How much should I charge??

As a second year photography student, I'm not too sure what I should be charging for my work. I've shot 2 weddings before, one as a second and one a main (for $200)... yet that was about 3 years ago! Now that I'm a good ways through the program and know what to expect at these type of events, what do I charge?

I've researched it some but would love to know what you guys think. Any help would be great.

Welcome to the forum, and it is exciting to hear that you are going through your schooling. Feel free to stick around the forum and learn all you can.

I have a feeling you will find it hard for any of us to give you insight on how much you should charge. First, you give us very little information - no website, no gear list, and no indicator of knowledge or skill. You havent even given us a geographical location.

The best answer (which I know you want a concrete answer) it to charge what the market will bear.

Many people believe the photographers make up a number and charge it for fun. "Hmm, I want to charge $400 an hour because I really want to buy a new car" but dont think about the costs of running a business. Are you doing this full time, do you want to make this a career?

Once you answer these questions, my guess is you will be given the following advice:
1. Dont charge - shoot for free or find someone to second shoot for.
2. Take some business courses and learn about marketing, accounting, finance, running a business, etc.
3. Get insurance, business name, tax ID, find vendors and work out your pricing structure.
4. Buy more gear. Most likely you do not have sufficient gear to present yourself as a professional photographer. Please do not come back with "the photographer is more important than the gear." You can argue this all you want, but when you show up to a reception and there is NO light, and they turn off what there is for the first dance, trying to argue that you as a photographer are more important than a flash wont fly. Or when your only body/lens of a certain focal length breaks, unless you know how to make a shoebox camera and are willing to do that way, the gear matters.

Good luck, but I dont think you will get the answer you want.

Sorry I am kinda new to this fourm! Here is my blog, and my Flickr. I live in the Atlanta area.

I've only had my Canon 7D for about 3 months. I have the 28-135USM that came in the kit, and have access to a 50mm 1.4USM, and 430EXII. I am fully prepared to rent the equipment I need (the 70-200 2.8L IS, and possibly the 35 1.4L or the 85 1.2L) and equipment I still need to research. So I know right from the start I NEED to rent for this event. The right gear is everything.

I want this is be my career! No doubt! It's going to be hard work but I am prepared for that. I've taken marketing, accounting and business classes before I even started the Photography program so I have my foot in the door when it comes to that (but nothing beats real world experience!).

Please take a look at my work and feel free to let me know what you think. I am open to criticism!

From the information you posted (and to give you a concrete number) I would advise you to charge $0. I honestly dont think you are ready to run a business on your own. Try to do second shooting a couple more times to really gain the experience of a full fledged wedding and the difficulty to run it on your own. Your blog and flickr did not give me much insight on how you shoot or much about you. Your studio stuff looks good, but I would never hire someone for my wedding without seeing much more outdoor couple portraits.

As for gear, dont forget a second body, a second flash, and the knowledge to use it all.

It looks like you have the basics of photography down (exposure and WB seem good). Keep at it and you have a shot, but need more for your portfolio.

Ok, Thank you for the advice.

not to start anything red. but I myself have been shooting for about 3 years. granted I am not the best in the world. but to charge absolutely nothing is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. I can understand a student pricing of about 500 dollars if you would have said that. But to tell her that she still shouldn't charge anything after she has done this two times before, as an assistant and a sole photographer. It a little arrogant to do so don't you think? It still takes time and money to do the things for a wedding and to not be compensated in some regard to the effort you took for taking pictures of the person, doesn't seem right to me.

