothing!

Now consider this, remember the shot of President Clinton shaking hands with people and Monica Lewinsky is in the crowd with her little beret on? How much revenue did that single photo generate? My guess would be close to $100,000 and I would be willing to bet that when the photo first ran, nobody knew who Monica Lewinsky was.
How about the shot of Jack Ruby sticking his gun in the belly of Lee Harvey Oswald? Oswalds mouth open showing the agony of pain from that gun shot. How much revenue did that generate? Probably more than 1/4 of a million $$$.
Ok so those were both newsworthy events, you don't ever shoot stuff like that. Everyone has seen a shot of the NYC skyline, the Jefferson Memorial at night reflecting off the water, how about a shot of a palace guard at Buckingham Palace? Not really newsworthy really but, still anyone of those images have raked in enough money to buy the entire line of Canon L lenses.
Can you afford to give away a single image that may turn into one of those once in a lifetime shots?
Give away your copyright, sell it for .20 a download over the internet, sell it for a photo credit and then think of how you will feel when all of a sudden you see that image which you have hanging on your wall and are so proud of being republished everywhere. In magazines, on TV programs, billboards, ads in magazines and newspapers.
When you get that sick to your stomach feeling because you gave that image away and now you realize that one image alone, made more in the last 6 months in revenue than you will make working 40 hours a week for the next 10 years, put the gun down and send ol' IndyJeff and email. Let me know that image is yours and you wished more than anything in the world you would have heeded the advice given by KennyG, VWPilot, RFMSports, Bloo Dog, myself and countless others to charge for your work because you now realize.....IT HAS VALUE!!!!!

[snakedoc]

I wish I could make money shooting but it seems that if I don't give it away free someone else will.

You just answered your own question. DO NOT give it away free. You're NEVER going to make money by giving your stuff away for free. And if someone else does it, so what? Are you afraid someone else will make ZERO money instead of you?

I've been on both sides of the fence. Growing up in the 70s and 80s, my father was a pro photographer. He never did anything for free, but would on occasion do work for friends in exchange for goods or services.

I work as a creative director in advertising. I loathe using stock photography and avoid it whenever possible. Everything that Jeff said also applies to the advertising world. Clients are so used to cheap, crappy stock, that it's sometimes impossible for them to even include photography in a production budget. And I'm not just talking about shoots. We're talking even licensed stock. I spent two years working on an account for a Fortune 50 company that refused to use anything but royalty-free rubbish.

If you give your work away for free, it means it has no value. And you know what? Enough of you have done this so that clients today pretty much assign no value to it. So please, please, please charge for your work. If you want to do it for free, post it on Flickr.

[Pinto]

You just answered your own question. DO NOT give it away free. You're NEVER going to make money by giving your stuff away for free. And if someone else does it, so what? Are you afraid someone else will make ZERO money instead of you?

I've been on both sides of the fence. Growing up in the 70s and 80s, my father was a pro photographer. He never did anything for free, but would on occasion do work for friends in exchange for goods or services.

I work as a creative director in advertising. I loathe using stock photography and avoid it whenever possible. Everything that Jeff said also applies to the advertising world. Clients are so used to cheap, crappy stock, that it's sometimes impossible for them to even include photography in a production budget. And I'm not just talking about shoots. We're talking even licensed stock. I spent two years working on an account for a Fortune 50 company that refused to use anything buy royalty-free rubbish.

If you give your work away for free, it means it has no value. And you know what? Enough of you have done this so that clients today pretty much assign no value to it. So please, please, please charge for your work. If you want to do it for free, post it on Flickr.

Excellent response, snakedoc.
The big problem with creative people is that we love what we do, and people take advantage of that. You cannot eat photo credits or pride of accomplishment.

[sdipirro]

OK, so I've been one of the guilty ones, giving it away for free, but I've only been doing this for family and close friends, where I always felt like I was getting something out of the experience that was worth at least what they were getting. So all was good. But now, by word of mouth and a little Facebook advertising, I'm getting requests from people I don't know so well or don't know at all (portraits, sport shooting, etc.). So I'm at that transition point where I feel like I need a business model and some guidelines for charging people. I have a home studio, can and have done location work, and my post-processing skills are pretty good. However, I don't feel like I can charge what an experienced pro photographer charges, but I need to start somewhere. Are there recent guidelines for this (I'm in New England, if that matters)?

Some things I've already thought about doing (but haven't done yet):
- Change my insurance for my gear to a commercial policy (rather than rider on my homeowners)
- Upgrade my smugmug account to a pro account to set pricing

If there are other things I should be thinking about too, let me know. Ballpark hourly rates for shoots would give me a starting point. Thanks.

[asamimasa]

Although I don't shoot for my own personal profit, I shoot for my photo club at UCSD. We get commissioned by various departments throughout the school, and we typically charge $200 to cover a short event (commemoration banquets, special guest of honor dinners). We then give out our contact info which leads to our Smugmug accounts and guests and staff can purchase pictures from there.
We also do graduating senior portrait shoots at $40-50 for a 2hr session. Last year, we dropped it down to $30 for a brief period of time, and we got flooded with requests so we raised it back to $40, and made quite a killing off of that.

[sdipirro]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm surprised you weren't just as flooded with requests with $40 for a 2-hour session. That's a real bargain. I know there are experienced pros charging many hundreds of dollars for 2-hour sessions. Maybe I should look at what local pros are charging and set my rates accordingly, and then use smugmug for prints and merchandise. Food for thought. Thanks.

[AGphoto33]

So I'm new to the business of photography. I love taking pictures and I just recently started to do some photo shoots for a friend who just had a baby, and another friend who is currently pregnant, I did not charge them. I did it for fun and for the experience. I am still learning and people are already asking me for my rates. Help! Anyone have any suggestions of what I should charge starting out? I am in the process of getting a website made to advertise my pictures.

[NGC2141]

I was approached this week and asked about photographing the Marine Corps ball for a local unit. As of right now I have no figures on the number of Marines in the unit that will be attending but would estimate it between 50-100.

My plan is to set up a "studio" area with backdrop and lighting for 3/4 shots of couples. I also plan to have a second shooter for candids of the events throughout the night.

I am trying to determine exactly how to price this out. The unit is responsible for all costs of the event and they have a tight budget. I was thinking of pricing the portraits individually to couples and charge a flat fee to the unit for the candids. I could provide the candids on DVD for a set price to the unit and leave the portraits fees up to the individual Marines.

Any idea of what I should be charging for these services? How much for a CD of candids, and how much for each couple's portrait?

Have you shot an event like this before? What did you charge?

