What photographers charge

I may be moving this year and if I do then I need to know what the average photographer charges for weddings and portraits for that area so I can base my prices around that? Can anyone tell me how to check for that info?

Thank you.

Err, google, city, photographers, services, fee's

Markiting is a part of any business plan, and the demographic research, is the same for each area you expect to do business in..

Not knowing that suggests, a basic business course would come in most handy.

Google, area ( community coleges, evening or weekend courses )

So if your area is populated by Craigslist photographers doing a 8 hour wedding for $250 and a free CD of all images will you try and compete with them?

Price your work and time at a rate that you are happy with - if that means that you are pitching at the higher-end clients then so be it.

By all means be aware of the competition that you face but don't let it drive your pricing policy 100%.

Business course would do many some good..

It does not matter what others charge. Price your work to make a profit. Factor in everything including your own salary, all expenses that you need to shoot. Wedding photography is not a commodity, it's a luxury. Stop competing on price.

read Tofurious.com, lots of great ideas on marketing and pricing for photogs!

TopHatMoments wrote in post #11552594
Business course would do many some good..

Well running a photography business is 10% photography 90% business.

There are plenty of excellent photographers who are on the poverty line because they can't run a business for the life of them.

Likewise many OK photographers are making a good living at it... go figure.

Thanks for all the great info, the area will be Rockwall,TX. I'll take all this info to heart and consideration..

Thanks again.

You do need to get info on the competition and take it into consideration. I'd suggest you and some friends make some calls to established photogs in the area and get quotes from them. Google for their websites and see if any post price lists. too. Sometimes wedding planners have price lists from photographers, too. Worst case, you might find a regular price war going on in town and want to steer clear of it!

Forget Craigslist unless you plan to compete there. It's meaningless, and not someplace I'd recommend trolling. Regular feeding frenzy among bottom feeders. There were 717 active photographer ads on my local Craigslist, the last time I looked. I wouldn't call them "professional", since the ones who had websites tended to only have a small portfolio, perhaps one or two weddings in the case of wedding photogs (which is what the majority of them aspire to be)... and I'm guessing those with two weddings under their belts, one was probably a family member's. A lot were offering dirt cheap packages ($200 and less). Some were offering free shoots, building their portfolios! Most will be out of business in a year or two.

Do a proper cost-of-doing business analysis. There are some websites that describe this in detail for photographers. You will probably be surprised what you need to charge, to be viable, sustainable and profitable enough to make it worth your while (hint, it's more than most of those CL "pros" charge). You can always offer introductory discounts if you wish, but should have a "regular" price list to refer to first.

Svetlana wrote in post #11553097
read Tofurious.com, lots of great ideas on marketing and pricing for photogs!

Wow, thanks for the tip, that website is awesome.

Svetlana wrote in post #11553097
read Tofurious.com, lots of great ideas on marketing and pricing for photogs!

i agree!