I am a 2nd year Fine Arts (digital Photography) student at the Art Institute. I myself and struggling with pricing. However I have my foot in the door in the aspect of business and marketing because I also own and run another business aside from photography, which is telecommunications based.
I have my primary body, a back up body, three different lenses, one flash and an array of filters. I also have access to every type of equipment I could possibly need.
I am currently working with a local photographer here on a project, not as a 2nd for a wedding but as a partner.
Weddings are not my thing, neither is wildlife. Being an EMT and having gone to school for law enforcement I am more into photojournalism. I have a press badge for my business so I also do a lot of event photography and interviews.
Pricing is a hard thing to figure out. Demographics, experience, customer needs, time, etc. I dont thing the OP should be giving their work away for free, however they need help in figuring out what a REASONABLE rate would be.
What was a quote I read on this site?? something about doing it for free makes you look unexperienced while charging too low makes you look desperate.. something like that

Wheeltracks wrote in post #11755866
not to start anything red. but I myself have been shooting for about 3 years. granted I am not the best in the world. but to charge absolutely nothing is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. I can understand a student pricing of about 500 dollars if you would have said that. But to tell her that she still shouldn't charge anything after she has done this two times before, as an assistant and a sole photographer. It a little arrogant to do so don't you think? It still takes time and money to do the things for a wedding and to not be compensated in some regard to the effort you took for taking pictures of the person, doesn't seem right to me.

I wouldnt advertise myself as a pro photographer doing weddings until I had the gear and much more experience. What I meant by charging $0 is that I dont think she should be doing it at all. Although she has done a few things 2 years ago, I dont think that really qualifies her to start going out and trying to book gigs.

I completely understand where you are coming from, and I understand the phrase sink or swim, but if I advise her to go for it and charge $XXX, I think there will be a good probability of sinking.

I guess it depends on where you are going with this. All of your weddings you shoot will be with you forever, so if you start offering to shoot for $300 and do a crappy job, 5 years from now a new potential client can see those pictures and think 2 things. 1, that person is not a good photographer or 2, I want it cheap.

Red Tie Photography wrote in post #11756399
I wouldnt advertise myself as a pro photographer doing weddings until I had the gear and much more experience. What I meant by charging $0 is that I dont think she should be doing it at all. Although she has done a few things 2 years ago, I dont think that really qualifies her to start going out and trying to book gigs.

I in no way ever advertised myself as a professional photographer. Right from the get go I mentioned that I am a student. I did my last 2 weddings before I was ever a student for this and I did not sink. The couple knew I was an amateur when they hired me and were willing to give me a chance, and I appreciate that opportunity because now I have some experience under my belt. The couple loved the photographs I took for them.

The couple I am shooting in April actually came to me and asked me to shoot their wedding. So I am NOT "going out and trying to book gigs." I am simply trying to gain experience and firmly believe that charging $0 would be selling myself short. I know my work and time is worth the money because with the right gear I KNOW I can achieve what I set out to. Because I am a beginner I know my knowledge base is not worth $1000 yet, but it is definitely more than $0.

I have no problem interning or assisting photographers on weddings for free to gain knowledge, but before this wedding, I do not have the time. I am not going to turn this couple away simply because I have only shot 2 before. They know and trust my skill level before even asking. I can't give my work away for free simply because I am a student.

You know basic business?

Look at your fixed cost and variable costs.

Insurance (risk) for damage cost

what's your "basic" time worth?

$10/hr? $20/hr? $40/h?

How many hrs of prep work do you need?

How many hrs of onsite work will you do?

How many hrs of PP work will you do?

add it all up.

What are the print cost structure?

How much % mark-up should you put on everything?

Add it all up, how much does it come to?

Is that an acceptable figure to you?

at least you have a starting point then....

A quick answer is to look at what established, successful photographers in your area charge for the same or similar work. (Don't bother to look at Craigslist fools who tend to massively undercharge and won't be in business next year because they're camera will be worn out and they won't be able to afford to replace it.)

Set up your charges the same... Not particular higher or lower. You might offer something slightly different, but stick with proven formulas as much as you can.

Then you can offer an "introductory discount" if you wish, in light of being relatively new (assuming your work and fulfillment is equal to others).

By discounting off your "regular" prices you are not undervaluing your work and are still giving a break to people who take a risk on your being new and unproven.