[GDHugh]

I did that exact thing for a non-profit group. It was a three day weekend event. Portraits sold very well. It was very hectic even with my teen scheduling appointments. I sold prints by the sheet. 1-8x10, 2-5x7, 4-4x6, a sheet of wallets, etc. $40.00/sheet. I offered a 20% discount for multiple sheets.
The candit shots I put of DVD set to music and sold them for $20. each. I only sold about 20 of them the first year and 10 the second year. Seems people buy during the event and quickly loose interest after it's all over.
I made about $2400.00 on the portraits the first two years and then last time was durring the crash so very few people showed. Based on my experiance, I would stick with what you can make money on instantly.
Note: I am a complete amature so I may have been doing everything wrong but because they are non-profit I gave the 20% so they were very happy and I made enough to pay for some gear.

Hope this helps.

Oh yea. After the event I posted candids on Smugmug for sale. There were many very good shots yet none were sold. NONE, ZERO, ZILCH, NADA, ELZIPO.
I think folks liked to look at them but after the event was over, they were done with the excitment. That's just my humble O.

[NGC2141]

I sold prints by the sheet. 1-8x10, 2-5x7, 4-4x6, a sheet of wallets, etc. $40.00/sheet. I offered a 20% discount for multiple sheets.

Who did you have print the sheets?

[amoergosum]

- EDIT -

[Max Powers]

I actually have a question. I am in the process of shooting a business for a friends web design company. They are doing pretty well and raking in quite a few clients. Their intent is to add a section where any business can get custom photo's of their businesses and have them implemented to their web design as opposed to getting random stuff off of Istock. Of course I am the person who would photograph whatever they need.

Anyone have any input on what kind of money should be involved here?

[willytee]

My real question is.. once you have a few photos people like that you have taken for a few friends and they have recommended you to their friends.. but you dont feel you are at the stage of charging.. yet people say you can make money doing it and like your work.. what do you do?

Im don't think and have never been told that I am not terrible at photography. I believe I have an eye for certain things and have not tapped into it.

How do you get more clients beyond recommendations? I have a few friends I know that look very photogenic after looking at random pictures of them on facebook and such. I think they could help me expand my photography from landscapes/random to people. How do you approach them for an experience to yourself without sounding like the creepy guy with a camera? not just to make money but to build your clientel to start charging one day?

If this has been asked before my search fails and please help me find my direction.

Yours truely,
One lost Photographer

[GerryDavid]

You should not worry if you are good enough to charge, but to actually charge for pictures, period. a mechanic that is just starting out doesnt do it for free until he thinks he is good enough.

And as for getting the word out there, create a facebook or facebook fan page for your business and update it regularly with new pictures and tag people so their friends can see it. you may get some interest off that. You will need to do more than facebook but its a good start.

theres always a referral program, but ive heard pro's and cons of it.

[willytee]

You should not worry if you are good enough to charge, but to actually charge for pictures, period. a mechanic that is just starting out doesnt do it for free until he thinks he is good enough.

And as for getting the word out there, create a facebook or facebook fan page for your business and update it regularly with new pictures and tag people so their friends can see it. you may get some interest off that. You will need to do more than facebook but its a good start.

theres always a referral program, but ive heard pro's and cons of it.

I have a flickr account and post some of my pictures on facebook. For friends or friends of friends its hard to charge because im a nice guy :P

What about those I come across that I think I can do some good one. Ask them if they are willing without sounding creepish... and if they hesitate.... ask them to model for me and pay them?

If I pay someone I think who could look good for my portfolio so to speak.. how much do I pay them for hour?

Thats why at this point im more of a go getter type, get recommendations and do it for free as experience.. as I think im inexperienced in "people" as a subject but have been told differently and have been turned down awkwardly.

How do you ago approaching someone in your own costly benefit...?

[GerryDavid]

I have a flickr account and post some of my pictures on facebook. For friends or friends of friends its hard to charge because im a nice guy :P

What about those I come across that I think I can do some good one. Ask them if they are willing without sounding creepish... and if they hesitate.... ask them to model for me and pay them?

If I pay someone I think who could look good for my portfolio so to speak.. how much do I pay them for hour?

Thats why at this point im more of a go getter type, get recommendations and do it for free as experience.. as I think im inexperienced in "people" as a subject but have been told differently and have been turned down awkwardly.

How do you ago approaching someone in your own costly benefit...?

there are a few ways to go about this

1 - pay someone to model for you, costs you $$$

2 - do time for prints or cd *tfp/tfcd* and simply give them an 8x10 or two for their time. costs you $

3 - have them pay you to do the pictures and ask them to sign a release at the end if they are comfortable with it, costs you nothing and you make money. :)

If you look around on facebook or craigslist, there are photographers that are probably worse than you *havent looked at your pictures* and they are charging money and people are hiring them. So why not be among them and charge for your time.

Most of those photogs that are not very good usually give away all the prints on cd or charge $5 for an 8x10 and expect to make enough off of the portrait to cover their time and expenses, just dont fall into that trap. if you do a crazy good special, limit what they get and make them pay properly for the rest. :D

[GerryDavid]

Most of those photogs that are not very good usually give away all the prints on cd or charge $5 for an 8x10 and expect to make enough off of the portrait to cover their time and expenses, just dont fall into that trap. if you do a crazy good special, limit what they get and make them pay properly for the rest. :D

Hmm, im pretty tempted to take my own advice, create a sweet sounding ad and toss it up on craigslist. I got some empty dates in my calendar that I could fill with this. Charge $25 for half an hour for 2 adults, and give them all the pics emailed *low resolution with watermark* and offer them a picture viewing which will have my regular prices. basically they will think they are getting a great deal but they are getting a normal sitting fee. In general craigslist people ive meet have not been wanting to spend money, but I have mt a couple that have. The $25 will ahve to be paid in advance by paypal, ive had to many people in the past now show up to not collect the sitting fee in advance.

[Automotive Photography]

I've tried to read this thread, but for obvious attention span reasons can't read every response.

I used to be in the employ of a large soulless corporate entity as a photographer. It was great experience, I traveled allover the country year after year. You could walk into any 7-11 or corner market and find one of my images staring you in the face on a certain magazines. But like all corporations, they walk into your office one day and say get the **** out, we are reshuffling things and no longer need you.

Here is the rub. I no longer work for such an entity and am a freelancer. The corporation I worked for would give photography to the advertisers for free. Yes, I took the photos, worked my ass off and got paid by the company and they own the photos. Now I've gone back to some of these companies who got free photography and offered my services. Some weren't interested because now they have to pay for it. There is the rub.

The plus side is, I have made so many contacts that my name/experience and talent are great for networking and seeking out future clients.

I never work for free, and I loathe the Jimmy Crack-corn photographers that give away substandard work for free. They help lower the bar for everybody. Now some companies are happy to settle for substandard work and some, when you can show them substandard vs. amazing will give you the time of day, and then it's up to to you to sell yourself once you have their attention.

