Howmuch should i be looking to get paid?

Hi, I've never worked photography for money before and was trying to venture into the real estate photography business as a side job aside from being a student. I was going to charge a (few) flat fee depending on the size of the house and the amount of prep work I had to do to get the home photo ready.

however I received an email offering me to shoot for a holiday decor company, their website tells me they put up christmas decors in office buildings / malls. and the owner is looking for a photographer to shoot their finished products.

Howmuch should i be looking for as far as pay wise? per location? hourly? is it common practice to ask for a "gas" fee if i was to travel across state lines? (office is in maryland im in northern virginia, they do work in MD/DC/VA).

Sounds to me like this could be a good "foot in the door" opportunity....so dont screw it up!!

Be open and honest with your clients...tell them you are getting into professional photography and show them some of your work youve done. Ask them to submit a price that they think would be fair and go from there....compare that to what others in your skill range would charge. If its more, great...if not, try and reason with them a little bit(not too much!) Dont be afraid to ask for "travel expenses" either.

Since it sounds like your new to the professional game, focus more on getting work for your portfolio than making money...getting your name out there, gaining experience and potentially gaining a new, repeat client is worth much more than making a few bucks on a single job.

well so far i have a pricing table of

up to 8 photos is $50, each additional photo is +$15, then traveling expenses if i were to travel outside of my local area.

does that sound fair for someone starting out? its a little hard for me to gauge my skill level.

and i will be shooting for a home for samples soon. will post results.

joooowan wrote in post #8848923
well so far i have a pricing table of

up to 8 photos is $50, each additional photo is +$15, then traveling expenses if i were to travel outside of my local area.

does that sound fair for someone starting out? its a little hard for me to gauge my skill level.

and i will be shooting for a home for samples soon. will post results.

Again, fair compensation is only relative to your skill level...and since i have no idea what your capable of, your price might be a screaming deal for them or it might be a deal for them to run away from screaming...or anywhere in between.

Guess what im trying to say is that your not going to get a definitive answer on here...

I'd do it for whatever it comfortably cost you to do a good job (get there, spend some time there, work, get back again) and chalk it up as experience.

I've learned it pays to do free work (wheres MJ..?) a lot more than it does to straight up start charging big bucks.

If you're doing product photography consider investing in a lightbox or table top studio.

http://www.bhphotovide​o.com …abletop_Photo_S​tudio.html

Technically you should also look into photo licensing - as in, charging for their usage of your photos after you've photographed them.

Generally the equation is:

Expenses and materials + Time + Travel time there and back/food/hotel?+licen​se fees = your price per hour/the shoot