Should I be charging for these?

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1,3,4,7 no eyes (3 they appear closed from blinking or heavily squinting) 1,7 no faces. Those are usually deal breakers for me with portraits, unless there is a major reason to break the rules for composition/art purposes.
With one have them open up to you just a little, pull her hair back, lower her hand to his shoulder and adjust his arm so it's not a right angle and you'll be able to highlight them, and their faces, and remove a bit of rigidity.

3 I can't tell if it's the lighting or the processing; but it looks like they're standing in front of a sears backdrop/Photoshoped into an image of the mountains.

5 as was mentioned by another when I saw this posted elsewhere (and I concur) the missing torso looks awkward. With 4 and 5 I cant help but wonder if a 3/4 angle on the face would go along way toward adding depth to the photo and connection with the subject.

6 feels too far away to draw me into any emotion, had your distance to subject been cut in half to reduce the power the sky has on the image, I think the pose and the back drop would have likely worked out real well.

7 I think this one would work if she was facing you either hair to her back behind her face or if you're trying to highlight it in front of her shoulder just have her tuck it under her chin so we can see the face and eyes.

2 is awesome, if you could hit this level of emotion and connection to the subject consistently you will be onto something, looks like there might be a little clipping, it works in this image, but be careful with others. The key it to get that shadow detail and not lose the highlights either.

Something you may want to try out is making your subject the brightest and closest thing to the camera. It's not the tree stump or the shoulder or the tall grass or the hair on the side of the head that matters most but all these things are getting my eyes before the subject, instead of keeping it in the frame and redrawing attention back to the subject. 3,6,7 my mind is deciphering if I'm looking at a landscape with a person in it, or a portrait; and it should only take a few minor tweaks to make it so the killer location takes a backseat to your subject.

You asked for honesty and you seem to be consistently putting out good exposures and a few slightly different looks; so these are intended to be constructive not demoralizing. As far as knowing when you're ready, you need to be consistent and have a plan in place to handle equipment failures and hurdles that come up that cause the plan to go to hell, after that, well I'm not sure i ever felt ready, just like it was time to go ahead and do it or I'd be perpetually finding excuses to push it back.

I love all of them, love the processing as well.

I completely agree with Motor's Critique.

#2 is definitely the best of the set, love the "twinkle" in her eye

That was the best, most detailed C+C I have ever gotten on this forum. I will take everything you say in stride, it all makes perfect sense and is really good advice.

I understand what you mean about the Landscape semi-dominating the first impression of the overall shot. I'll keep that in mind the next time I go out and shoot and try to make the subjects/people 'pop' more.

Thanks for the replies so far everyone! Appreciate the kind words.

I agree with Motor On and many of the technical aspects of these photos. Some have real potential but still need better processing and posing to take them to the next level.
That being said.
I think you need to ask yourself some of the hard questions like

1. Is turning this into a job even a part time job going to rob the joy that you have in taking pictures by making it a job.

2. do you really need the money or is it more about not wanting people to take advantage of you. If it is a money issue you might consider doing it part time but realize that doing so also brings more expenses that you will need to consider. Things like equipment upkeep, self-employment taxes, as well as the time it takes to do it right. Do you have the time and resources to put into making it a business?

3. Lastly you need to be ready to deal with the frustrations that come with business and the main cause of what robs people of the joy of photographing others in the first place. The equipment failure, bad weather, unhappy clients, over demanding clients, uncooperative clients, etc, etc.

I am not trying to discourage you or tell you you can't make it but these are things that professionals deal with all the time and often not spoken about as it is not the glamorous side of the business. I wish you the best of luck.

neimad19 wrote in post #16354240
I really want to pursue photography as a part time paid venture, but I'm not entirely sure I'm ready to charge for my services.

What point did you know you were ready to start charging for your work?

You have received some fantastic advice so far... especially as it pertains to the technical side of these photos. I agree with all of it, but I wanted to comment specifically on the part of your post shown above.

I wouldn't say that photography is a part time job for me. However, I do take paying gigs now and again. I'll do the occasional wedding, engagement session, senior portraits, family portraits, business event, etc... but I don't take more than 5-10 projects in a year. I have a good M-F job and I want to stay passionate about photography. Some extra money is nice here and there, but I also want it to be worth my time. Bending over backwards, feeling underpaid and dealing with difficult clients are parts of the business that could potentially bury your passion for photography. That is mainly what I am trying to stay away from. If the money comes, it comes... if it doesn't, it doesn't.

Now, do you want photography to be a regular supplement to your income, or would the money just be a bit of a bonus for something that you would do anyway? I think Slaterza was right on track in the post above... that is some very important stuff to consider.

All that being said... At what point did I know that I was ready to start charging for my work?

Simple. I knew I was ready to charge for my work when I wasn't afraid to give someone a quote for my work. When you can put a dollar figure out to someone, for a pre-determined amount of work, and you are confident that it is a good value... that is when you are ready to charge for your work.

Conversely, when you show prospective clients your portfolio, then give them a dollar figure for the shoot, and they are willing to pay it... that is when your work is worth charging for.

I do like your use of the environment - you have a great eye. Keep working it. My favs are 1 and 6. Carry on!

I WOULD NEVER BUY THESE! I don't know these people Your images are great quality, but just moving your subjects in a way that it effective would make these 100 X's better (I didn't read any previous posts by the way)

Make sure that you get the shot that you know you can use! The second one is a great example of when you should have gotten another, gotten her whole face and made sure her eyes looked normal (Possibly squinted here) but it still is clear and clean!

Yea, but there's plenty of room for improvement..

ok I wouldn't say go ahead and charge $100 a pop for these lol...idk what photographers charge for photos, but keep your day job and do some shoots for friends...maybe ask around and see what a cheap photography session costs...don't make too many promises lol

Only charge if it is not a hobby you enjoy or uses lots of your needed time IMO

What would you ask someone to pay for how many images? If I wanted to sell some of my images, how do I even go about doing that? :P Just starting looking at it in the photography business section and there's not a ton of help but yeh ;P I'm not ready by any means, but maybe someone reading this is

xarik wrote in post #16357070
What would you ask someone to pay for how many images? If I wanted to sell some of my images, how do I even go about doing that? :P Just starting looking at it in the photography business section and there's not a ton of help but yeh ;P I'm not ready by any means, but maybe someone reading this is

Charge by time/session and a flat rate for editing then add in if they want CD or SD card etc. for self use

When I started out (and I'm a hobbyist who makes a few dollars with my hubby in tow) I charged $50.00 for a session and they received 20-30ish images, or the best of the session. They knew I was learning, building experience, knew my work, and were willing victims. That is just a fee I came up with for what I felt my time and experience was worth at the time and what I felt a client could "get what they paid for" maybe a bit more. So, as you hang out here more, follow photographers whose work you admire, learn more, produce better images, and gain more confidence, you'll get to a comfortable place.

Check the local Craigslist for what photogs in your area charge and compare their work - do YOU think they are worth what they charge for the service they provide?