The problem is we are in the ****tiest economy since the great depression. Charging rates that would have been acceptable just four years ago does not fit in many a companies budget.

[Max Powers]

I've tried to read this thread, but for obvious attention span reasons can't read every response.

I used to be in the employ of a large soulless corporate entity as a photographer. It was great experience, I traveled allover the country year after year. You could walk into any 7-11 or corner market and find one of my images staring you in the face on a certain magazines. But like all corporations, they walk into your office one day and say get the **** out, we are reshuffling things and no longer need you.

Here is the rub. I no longer work for such an entity and am a freelancer. The corporation I worked for would give photography to the advertisers for free. Yes, I took the photos, worked my ass off and got paid by the company and they own the photos. Now I've gone back to some of these companies who got free photography and offered my services. Some weren't interested because now they have to pay for it. There is the rub.

The plus side is, I have made so many contacts that my name/experience and talent are great for networking and seeking out future clients.

I never work for free, and I loathe the Jimmy Crack-corn photographers that give away substandard work for free. They help lower the bar for everybody. Now some companies are happy to settle for substandard work and some, when you can show them substandard vs. amazing will give you the time of day, and then it's up to to you to sell yourself once you have their attention.

The problem is we are in the ****tiest economy since the great depression. Charging rates that would have been acceptable just four years ago does not fit in many a companies budget.

Good post, however, there will always be someone offering a crappier service than you think you provide for a cheaper price than yours. No matter the industry. Isn't that kind of the norm? Why loathe them? Shouldn't this be your opportunity to shine above them?

[Automotive Photography]

Good post, however, there will always be someone offering a crappier service than you think you provide for a cheaper price than yours. No matter the industry. Isn't that kind of the norm? Why loathe them? Shouldn't this be your opportunity to shine above them?


True, very true, there will always be somebody offering less for less.

Recently I came up against one of these pay or free situations. I was asked for a price quote, I gave the price quote. After a few weeks I get a response that they (the client) are going to go with somebody who does the work for free!!! Here is the clincher, they then had the nuts to ask me me for free work to include in their calendar. Of course I told them plumbers don't install free sinks, I don't give away free photography.

They went with the free guy. Now the owner is unhappy with the free guys images. Of course he is. So now they want to use me in their future endeavors, but are still trying to beat me up on my lowest price quote. Once they (clients) get stuff for free, they faint when they actually have to pay for a service.

The freebie guys are the cause of this. If the freebie guys would charge even just a little bit of money, like the guy in this thread that is happy with making $50 bucks, even just that small amount would lead companies to not ask for free.

When they get used to paying for a service they won't cry as loud when you ask to them to pay for a living acceptable wage. At least that is my theory. Free stuff cheapens the valuable stuff.

[Max Powers]

I guess it goes to show the difference between a photographer and say an electrician. While in principle they are kinda the same, at the same time, no one installs electrical systems in commercial or residential buildings just for the hell of it.

Unfortunately it's the fine line between a hobby and a professional service that photography will never get away from. Any idiot can point a camera and press a button. Most of those idiots, if asked for photos will gladly give them away because it is indeed a hobby for them and they in no way feel they should be charging when people like yourself are actually professionals..

[Methodical]

Thanks to this thread and others similar to this one, I have seen the light. Folks have money, but will try and get your photos for free; cheap fu#$@#s. This carries over to other facets in life, too, such as doing work for friends and family. Why do friends and family think you should do everything for free?

I for one has come to grips with the “don’t sell yourself short theory.” and the “don’t do if for free” theory, too. I contemplated shooting for free/credit thing, but did not do it because of an experience I had with a photo contest, which taught me a big lesson. I entered an image of a Ferruginous Hawk to a contest where the winner’s image would be part of a Tucson tour guide magazine. Well, they contacted me and stated that my image was one of the winners and they sent me a link to the site. I emailed them and asked if they could send me a copy of the tour guide with my image on it…well this was back in 2009 and I have not heard from them yet. So the moral of the story is yeah I got my picture in the tour guide, but that was it; not even a copy of the guide for my records. Well, after that incident, I have not entered into any more photo contest and because the contests, at least the one’s I’ve seen, requires you to give up too much your rights to the image. Well that won’t happen.

Question: I do bird photography and a local nature center ask if I was interested in providing prints of my images for consignment. What are your thoughts on this arrangement?

[andydufresne]

I'm new to photography so I have never been paid for any work before. I bought the camera to get into the hobby and didn't really look at it as a source of income. But do have a few questions on if I were to ever get approached to use/purchase one of my photos.

I take pictures when I go out to eat quite often. Eating in Austin, Texas, means alot of hole in the wall and trailer dining. What if a small eatery wants to use one of my pictures for their website? They don't want or are interested in any rights, don't need prints. They just want to use it on their website menu, frontpage or gallery, etc. So I post it on my free Flickr account and let them download it in exchange for meal. No harm done right?

[AZGeorge]

. . . Question: I do bird photography and a local nature center ask if I was interested in providing prints of my images for consignment. What are your thoughts on this arrangement?[/SIZE][/FONT]

I'm an amateur shooter who supports local nature centers so would happily supply the prints either at cost or gratis. If I made all or part of my living from photography I'd look at what's on the wall, ask for sales figures, and make a business decision.

[hurleyboarder11]

Thanks everyone for the informative info/opinions!

[zpyder]

Several wildlife centres have used my images for free, the act of getting asked if they could use them has made me realise that maybe I'm getting to the stage where my images have value, and am slowly attempting to make the jump into proper paid work.

[rishu_pepper]

Hello all, I was wondering if the seasoned pro's out there can help me out with a pricing estimate.

Recently I responded to an ad on CL looking for a photog shooting some pictures for a band. They responded to my email and I am meeting the leader/manager tomorrow at Starbucks. As far as I gathered from the email correspondence, he wants me to shoot some pictures to promote his band (website and so on). There will be shoots outdoor and indoor. It seems that they also want quite a bit of PP to complement their band's style/theme. The band I believe has 5 people.

How much should I be looking to charge here? Anything I should take into special consideration?

Thanks all.

[Archer613]

Wow, I just signed up for this forum and am loving the great advice everyone has to offer. This is great! I just recently decided to start charging for doing some family and friends photos. I see the ups and downs of having not charged them before, turns around to bite ya sometimes.

Amber

[Automotive Photography]

Hello all, I was wondering if the seasoned pro's out there can help me out with a pricing estimate.

