Senior Portrait Shoot: How many photos?

Senior Portrait Shoot: How many photos?

I got myself into a situation that I shouldn't have, so I need to bounce this off some people who do senior portraits on a regular basis.

I normally do not shoot people, but agreed to do some senior photos for the daughter of my wife's best friend. I let my wife negotiate payment, etc.

There ended up being an awkward moment at the start of the shoot regarding payment. The friend thought I was doing it for free, and I thought I was getting paid $200. (I was fine with the discounted price.)

That got worked out... so everybody says... but now the wife's friend seems put off that she got "only" 40 finished photos. (I had agreed to supply finished *jpgs on a disc, per my preference) She probably assumed she'd get more because I made the mistake of saying that I took almost 700 shots... but not all were sharp, some caught the daughter with her eyes closed or a weird facial expression, many were so closely duplicated that they'd be moot, and so on.

There are several lessons for me here, that don't really need to be re-iterated, but my main question is: Is 40 photos for $200 reasonable or unreasonable?

I can send her more if I am coming up short on my end.

Thanks.

I do an hourly rate and offer an a la carte. A mean average of images "they" chose is about 20. 40 images seems a lot to me.

I would say 40 images for $200 is on the low side. It is even lower if that 200 is inclusive of your creative fee.

I know nothing about senior work, to me it's a portrait shoot. To me $200 is the shoot fee and includes no products, maybe a couple of courtesy prints. Finished prints or files should cost $50-$100 each. I think for $200 she's gotten a steal, I'd have charged more like $2000, probably more.

Get prices from websites of other photographers in your area, or call up a senior specialist and have a chat - tell them you're a photographer who did one senior as a favour (so you're not a competitor) and ask them what they'd charge. Photographers can be pretty open when asked directly, don't pretend to be a customer.

40 finished photos on a disk for $200 is dirt cheap. I don't even finish that many for 5x that amount.

Oh, and don't shoot 700 photos. Take your time, tell her what to do, and shoot WAY less. Be more deliberate and you won't have missed focus, weird facial expressions and eyes closed. Well, not almost 660 of them anyway.

I speak from experience, unfortunately, but NEVER tell the client how many photos you took, firstly. For $200, I would have given them 3-5 processed photos. If you tell them how many you shot, they will invariably want them all or way more than the number you end up giving them. NEVER give them any photos you aren't comfortable having out there because it's your reputation that is on the line.

I also agree with the last comment, why shoot so many photos in a portrait session? Slow down, quality over quantity.

If you do tell them at some point how many you took, always make it clear before the session that they'll never see them all for various reasons.

I find it's okay to admit you're human and stack the odds at times, but that means a couple frames of each pose - not a stop-motion animation of the entire session.

$200/40photo = $5/photo

This isn't taking into consideration time to shoot, edit, edit some more and other conversations before and after the shoot.

When you factor that into your cost, you just gave away the farm.

I shoot seniors weekly and my session fee for 2 hours of work is $150. This does not include any type of digital images or paper prints.

I would also try not to let your clients know how many shots you take good or bad. Telling them you too 700 shots and only gave them 40 can be misinterpreted. I would also set terms ahead of the shoot. Cost, packages, etc.

Just my 2 cents.

Oh and don't feel too bad, OP. Everyone gets abused the first time.

40 photos in hand for $200 is absolutely a bargain. I really don't understand what they're complaining about. Hell, a lot of photographers have a session fee alone of $200 or more (sometimes much more) and that doesn't include any products or files. A digital file is your 35mm film strip - where is the money after you've literally given that away? I see that you're a landscape photographer so I know this hasn't occurred to you. By the way, I really like your work - it's simple, colorful and makes me want to take a fall roadtrip.

But since this was a favor, then let it be known that this was a very, very gracious favor because they are such close friends. If you feel up to playing hardball, you can tell them that you'll delete the photos and return their $200 if they feel that it was not a good deal.

And you know what not to do next time - do NOT mention the total number of photographs, only mention the window of finished proofs they'll have - for a senior portrait I would have said between 20-30 final, because there are only so many poses, backgrounds and outfits, if they have too many to look at they'll be less impressed with the quality and go into Overwhelmed Mode. Too much of a good thing, honest. AND - even for favors, for friends, for family - get. a. contract. signed. If you're doing anything - free or paid, stranger or family, get a contract.

Can you show us a sample of the session? I'm curious as to what they look like.

Analysis paralysis.

I did tell them at the time that not all would come out, and that they'd only get the good ones, and they said they understood, but people don't always understand even when they think they do.

I did do a model release, though not an actual contract.

Here's a link to the first ten shots that I set up for them to review: http://www.iowalandsca​pephotography.com/temp​-12-008-Kleynenberg.html

I finished the remainder after I set up this temporary web page.

photoguy6405 wrote in post #15092450
I did tell them at the time that not all would come out, and that they'd only get the good ones, and they said they understood, but people don't always understand even when they think they do.

They understand...they're just pushing.

studio package for a cd is $575 (around 40 images).... unedited... that includes session fee.
this is yearbook and cap/gown session only. (studio provide tux/black drape and cap/gown)

Lifestyle senior portraits (outdoor portraits) start at $800(including session fee) ... prints only...no cd..... proofs, 5x7s, 8x10s, 11x14s, unmounted.