STICKY:  How to photograph a high school Senior

hawk911 wrote in post #13029566
Nice shots Mike!

Agree completely; I bet the Marine Corps would love a shot like that for their recruiting...

yeah- missed that on first look.

Rocky Rhode wrote in post #13031112
Agree completely; I bet the Marine Corps would love a shot like that for their recruiting...

Its in the office

Hey guys. I recently got a senior asking if they could do a senior session during each school season(Spring, Winter, Fall) for a broad variety of images. I personally had no idea to price this, and asked a few pro photographers I'm close friends with and they said they'd charge $200-$300 per season.

Personally I'm quite tentative to be charging what is such a large amount of money to a person like myself. Quite a few of you regulars have seen some of my work, and I'd love some input on the situation.

Do you think it's too much? How much would you charge?

DinosaurioAllie wrote in post #13038862
Hey guys. I recently got a senior asking if they could do a senior session during each school season(Spring, Winter, Fall) for a broad variety of images. I personally had no idea to price this, and asked a few pro photographers I'm close friends with and they said they'd charge $200-$300 per season.

Personally I'm quite tentative to be charging what is such a large amount of money to a person like myself. Quite a few of you regulars have seen some of my work, and I'd love some input on the situation.

Do you think it's too much? How much would you charge?

I personally would never charge someone that much. I have done photos in each of the seasons, but kept the sessions very short because there would be so many over the 3 different sessions rather then just one. I only spend about an hour and a half per session.

This is similar to Baby's First Year sessions, I would research prices for those and see how they come out. $600 for three sessions doesn't seem outragous to me though.

How much you charge is purely subjective as so many factors impact your decision.
1) Are you good enough to justify that price?
a. Only you can answer that question

2) What does your competition charge?
a. Answered if that is the average price, rather then what some charge

3) How saturated is the area you live in?
a. Are you trying to break into the market
b. Are you offering services to improve your portfolio
i. Give discounts as they are helping you get more recognition
ii. Offer additional discounted services if they bring in more customers

4) Are you a dedicated full time professional?
5) What experience do you offer the client to make the session a memorable one

Getting ready for the weekend and adding a few more edits of Jenny.

Bill, #2 is a fantastic shot.

slikscott wrote in post #13042891
Bill, #2 is a fantastic shot.

Thank you sir!


bill

hawk911 wrote in post #13029438
I wasn't criticizing the use of the vette at all. The back story makes it all clear, as I wasn't sure if the car belonged to the first girl, or the second, or if it was yours and you let them use it. I've used old cars that probably won't ever move again, and then just had a senior bring his dad's '69 charger. great marketing idea, too!

This guy will show up again later when I get to the car shots, but he also brought an antique shotgun. I let him borrow the hat

Very cool shot!


bill

cbknight wrote in post #13025292
Some more.......

1 Melissa

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

2 Melissa

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

3 Kylan (was 105 degrees.....not the best time to shoot)

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

4 Kylan

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

5 Ky and Reagan

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

6 Ky and Reagan

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

7 Sarah

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

8) Kassi

HTTP response: 404 | MIME changed to 'text/html' | Byte size: ZERO

Thanks again

Love these!


bill

aaron.dunlap wrote in post #13008390
i can dig the wood texture overlay.... its an extreme edit, but some people like that. I wouldn't apply it directly though... try applying it as a secondary texture to something more subtle... or even mess with difference clouds in a layer mask to decrease the amount of texture hitting the image. and obviously mask the girl out completely. with this kind of overlay it doesn't look good on top of her arms IMHO.

I couldn't make up my mind if I liked the textured overlay directly on her or not. I offered her an edit both ways so I'm curious which she will like better. I may go back and redo the photo.....

bill

Bill nice shots! But for me the eyes in #2 are a little bit overdone.

Just read through this entire thread over the span of three days. I learned so much and took so many notes my head is spinning. You guys rock!
I'm nervous about posting any of my stuff. I'm doing a shoot on the 10th and I'm going to try to keep a small checklist of things I've learned from here in mind. I'll let you see the results.

Btw, I agree with Kouman about those eyes.