Recently I responded to an ad on CL looking for a photog shooting some pictures for a band. They responded to my email and I am meeting the leader/manager tomorrow at Starbucks. As far as I gathered from the email correspondence, he wants me to shoot some pictures to promote his band (website and so on). There will be shoots outdoor and indoor. It seems that they also want quite a bit of PP to complement their band's style/theme. The band I believe has 5 people.

How much should I be looking to charge here? Anything I should take into special consideration?

Thanks all.

Thats a tough one. Bands are usually broke and have no budget to pay for anything. I would say 100 bucks an hour. Say about two hours at a show shooting the band, an hour or two in photoshop, burning the disk, mailing it off etc. You will have at least four hours involved in the shoot. I would say at least 3-4 hundred bucks. Of course if you have to drive long distance, then you have gas and travel expenses to figure.

Bands are cheap. I wouldn't shoot a band with out a contract or guarantee or half payment up front.

[atlrus]

Of course I wasn't able to read all pages, but judging from the first few all I have to say is:

REALLY? NO, REALLY?

I mean, seasoned pros with years of experience under their belts are afraid from Joe-the-accountant that he takes money from their mouths?!? REALLY? If someone random can walk into BestBuy, spend $1,000 in gear and take over your work, then you my friend are a really bad photographer!

With technology nothing really has changed - the only thing is that now you don't have to spend money on film, but this works both ways - pro photographers don't have to spend money on film either. Do you think anyone lowered their prices to reflect the fact that they don't need to burn through $50 worth of film to capture that one amazing picture? No!

Quality equipment is still expensive. People still need to travel and pay expenses to get to their destination. Time itself is still precious. Skills are still acquired through years of experience.

Photography has always been a very niche profession. People don't take a pro photographer on vacations with them, for example, they just stop by any gas station and pick up a disposable camera or own P&S nowadays.

And don't get me started on how much some portrait studios charge anyways. Packages starting at $1,000?!? Are you insane? I can see the value of, let's say a picture of Nigerian rebels, but $1,000 minimum for a couple hours of light work, most of it ivolving photoshop? Yeah, I said it. I have pictures from Walmart and pictures from a couple of expensive studios and I can tell you that the only difference is that the studio takes time to do more in Photoshop than Walmart's generic cut-and-paste software. That's it.

Now, at the same time, I cannot understand how some noob can devalue the work of a real photographer. No one in their right mind will buy the T2i and take of to Iraq to take pictures and then give them away for free!?! Or walk onto the football field and start snapping pictures of Farve's last touchdown pass...Or walk into any company/magazine and start taking their ad pictures for free. Or spend time and money setting up a nice beach picnic photo just to get $20 back on their $2,000+ investment...

Bottom line is that: yeah, I snapped a great picture of a bow full of cherries, but if I can do it, then it's indeed worth only $0.20, if that much. If you complain about that, it just means that the suckers that would pay $100 for a picture of a bow of cherries are gone, because, obviously, it wasn't worth $100 to begin with.

You know what I would understand? If the real photographer, the one who risked his/her life to take the picture of the rebels, complained that he got paid just as much as the bozo who spent 2 hours photoshoping a pictrue of a kid from the comfort of his air-conditioned studio. Now, that's a real argument!

P.S. And why do you think this forum has so many users, a lot of them pros, who give FREE advice to noobs with BestBuy cameras? I'll tell you why - because it makes them feel good helping people, while also knowing that there is no way in the world I can just up and bankrupt them overnight with my mad photography skills :)

[alexdesign]

A friend of mine earned $150,000 from one motorsport picture over three years. It was bought over and over again and he still expects some income from it this year. You just never know when you have that 'golden goose'.


Now that just makes me a sad panda. I had a client from Canada approaching me 12 years ago asking me to design him a logo. Back then I was good designer but not great. The logo I designed for him turned out to be one of the best I've done and it was published in many logo design/corporate identity books. Back then I charged him $250 for it. That's it. He even told me that I was "expensive" now his well known Internet portal in Canada makes him millionaire every year 10 times over and the website still uses my $250 logo :(

[baliromavilas]

Well how much should you charge is all up to you but you must think about it by person to person

[michellestrozzi]

New here, first post I've read, and I have got to say THANK YOU! I am an amateur, I know I'm good, but haven't really had the time nor equipment to get started until recently. I figured I would do some shots for some friends for free to build a portfolio. I've only asked one set of friends, so I'll still do that one, give them a cd like I said I would.

I do have a question though...how do you copyright your work? Say I get into this some more, I want to show the client the shots, but don't want them to steal the pics without my name plastered all over the photo?

[Automotive Photography]

http://www.copyright.gov/

[cwr89]

Not sure if this is the correct place for this, but, I am quickly approaching my senior year of college, I'm in Film School, and preparing for a hard life of freelancing. Because of this, I have been looking into registering an LLC so that I can actually market myself a bit better. This also opens me up for doing photography and videography on my own not attached to any larger companies. Previously, I have done work at just a flat hourly fee depending on location and equipment. Now that I am getting closer to being in "the real world" I know need to step up and set a firm price. Is there a starting price, like a base price per exposure or do you guys do more packages or what? At this point I am just trying to get things hammered out so I can get pricing down, I often times feel like an idiot when people ask me for pricing and I don't know off the top of my head.

Thanks!
~Casey

[stephaniemansueto@gmail.c]

The shoot I have lined up is for one of my absolute best friend's six week old daughter. This was something I volunteered to shoot, for free, way back when I first started to learn photography. And, while I may do some clean up work, I intend to probably just hand her a CD (preferrably offer a ZIPed or RARed download from my site) with all the shots on it and let her print them as she sees fit.

Since I will do no printing myself, the only money out of pocket for this shoot will be the money it takes to buy gasoline to drive to her place and drive back (probably a 10 minute drive)...that and the money for my time if you go by the "my time is money" saying.

Thing is, I could get some good experience from this and possibly add some photos to my portfolio. On top of that, I could make a good friend happy. I would make sure, though, to tell her that this is a one time thing and that I would not be doing this for free for her friends.

Am I missing the real point by doing this? Or are these types of things generally acceptable?

FlipsidE
Regardless if its free and regardless of it being a friend, make sure they sign a contract. And for the love of god don't allow them to post uncropped photos online and promote it as your work.

[Methodical]

I agree. Limit the shots you turn over to them and do some PP before turning over to them. This is your work and you always want your best out there, no matter who the customer.

Regardless if its free and regardless of it being a friend, make sure they sign a contract. And for the love of god don't allow them to post uncropped photos online and promote it as your work.

[timk519]

Is there a starting price, like a base price per exposure or do you guys do more packages or what? At this point I am just trying to get things hammered out so I can get pricing down, I often times feel like an idiot when people ask me for pricing and I don't know off the top of my head. Congrats on taking the 'freelance' plunge right out of university!

