Family photos? Charge?

Ok, I've been asked (no, thats part of the problem, my mom basically offered me up w/o asking me) to shoot my cousin's sweet 16 in February. For free. And even though it's family, I'm just not cool with that. Lets consider:

I have to drive from New Jersey to Long Island (2 hours roundtrip, plus $20 in gas and tolls).
I have to shoot the sweet 16 (4-5 hours, ~1,000 images).
I have to present said images in a slideshow during the sweet 16.
I have to post process everything (2 days).
I have to put wear and tear on my gear (most important to me).

All that, and I'm not getting paid?? Family or not, thats BS. And its just the continuation of the idea that photographers dont need to get paid. Why, my aunt will be renting a hall, a DJ, and catering. But no, lets not pay the photographer, hes family, itll be his gift to us!!

No, my gift would be charging you $100 instead of my normal rate of nearly $1,000, base. But according to my mom, thats despicable of me. What do you all think?

I agree with you. Its not despicable, would you be giving her a gift equal of $1000? Anybody who blow's a ton of cash on their daughter's 16th birthday because there's a bunch of spoiled brats on MTV who do the same thing, can afford to at the very least pay you a discounted rate. Also, this time that your spending there could be used to book other clients (that pay). That may sound heartless, but I'm with you all the way. Family can be very good at bullying.

- Maybe you can get a ride with your mom
- Only shoot 350 images (1000 is crazy, I don't even shoot that many at a wedding)
- Decline the slideshow at the party (you aren't under contract)
- Process the best 100 images at your leisure
- The wear and tear on your gear is negligible
- Enjoy the party
- Put up online gallery and charge for prints

OR

Just decline altogether

Gatorboy wrote in post #9321471
- Maybe you can get a ride with your mom
- Only shoot 350 images (1000 is crazy, I don't even shoot that many at a wedding)
- Decline the slideshow at the party (you aren't under contract)
- Process the best 100 images at your leisure
- The wear and tear on your gear is negligible
- Enjoy the party
- Put up online gallery and charge for prints

OR

Just decline altogether

1. Mom lives closer to where the 16 is.
2. Are you serious? In a 12 hour wedding day, you wont shoot over 1,000 images??
3. Agreed.
4. Agreed.
5. Thats dumb. My shutter is rated for 100,000 cycles. I shoot 1,000 photos, thats 1/100 of my expected life, in one day. Thats pretty significant to me.
6. Yea, enjoy a party full of 16 year old girls from Laaawwng Iiiiisland. Ok.
7. That is not a bad idea.

OR

I wish I could, but thats a little cold. All I want is some petty compensation, and I don't think thats asking too much at all.

gregpphoto wrote in post #9321509
2. Are you serious? In a 12 hour wedding day, you wont shoot over 1,000 images??

Maybe in a 12-hour wedding, but not in a 5-hour wedding. So you expect to shoot 200-250 images an hour at a birthday party? Wow!

Gatorboy wrote in post #9321589
Maybe in a 12-hour wedding, but not in a 5-hour wedding. So you expect to shoot 200-250 images an hour at a birthday party? Wow!

Haha, well, I haven't been to a sweet 16, but if its anything like a Bar Mitzvah, yea, close to 1,000 photos. Keep in mind, I know theyre gonna want doofy family posing together photos of everyone. Shooting 3 or 4 per pose to ensure nobody blinks, we're talking 250 photos right there, before the sweet 16 even begins!

Why are you asking for advice and then calling it dumb. It sounds like you dont want to do it, so dont. If you would normally charge $1000, recommend you can do it for $500. Let your aunt know that you do not work for free. She is more than able to hire a photographer it seems, but just wants to cheap out.

You know what you need to do, nothing any of us tell you will make a difference.

Red Tie Photography wrote in post #9321988
Why are you asking for advice and then calling it dumb. It sounds like you dont want to do it, so dont. If you would normally charge $1000, recommend you can do it for $500. Let your aunt know that you do not work for free. She is more than able to hire a photographer it seems, but just wants to cheap out.

You know what you need to do, nothing any of us tell you will make a difference.

Hmm. I seemed to have agreed with 3 of the 6 contended points. But you bring up the 3 I disagreed with. Seems like your a pessimist?

My uncle is a builder and whenever he did work for us we paid and because we were family if other work came up he would put us on hold and do the other work "as we were family" and "we'd understand".

He is now a Millionaire now and we are not.

He still charges for the odd bits of work he does even though he could afford not to.

If he was doing it "on the side" I'd have expected a discount rate at least but he is running a business and so it is to be expected that he will charge the going rate. After all, he could have had another paying job that he sacrificed to do ours.

If it is your business then grow a pair and explain to your mum that it is your living and you need to cover at leat your costs and some of your time (hence offer a discount). If you are a hobby shooter / weekend warrior then I can understand why they may expect it to be free.

Nightstalker wrote in post #9322186
If it is your business then grow a pair and explain to your mum that it is your living and you need to cover at leat your costs and some of your time (hence offer a discount). If you are a hobby shooter / weekend warrior then I can understand why they may expect it to be free.

I have explained all of that to them, but my family doesn't seem to understand it. I think my best move is to restate my case, and then politely decline if they can't meet my bare minimum $100 charge.

Thanks all.

If you are not happy doing it then don't...It is pretty cut and dry. It's really pretty simple and you have a choice. Don't go haggling over $100.00.. It's not worth the distention that you are going to create in your family. Politely decline the offer to work for free*LOL*....

To me family is important so on a personal note, I would do it for free... Wear and tear...expenses..
It's all a personal matter. Just don't rock the boat over something small *L*


My brother in law is an accountant..It does not mean that he has to do my taxes for free nor would I expect him to set a rate for me..Him setting a rate would tick me off. Saying no..I would be fine with..

I do know what you mean - despite my previous post, for family I usually either don't bother or do it for free - it is especially hard with Mum's who always seem to see you as "their little boy"...

However if I do agree to do it for free it is on the proviso that if some paying work comes in then they go to the back of the queue. If they won't pay I don't guarantee.

Would you have gone to the party if they didn't ask you to be the photographer? Sucky situation. Any chance you'd make some money off of the prints if you put them up on a site like ExposureManager/Smugmu​g/Zenfolio? If so, don't give them ANY digital copies, and make them pay for ANY prints (with a nice profit built into the price of course ) If the family balks at this, tell them that you are not setup to do prints outside of what EM/ZF/SM has setup, and that you think your prices are fair, and you already gave them a $1000 discount. Perhaps give them a one-time discount code to knock 5% off? Good luck!

Divorce your mother!!!

jhcanon wrote in post #9322496
Divorce your mother!!!

Thats the best advice so far