STICKY:  How Much do I charge? For your consideration

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?

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.

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

Hey can everyone help me out and go on my flickr and ask me what my pictures can use work on. Am I at a level where are should start charging? Please help.

http://www.flickr.com/​photos/fernandoledesma​/

In my opinion, we have to charge as per the work. Its complexity, length and type of lens uses.

This was a great post. I fall into the category of people who don't do this for a living and would probably be fine with a photo credit. I just didn't realize the ramifications of what offering my photos for free could do to the whole industry. I haven't had any major requests for photos though. Only once has a company used one of my photos for semi commercial use. A few years ago, Six Flags Great America had a photo contest on their Facebook page and said the winner would get to be their profile picture for the summer. Well mine one and I got passes to the media day for the new ride they opened that year (wasn't a roller coaster). I don't feel particularly bad about it since I'm almost certain they employ full time photographers for their real media needs. I also took this photo on a very low quality camera. I've also had a picture from the park appear in a photo gallery on a local news outlet website.

In the future, I will not simply hand out my pictures for free if I'm ever asked. However, I have posted mine to Facebook occasionally. I haven't really heard, but does anyone know if FB has ever done anything with the large volume of photos they have access to? They could easily set up a stock photo service with access to all of their members photos. Does anyone know what the legal ramifications behind posting photos to Facebook are? Have I and other hobbyist photographers screwed ourselves out of money by posting our pictures to Facebook?

TrueasLight wrote in post #14264529
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 wrote in post #14468622
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

So, how did the shoots go and were you compensated? Can you provide your experience from the these jobs for others here - dos, don'ts, tips etc.

Thanks...Al

It entirely depends on the shoot and what they are doing with the photos. If it is a large business looking to use the photos for a mass advertising campaign, don't be afraid to ask for large amounts. If it's an event, never less than a couple hundred dollars. Judge by the situation, there is no need to develop standard pricing except maybe for portraits and weddings

Man, I'm reading the post, but not seeing the answers, Do you charge an hourly rate with a 2 hour minimum?
Selling photos to a company? $25? $2500 I still see no answers.

Call an Electrician or Plumber & they tell ya their rates.
Why are y'all professionals shy?

Fester,

Photographer A's rate in NYC may not apply to photographer B's rate in middle of Ohio. each has their own cost of living and cost of doing business. Even in the same town photographer c should not charge the same as photographer d, they probably have different expenses and different life styles to support. If D has a huge studio and C only does location work, then D will have to charge more and/or do more volume.

I'm pretty sure its been explained how to figure out what to charge based on your needs more than once.

GerryDavid wrote in post #15327780
Even in the same town photographer c should not charge the same as photographer d, they probably have different expenses and different life styles to support.

I'm not a photographer, but I have a hard time agreeing with this statement. Rates varying from location to locations makes sense. They do with every other line of work pretty much as well. I can easily see where Fester is coming from. If two photographers provide for the same level of service, and are in a similar locale, their prices should be the same (or very close). Electrician A, who does the same job as electirican B, but charges more because he has a different life style to support, will quickly be out of work.

Fester isn't the only one with this question in mind...why are professional photogs reluctant to put down generalized prices for various types of work? People in just about every other line of work do it... I guess I'm also baffled by your last comment. When have "my needs" (as a prospective photographer) ever been the basis for what photography sells for? Maybe I'm simple minded, but a service should have an expected, reasonable, and quantifiable rate attached to it. The photographer's lifestyle, needs, etc. should have very little effect on it. The exception would be once someone becomes head and shoulders above the competition. Obviously then a price increase would be justified because demand would go up. But even then, the increased price for that photog should be expected. I'm not trying to be argumentative, I guess I just don't understand why there doesn't seem to be an "industry standard".

photographer c could be getting by with a single rebel camera, a "good" zoom lens and natural light. no studio, no staff, etc. overhead is almost nill.

photographer d could be using a pair of canon 1ds mark II or what ever the current one is, all L glass, and have a 40,000 foot studio complete with a secretary, photo touchup artists, etc. Overhead is a fair amount.

photographer d will have to charge more than c even if people see the two of them offering the same "quality". photography is very subjective, what one person hates another will love. you charge what people will pay.

and by lifestyle I don't mean photographer d wants to drive a lamborghini, and have a few house so he charges more to cover that. That would be a bit extreme.

GerryDavid wrote in post #15347753
photographer c could be getting by with a single rebel camera, a "good" zoom lens and natural light. no studio, no staff, etc. overhead is almost nill.

photographer d could be using a pair of canon 1ds mark II or what ever the current one is, all L glass, and have a 40,000 foot studio complete with a secretary, photo touchup artists, etc. Overhead is a fair amount.

photographer d will have to charge more than c even if people see the two of them offering the same "quality". photography is very subjective, what one person hates another will love. you charge what people will pay.

and by lifestyle I don't mean photographer d wants to drive a lamborghini, and have a few house so he charges more to cover that. That would be a bit extreme.

I definitely knew what you were referring to. I'm familiar with overhead. It's just my opinion, but if quality is similar, the price is going to have to be similar, or else there has to be another factor, such as volume. If I go into Griselda and Son's Coffee Shop and order a cup of coffee, it has to be priced pretty darn close to Starbucks. Of course Starbucks has a massive overhead, but that doesn't mean they can charge massive prices...OK, REALLY crappy example.

to me starbucks and tim hortons taste the same, but tim hortons is 1/4 the price I believe, or at least half the price. its an image thing. you charge what you can. I guess starbucks has a new $7 coffee.

Just wanted to reiterate that this is a great sticky. This is the kind of information that makes this site invaluable. I feel like an hour of reading through this thread taught me more than I could have hoped to learn about the business side of photography. Thanks to all the contributors who took the time to teach us newbies a thing or too.

Andrew