The questions you're asking would be answered by doing some market research. The questions you want to answer is - who is your competition, what packages do they offer, and what price do they charge? From there you can figure out where you want to position yourself and your offerings, and come up with a selection of services and prices of your own.

Don't worry about getting it absolutely right the first time - what you do and how much you charge'll be an ongoing evolution over the course of your career.

[DinosaurioAllie]

Great points and awesome discussion. I was recently contacted by a really good friend of mine, and she and her mom wanted me to do her senior portraits for this next school year. She asked how much I would charge and I told her that I wouldn't charge if she'd sort of become my "guinea pig".
I personally have my clients order prints through me, so I'm making some money.

[cwr89]

@timk519
Thanks for the advice. I'm exploring all the different options right now. And I figure the only real way to protect myself in this business is going to be incorporating, I see scores of my classmates thinking they are going to either walk into a post house and instantly land a job doing exactly what they want, or, becoming disillusioned to the idea that if they want work, they are going to have to actually work hard for it. Its sad to see out of the 200 or so people that graduated this month only like 15% have jobs, and they were the ones that worked for it.
I've been working for about 3 years as a freelance videographer/editor for a company, but I'm looking at the tax benefits of incorporating, I've been a 1099 freelance so 30% goes to the gov't, 50% goes to new gear, and like 20% goes to trying to live. hehe. With this, I'll be able to write a lot more off for tax purposes. (don't worry, I am working with a CPA)

anyway, I will be checking out the local photo spots and seeing what they charge. thanks for the advice!
Thanks!
~Casey

[timk519]

one of the best things about incorporating for me was being able to charge high mileage rates for my old beater. :)

Good luck!

[mpicmotion]

How much should I charge for a photo shoot ?

[charro callado]

How much should I charge for a photo shoot ?

I'm in awe that you were smart enough to (1) navigate to the proper subforum, (2) find the appropriate sticky, and yet still be...challenged...enough to (3) ask that question 35 pages deep into this thread.

And I'm sugarcoating the "challenged" part.

[MMieure]

I'm in awe that you were smart enough to (1) navigate to the proper subforum, (2) find the appropriate sticky, and yet still be...challenged...enough to (3) ask that question 35 pages deep into this thread.

And I'm sugarcoating the "challenged" part.

That was not a rude answer at all...

[charro callado]

That was not a rude answer at all...

Should I try sarcasm?





see what i did there? ;)



Seriously though, there was really no nice way to say "read the 35 pages you seem to have skipped."

[ni$mo350]

Haha I'm sorry but Charro's right. That's about as broad of a question as one could ask. The op took the time to search for the right place to ask the question but didn't take the time to read through the very same thread to see if there was a chance that someone else might have asked a more specific question that's probably close to what they're looking for.

Moving on, I shoot weddings/senior portraits/e-sessions (you get the picture) but I did a photoshoot for a local packaging company in Portland a few months ago and now the owner is asking about me doing portrait shots for his daughters softball team.

I'm more than capable of producing quality images for them but I have no clue what to charge and how to break down prices for them. I usually offer packages for seniors/weddings/families and I don't know if I should charge a base fee for the group and charge a la carte or offer full on packages. Any info would be helpful, thanks.

[ShaneCphoto]

So the other day I was at Whytecliff park in West Vancouver, BC. I was sitting on the rocks when a boat drove by. I just snapped a shot for fun and after uploading it in Lightroom I noticed a West Vancouver Yacht Club logo on the back. I sent in an email to the general manager and he has put me in touch with them and they would like to purchase it. The shot is damn sharp (taken with a 70-200 F4 IS) and you can easily make out them and their dogs taking in the sights. Keep in mind that i'm 17 so they may expect to pay less than to an adult (bull****) but they also have a yacht and live in one of the most expensive areas in Canada.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3446/5773820153_e567d43853_z.jpg

[RobBuck]

I really need to spend more time on this forum, you folks are extremely helpful! It just so happens that I have been asked, by a local bank, to purchase one of my shots. Regrettably, I have given so many away I really have no idea what to charge. (I was a novice turned semi-pro and just to get my name out there, I donated much of my time and photos to charities - now it's time to make some $$!)
I came across the site: http://photographersindex.com/stockprice.htm
Does anyone know if this is accurate and legit? The prices seem about right, but then again, I can not compare. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[rnb2]

I've been shooting freelance online ad photos of local businesses for a newspaper chain for the past couple months. One of the clients asked me to shoot some headshots of the staff (about 10 people, no elaborate setups - just sat in a chair in the boss's office) during my shooting for the web ads, which is fine. They want these for the company website, and there's no problem with me selling them the images - I did the usual PP on the shots, and they look pretty good.

However, I have no idea how much to charge them. All of the calculators I've tried suggest charging a LOT more than I think I can get away with, but I don't want to low-ball the price, either. This would be in the Hartford, CT area, if that helps with any suggestions. This would be my first sale outside of the work I'm doing for the papers.

Thanks for any suggestions on this.

[CanonGrl01]

Me: Newbie who gets lucky sometimes
Them: Parents of Tball kids

Item: Free dvd (.mov) of pictures
Price Request: jpeg files/4x6/5x7 etc

[Seamus69]

@timk519
Thanks for the advice. I'm exploring all the different options right now. And I figure the only real way to protect myself in this business is going to be incorporating, I see scores of my classmates thinking they are going to either walk into a post house and instantly land a job doing exactly what they want, or, becoming disillusioned to the idea that if they want work, they are going to have to actually work hard for it. Its sad to see out of the 200 or so people that graduated this month only like 15% have jobs, and they were the ones that worked for it.
I've been working for about 3 years as a freelance videographer/editor for a company, but I'm looking at the tax benefits of incorporating, I've been a 1099 freelance so 30% goes to the gov't, 50% goes to new gear, and like 20% goes to trying to live. hehe. With this, I'll be able to write a lot more off for tax purposes. (don't worry, I am working with a CPA)

anyway, I will be checking out the local photo spots and seeing what they charge. thanks for the advice!
Thanks!
~Casey

I'm a cpa and I can ya that there are no additional tax benefits in being an LLC or S corp over a sole proprietor. Same deductions, same credits. The only advantage to being an S corp is that you can take some money out of the company without paying payroll taxes, but this is offset by the requirement for many additional tax returns each year (your cpa will love you for it) and more state fees and admin hassels. Unless you are in six digits or approaching six digits, I see no advantage to being an S corporation. A C corp? Nope. Double taxation, that's why we have S corps. I have startups coming in my office all the time wanting the add'l write offs they can get with a corp. I ask what they are talking about and they always say, 'well, so and so said corps get all the breaks.' Nope. Oops. I did this for free.