Or take a more considered approach to your pricing, since you have taken business classes you might have the basics for doing a cost-of-doing-business analysis and developing a business plan. You should do this as soon as possible. It's essentially what Mike has suggested. This will nearly always substatiate the prices that established, successful photographers are charging. IAnd it will equally tell you quite clearly why most of those Craiglsist bottom feeders won't be around after their savings run out and/or their equipment is broken down.

Lay out a plan and you'll be ahead of the game. Work the plan but keep in mind that you can always change a plan as you go along and learn about new things that effect it. But if you fail to plan you should simply plan to fail.

Right now you appear to just be pulling figures out of the air: "More than $0 but less than $1000".

In my market area a career-oriented, established and reasonably successful wedding photographers charge $2000 on average. "Enhanced" packages go for $2500 to $5000. Somtimes more! This might sound like a lot, but if you think about it, they'd have to shoot and complete thirty $2500 weddings a year to earn the median household income in my county. And that doesn't even take into account the costs of running the business. I don't shoot weddings if I can help it, but would guesstimate that you'd have to shoot another thirty weddings per year just to cover your costs. That's sixty $2500 weddings a year. Realistic?

Or look at it another way. If you only want to equal a minimum wage employee's $300 a week ($15K a year), I'd speculate you'd need to sell at least $600 a week worth of your product and services to cover expenses too. So you need to book and profitably complete thirty $1000 weddings or fifteen $2000 weddings per year. What's practical and possible? As a skilled photographer with a large investment in your own education, equipment and the knowledge how to use it, do you think you're worth more than minimum wage? How much do the local Starbuck's barristas make per hour, including tips? They get some benefits and have no expensive equipment investment either, do they? Incidentally, the $200 "shoot and scoot" Craigslist photogs will need to shoot 150 weddings per year to earn minimum wage. Actually probably more since they will be wearing out their equipment 5X as fast, driving more, etc.

If you are charging for your services, you are by definition a "professional". You have two years education in photography, which is more than many long-term established pros have ever taken. You do have limited "on the job" experience and would probably benefit a lot from working as a second shooter, working with a "mentor" for a while, building up your equipment and knowledge, before setting out on your own. This is a much less risky path and ultimately a short cut that can avoid many pitfalls.

There are other threads here and on the wedding photographer's forum about minimum equipment needs for a sole proprietor. You are way short on what you need to do the job on your own, but likely would be okay as a second shooter.

It a HARD business and LOTS of competition. Are you sure you want to head in this direction? Based on your blog , you are not ready yet.

Good luck

scorpio_e wrote in post #11764644
It a HARD business and LOTS of competition. Are you sure you want to head in this direction? Based on your blog , you are not ready yet.

Good luck

No...she just went to photography school so it would look good on her Wal-Mart application. You would think that nobody here was ever an aspiring new photographer. Everybody was just born with the knowledge and experience. Or possibly alien abduction and probing gave out the knowledge and instant experience to the chosen few...

Now...Miss Arnold. A couple of things that I see that you might want to take into consideration. Your Blog (which I rather enjoyed reading) reads more like a personal blog than a business one. Have a look around at other photogs business blogs around the web. I refuse to do a blog because I suck at them lol...I STILL need to get my website fully functional, instead of the 5 minute HTML page I put up about 8 months ago, but I work a full time job and shoot on my off days. Not an excuse, but just how it works out. Your portfolio is most enjoyable to view as well, but you need to really look closely at the uploaded images. Example...the pixelation in this image: http://www.flickr.com …in/set-72157625312720511/ This is something you want to avoid at all costs when presenting samples of your work to prospective clients.

You have a good start into the photography business world, and while you have a bit further to go as far as equipment, business sense, experience, etc...just don't bet the rent money, keep shooting, and have fun. Don't get in a hurry trying to make it your sole income business. Also, from what I have read, you have in no way misrepresented yourself to any potential client. Just remember that above all else, that is the most important trait for a true professional...honesty​.