[svarley]

Nope. Oops. I did this for free.

bw!

LLCs also pay LLC "taxes" on gross revenue, not profit, in addition to any other income taxes you incur. I can't tell you how many different ways California socked it to me as my business was failing (not photography related and closing it down at the end of this month, woo hoo!)

Theoretically, you have some liability protections if you incorporate.

I also get a kick out of people telling me something I give them from my business for some sort of charity event is "tax deductible"... Good grief.

[Ekir]

I am on the cusp of all this at the moment, have done three weddings for free for close friends and family, which I got a steep learning curve and portfolio images from, at the last wedding I let them know to "word of mouth" my co-worker and I, but any referel wedding would be charged for.

I'm part of my daughters kindy commitee and my role is publicity officer, so I cover any events that the kindy holds and submit them to the commnunity paper. As it is a community kindy and we raise all the teachers wages running costs ourselfs through these events, this is my contribution for the year my daughter attends.

One mum and I have arranged a photo shoot of her young sons, for me to put in portfolio and she gets a CD. I have let her know that any referels she passes on or any other mums from the kindy will have to pay from now on. Hopefully in this small commumnity word of mouth will work for me, and as I have three young children, I can only do limeted work anyway.

My nieghboor who is my childrens babsitter, has asked me to cover her debutaunte ball, and asked for a price, I was thrilled that she thought enough of my work to be willing to pay me. I am thinking of telling her $40 per hour that I am there, and pp is on me :) If she wants any prints I will get them for her at a small profit, however I am aiming to make this my first "no cd of images" job!

What do you guys think, is this a fair price? Bethany is 15 years old, gets $80 a fortnight from me, and earns mony from being a vollyball referee at her school.

Lou

[timk519]

My nieghboor who is my childrens babsitter, has asked me to cover her debutaunte ball, and asked for a price, I was thrilled that she thought enough of my work to be willing to pay me. I am thinking of telling her $40 per hour that I am there, and pp is on me :) If you're going to do "per hour", then the PP is part of the work.

Another option would be a fixed price for time on site and a set # of pictures - that way you limit the amount of PP work you have to do to picking that # of pics and the polishing just those.

[DylanDisaster]

Hi there everyone.. I'm new here and I just had a few questions. I hope I'm posting this in the right spot.

I was just wondering..What are my rates..? I have a samll event comming for a friend, and his mother wants me there. she wasnts to know my rates and I'm really not sure. ( i live in staten island Ny)
Also..For single prints or packages..

Im not a profesional yet, but i want to be. I have experience, Ive helped at my Aunts wedding. and I have an Anniversary coming up in October, and they want to use me. Plus a small BBQ Family party, and to take pictures of My friends Mom's sistes kids.
Ive been recently getting exposed and I would apreciate any help. Thank you.

[Ekir]

Thank you Tim! Ok, pp part of price, wasn't sure how that worked. We have a lot of 'stingers' here who have a price for the sitting portrait, then a HUGE price per print, which is in fine print!

I sure don't want to do that practice, I want all my prices upfront and package deals the clients could choose from as well.


I think I will find out how long I am required, and do a package with the hours needed, 2x8x10 prints and a proof sheet with the final 5 prints ( I plan to take a lot more then five of course!!

[Frugal]

We have a lot of 'stingers' here who have a price for the sitting portrait, then a HUGE price per print, which is in fine print!

There are 2 options - make most of your money on the sitting, or on the prints. If you're a well known and established photographer you can charge top dollar for the sitting and people will come. If you're just another photographer it's low risk for clients if you charge a low sitting fee and aim to make your money off the prints / digital downloads. That's what I do and my print prices are not in fine print, and I'm definitely not a stinger. What do you call huge print prices anyway for say an 8x10?

[DylanDisaster]

Hi there everyone.. I'm new here and I just had a few questions. I hope I'm posting this in the right spot.

I was just wondering..What are my rates..? I have a samll event comming for a friend, and his mother wants me there. she wasnts to know my rates and I'm really not sure. ( i live in staten island Ny)
Also..For single prints or packages..

Im not a profesional yet, but i want to be. I have experience, Ive helped at my Aunts wedding. and I have an Anniversary coming up in October, and they want to use me. Plus a small BBQ Family party, and to take pictures of My friends Mom's sistes kids.
Ive been recently getting exposed and I would apreciate any help. Thank you.


Please help, I'd really appreciate it D:

[IndyJeff]

Hi there everyone.. I'm new here and I just had a few questions. I hope I'm posting this in the right spot.

I was just wondering..What are my rates..? I have a samll event comming for a friend, and his mother wants me there. she wasnts to know my rates and I'm really not sure. ( i live in staten island Ny)
Also..For single prints or packages..

Im not a profesional yet, but i want to be. I have experience, Ive helped at my Aunts wedding. and I have an Anniversary coming up in October, and they want to use me. Plus a small BBQ Family party, and to take pictures of My friends Mom's sistes kids.
Ive been recently getting exposed and I would apreciate any help. Thank you.

What is your time worth to you? What will your out-of-pocket expenses be? What is your cost of doing business? Figure those out and you will know your rates.

[Ekir]

Sorry, I dodn't mean to cause any offence!

What I ment was the ones who do put it in fine print, and charge $600 for one 5x7

My friends went to a place and it cost them about $2000+ just for a few photos, thats ok, but put it out there so there are no nasty suprises, ie all upfrount, if you decide on prints, theese are my prices, before the sitting!

[dougy_8505]

Indy I didnt have time to read all the posts but i was wondering if it was a mistake for me to tell my friends and family that because im new to photography that i would be willing to take pictures for free of any events until i finish a class im going to take in the spring.

if this a good idea? offering free service for a limited time and informing them that come next june sessions will no longer be free.

[CanonGrl01]

Don't jump down my throat please :)

I have a nephew. He plays Little League. I took pictures and made a movie/collage for each of his teammates.

The team parents chose to not pay for the official 'action' shots because they liked mine more. I figured they liked them because they were free (even though I don't think they could copy the pictures from the cd unless they tried hard).

However a few of them went to the League Board and showed them the dvd and said they couldn't pay for pictures that weren't as good as a team aunts.

So the Board hit me up. They want to know prices and see a portfolio. Besides not taking a job from a real professional, and not getting into something I'm not ready for, do you have any advice in terms of pricing?

Thx!

[timk519]

If the team had a contract with the prior photographer, then they should pay him for the work he did even if it's "not as good." A contract is a contract - if they agreed to something and he did the work in good faith, then they should pay him even if they found a "Better bargain" in the meantime. If they stiff him, they could do the same thing to you - or anyone else - for similar reasons.

As for what to charge - first figure out if you even want to do the job. If you do, then find out what the previous Photographer was charging, and use that as a starting point.

[CanonGrl01]

The league didn't back out of their contract. The action shots are optional

[dougy_8505]

When I was playing paintball there was a pro photographer that would go to events and charge $3 for digital copies, now I don't know how much money she made but I never bought pictures. It seamed over priced to me. Im currently trying to start doing the same but at a price of more along the $1 range. There are other guys that build there portfolio by shooting practice pictures then offer to follow a team threw an event for a set price ie.. $80 per team per event.

[dougy_8505]

Forgot to mention that the ladies husband would download pictures during the event so teams could see them prior to leaving and even buy cds.

What you could do is setup a tent and do the same, after each game dl the photos for parents to see and if they want any pictures they can buy or order from u

[timk519]

There are other guys that build there portfolio by shooting practice pictures then offer to follow a team threw an event for a set price ie.. $80 per team per event. I wonder how one could make any money doing that....

[dougy_8505]

They do pretty well for themselfs.. if you get 3 teams at 80 per thats 240. plus every photog. takes extra pics that they sale on the side.

so if teams A,B,and C hire me and they only play 8 games in 2 days, but i take 2000 pictures of other teams and players and sell those on the side. i could make anywhere from 240- 5000 in 2 days of work. Most of those guys use teams abc to pay for there travel expences..

[shebee]

Hey.
I read the first few pages but I couldn't figure, whether the initial post suggests to sell photos on these internet micro agencies like PhotoStockPlus (I believe is one) or whether you should not.
Just to clarify, I am in no way a professional, I'm an amateur, but I'm just interested in how the photography business works out.
I might have read the post too fast or something, or maybe it just wasn't very well structured, don't usually have problems comprehending English lol.

[MattMcKay]

Needing some advice.

Most of the photography I do Is live music, functions, wedding and landscapes.

I have been approached by a new cosmetic company (a friend of a friend) starting in the UK. They want me to take all the pictures for their new line. About 14 items.

This will be the usual planned set shots of the products for magazines. How ever I am stumped at what I should charge them for this.

As this is a whole new market I am not sure if i could base my pricing on a live set price or weddings. I believe this company would go far. But I don't want to under charge or over.

I had an Idea in my head of £2-4,000.

This would cover the launch night shots, the studio work for the 1st line,, which would be shooting the products and making their poster designs and all of the images.

Ive not done this before so i cant put a time line in my head and work on how many days/hours work I would put in. Also as they stand to make hundreds of thousands on the products if my shots are the main marketing images should I charge more?

If there are any people here who have worked with cosmetic companies before or you think I am making a huge mistake on the price. I would really appreciate some advice.

Thanks

Matt

[Methodical]

Matt, I can't help you much, but if you believe the company is going to be very successful then price it so that they'd want to keep you for future shoots. Of course bust your butt in making top of the line images so they'd want to keep you. There should be something in this forum to help. I recall someone posting a site that walk you through calculating your business cost to generate pricing data, but I just can't find it. If searching reveals nothing then start a separate thread so it won't be buried in some other thread.

Good luck

[Hilary410]

I wish I could find such informative sites more often. I regularly spend much time on lust looking for some worthy sites when I can find something to read.

[Art13bg]

Hello guys!

I have a question about pricing.
I got call from a friend today, and he asked me to shoot four pics with my 40D for a client of him.
I got the camera recently and never charge for photos since I never shot commercially. Just on vacations with friends and friends babies.

My friend told me to tell him by tomorrow a price for the 4 high res. I would take for the client of him. They will use the high res. photos on a 26" x 38" (or similar size) poster.

How much should I tell him?
Thanks in advance! (hope this is the right thread)

p.s.
I will need a light box, which I'll rent since I don't have one yet.
Also I need to think for some grey or black background since the objects are white and they need contrast background to outline them easily after that for the poster.

[DinosaurioAllie]

Hello guys!

I have a question about pricing.
I got call from a friend today, and he asked me to shoot four pics with my 40D for a client of him.
I got the camera recently and never charge for photos since I never shot commercially. Just on vacations with friends and friends babies.

My friend told me to tell him by tomorrow a price for the 4 high res. I would take for the client of him. They will use the high res. photos on a 26" x 38" (or similar size) poster.

How much should I tell him?
Thanks in advance! (hope this is the right thread)

p.s.
I will need a light box, which I'll rent since I don't have one yet.
Also I need to think for some grey or black background since the objects are white and they need contrast background to outline them easily after that for the poster.

High resolution files typically sell for anywhere between $50 and thousands of dollars. It all depends on how good you are.

Though, even myself as an amateur will charge $150 per high resolution, completely edited .JPG file.

Make sure they sign a contract though, delegating what they can and can't use these images for.

[Art13bg]

Thank you DinosaurioAllie!

Actually I don't need to edit them, just to shoot them on a plain background.
I told him $50 per image, because I asked also a friend for how much to tell him.
The guy (client) is cheap though and wants 8 high res pictures for $60-80...

So I said no way.

[Automotive Photography]

Thank you DinosaurioAllie!

Actually I don't need to edit them, just to shoot them on a plain background.
I told him $50 per image, because I asked also a friend for how much to tell him.
The guy (client) is cheap though and wants 8 high res pictures for $60-80...

So I said no way.

Good for you for saying no way. He probably spends more than $80 a week on morning coffee and lunch.

[altitude604]

Not sure if this has been posted...

http://www.nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/cdb/cdbcalc.cfm

Good rough calculator on what to charge.

[huntersdad]

Not sure if this has been posted...

http://www.nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/cdb/cdbcalc.cfm

Good rough calculator on what to charge.

Interesting calculator, although some of it wouldn't necessarily apply to the amateur photog and some of it would really require some thought. Very nice tool for guidance.

[I weston I]

So when you do your calculations on salary, you deduct a car payment, computer, and health insurance before you add in your salary? That is dumb. no way you can count $80,000 of expenses annually to need to make $120,000 to equal a $40,000 salary in other industries. You pay for a car with your salary, not count it as a pre-salary expense.

Take a business course in value added processes and you'll see that no client will pay for your car payment as part of their bill. No client will pay for your office supplies. Some of you don't seem to understand business considering you run one. Sure you can give a flat bill, not itemized, but if you plan to make $120,000 in a year doing photography, that's equivalent to a much higher than $40,000 salary elsewhere.

[timk519]

Anything that goes into providing a product or service is a legit business expenses that needs to be factored into one's pricing calculations. Of course one wouldn't put "car payment" in the bill, it would be reflected in a higher charge for the service itself.

[Methodical]

What he said^^^^^

[Hollywoodgt]

The shoot I have lined up is for one of my absolute best friend's six week old daughter. This was something I volunteered to shoot, for free, way back when I first started to learn photography. And, while I may do some clean up work, I intend to probably just hand her a CD (preferrably offer a ZIPed or RARed download from my site) with all the shots on it and let her print them as she sees fit.

Since I will do no printing myself, the only money out of pocket for this shoot will be the money it takes to buy gasoline to drive to her place and drive back (probably a 10 minute drive)...that and the money for my time if you go by the "my time is money" saying.

Thing is, I could get some good experience from this and possibly add some photos to my portfolio. On top of that, I could make a good friend happy. I would make sure, though, to tell her that this is a one time thing and that I would not be doing this for free for her friends.

Am I missing the real point by doing this? Or are these types of things generally acceptable?

FlipsidE


Is that all you really have out of pocket? You had to buy the equipment, material to run the equipment and what ever it cost you to learn how to run the equipment. So if you add all those cost up and then divided it in to the cost of X number of pictures over a 5 yr period you would be amortizing your cost of doing your photography. So if I have $15,000.00 in equipment and lets say I shot 200 sell able pic a year, that would mean every pic would have a minimum cost factor of $15.00 over a period of 5 yrs (1000 pics)
To depreciate the equipment to zero? Now were not even figuring your time, gas, food etc

[mpicmotion]

how much should i charge to make a calendar with 7 girls?

[IndyJeff]

how much should i charge to make a calendar with 7 girls?

How much will your costs be? That is the first question you need to ask. Second, how much is your time worth?

[PanTerra]

Take a look at this commercial website.

http://www.playscripts.com/photolarge.php3?playid=2299

See that picture? That's mine and I have not authorized any commercial use of this photo. The production company had an entire album of my photos uploaded to their facebook page. I contacted Facebook about them not owning the ©. Facebook pulled the album in under 12 hours from my notification. However, going back to that FB page, I saw a link to the playscripts site along with my picture. I sent playscripts an email requesting that they remove the photo. We'll see what happends.

[Ingerson"PCD"]

^^^ I click the link and it says "FORBIDDEN You do not have permission to access this page."

[GerryDavid]

instead of having the pictures pulled, you should have taken screen shots, registered the pictures and sent them a fair but worth while bill :D

Take a look at this commercial website.

http://www.playscripts.com/photolarge.php3?playid=2299

See that picture? That's mine and I have not authorized any commercial use of this photo. The production company had an entire album of my photos uploaded to their facebook page. I contacted Facebook about them not owning the ©. Facebook pulled the album in under 12 hours from my notification. However, going back to that FB page, I saw a link to the playscripts site along with my picture. I sent playscripts an email requesting that they remove the photo. We'll see what happends.

[TaggM]

how much should i charge to make a calendar with 7 girls?

There are many good books on photography pricing out there. Some questions that will affect your final price:

What product do they want? A small mini-calendar with one photo, or a full-spread 12-month calendar with a total of 14 photographs? Your costs and effort differ between those. 30 minutes or less for your time on set for the former, maybe an all day shoot or 14 different sessions and locations for the latter.

How will it be used? Will it be for just one copy? Will it be "sold" only to members within a specific organization? Will it be used as a retail product with the intent to sell at least 25,000 copies?

If it will be used for multiple copies, maybe a base plus royalty is in order.

[AWD FTW!]

Ok I have a question. The company I work for is interested in me doing key automotive shots for new models. All they need is one good photo of almost every new model for a scrolling banner on their website.

The GM told me to figure out how long it typically takes me to do a shoot and get back to him with what I think is fair. They will be paying me hourly. I am by no means a professional, but I do know my way around a camera and processing software. It usually takes me around 1.5-3 hours to take photos, then another 2 hours or so to edit, so a typical car takes anywhere from 3-5 hours total.

I was thinking that $25 hr sounds reasonable, but I dont want to overcharge or undercharge.

Whats your opinion?

[GerryDavid]

are you charging for your time and rights to the files separately? :D

[AWD FTW!]

are you charging for your time and rights to the files separately? :D

I wasnt charging for the rights to the photos:lol:

Should I be?

[GerryDavid]

its how the pro's pay for the equipment and make a living. :) This isnt my area of expertise but I am slowly getting my brain around it. charge for your time and then charge for the rights which are limited to a year by year basis so if they want to use them again next year they either renew it or have you come in and do new shots. :) keeps the cash flow going. need a piece of equipment, bill it to them if its a large enough job. :D

[AWD FTW!]

its how the pro's pay for the equipment and make a living. :) This isnt my area of expertise but I am slowly getting my brain around it. charge for your time and then charge for the rights which are limited to a year by year basis so if they want to use them again next year they either renew it or have you come in and do new shots. :) keeps the cash flow going. need a piece of equipment, bill it to them if its a large enough job. :D

Thanks for the info. Ill run it passed them

[GerryDavid]

if it means more money out of their pockets, I doubt they will be in favor of this. :)

[AWD FTW!]

if it means more money out of their pockets, I doubt they will be in favor of this. :)

Truth. They have all the stock photography they can get their hands on. But the reason I am of use to them is I can create quality photos of the cars with scenery that directly links the photo to a local environment

[imranali]

Guys a lil help

I've been given quite a good heads up on a job that could be very regular and lead to other jobs

from what i've gathered they have regular meetings etc where they require picture presentations of their properties etc but also they're looking for pictures of the presentation night itself too.

i havent got the ability to produce the printed pics immediately and the guy who told me has suggested nothing to say that is what they are looking for either.

as far as i can tell they want pics to show on the night and pics of the night

not knowing exactly how much pre-work is required is the hard bit

i'm planning to write an introductory letter offering my services etc so i'm leaving the pricing out for the time being however what price should i suggest when the issue is raised?

[MDavey]

Any suggestions on where I can go about starting to sell my photos?

[chrismid259]

I have a quick question - if I have taken a one off photo and then sent it to the company who may be interested in photo how much should I charge them for the photo? Considering it is likely that the company will use in brouchures etc I'm not sure how much I should be charging - a one off fee or for every use?

[TrueasLight]

I've been asked to shoot a business portrait for use on a business card by a small local realtor, but I'm not sure what to charge for the usage rights. The circulation would be small, but it's definitely commercial use. It's the kind of photography I'd like to get into, so I'm rather excited about it.

[archibald609]

I have been asked to take pictures for a local Spa. Their objective is to have pictures that will allow for creating Flyers for Events, their Web Site and FaceBook. They have approximately 15 people on staff that does anything from nails, hair, and massages. I have listed the requirement that will support this session. I would like to work with this business for years to come; however I do not want to under sale myself. I need help with how to price for this session.

Group Pictures

Individual Pictures

Internal Pictures of the Spa