DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register
 

DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> Pricing for a Photo Shoot
Pages:  
Showing posts 1 - 17 of 17, (reverse)
AuthorThread
10/17/2008 07:06:04 PM · #1
I need help deciding how much to charge for a photo shoot. There are 52 photo that have already been printed out. Just a price for time and going through almost 800 photos, down sizing the group to 52. I spent about 2-3 hrs doing the actual photo shoot and it was a group of about 17 motorcycles were in it.

Please help me deciding how much to charge.

~Sofia

Note: no professional equipment was being used besides a Canon EOS-300D Rebel. No special lighting. just the camera and me.

10/17/2008 07:16:40 PM · #2
You already took the shots, edited them, and printed them and now you're working out how much to charge? Just want to make sure I got that straight.
10/17/2008 07:57:07 PM · #3
How much is your time worth?
Will you meet or exceed their expectations?
Did you have any discussion(even informally) about cost of services/prints beforehand?
Do they have a budget?
10/17/2008 09:56:33 PM · #4
this was my first photo shoot and i really dont know any pricing or anything like that. and violinist123, that is all correct.

-met expectations
-we didn't discuss any pricing before hand. although i can tell you that i didn't even know that i was going to be paid until after the event. this is why i have come to the wonderful advice of the community of DPC.

please ask more questions if things are not clear. also, if you have any advice for anything in the future, please tell me. all suggestions and things said in this Forum will be appreciated.

~Sofia
10/17/2008 10:25:29 PM · #5
Always negotiate the terms up front. #1 rule in life. Applies to business, marriage and cab rides in foreign countries.

Add up all the time you spent on this - time getting there, shooting, getting home, editing, printing, going to pick up prints, coming back home, reviewing the prints, delivering the prints.

Multiply by how much each of those hours is worth to you. Business is getting paid (or at least convincing someone to pay you) for the time that you could have spent doing something else, but didn't.

There's the theory. Someone who does this for a living will be better suited to give you some dollar amounts to aim for.
10/18/2008 02:13:41 AM · #6
I'm taking a class right now that is all about the business end of photography. As an assignment I did an informational interview with Phillip Burnett who is an ASMP board member in Portland and shoots some absolutely amazing photos. In that interview the one thing I learned is that if you don't make it hurt to pay you then you are doing yourself and the business a dis-service. That being said it has been like pulling teeth trying to get real pricing out of anyone I've spoken to. Look up what it would cost to rent the camera you used and add that to the amount you charge for time. Because eventually you'll want to upgrade your camera and even though you may own that one now it will need to be replaced one day. But if you want a really simple answer then look up what portrait places like picture people or someone like that charges for their packages and use it to compare what you come up with. I realize these may not be portraits but its something to compare with. I work at a hospital doing newborn portraits and they pay about $9.00 an hour as a base wage. I also get commission for what I sell. The packages run from 139.95 to 29.95. The small package only includes two sheets (an 8x10, 5x7 and 4 wallets). But this is with no editing at all and using a point and shoot camera with built in flash.

Not sure how much that helps but there it is.
10/18/2008 02:48:12 AM · #7
Looks like you have gotten some good advice already so I'll just add a congratulations on getting the work. smardaz must be very proud!
10/24/2008 02:29:53 PM · #8
i thank you for the congradulations, and Smardaz is very proud. But i still think that i need a little more advice. PLEASE add you comments and PLEASE more advice. Thanks a lot!!

~Sofia
10/27/2008 11:34:14 AM · #9
So did you decided on what to do?
10/31/2008 04:14:34 PM · #10
I actually still haven't and i still need help. :)

Please continue to help!

~Sofia
10/31/2008 05:34:55 PM · #11
I would charge $50 / hour. 3 hours for the shoot = $150. Plus editing time of, say, 3 hours = $150.00. Total $300.00 for provision of digital media. If they want prints, then double or triple the charge of the print cost to you. Hope that might help.
11/02/2008 12:55:37 AM · #12
The only person that can really solve this is yourself. It all boils down to what you think your time is worth. Multiply that by how many hours you worked and that is how much you charge. The only external factor that you can really look at to help determine what you think your time is worth is client satisfaction. If they are really happy with the results, charge more. If they aren't happy, charge less. But don't charge any less than what YOU think your time is worth.
11/02/2008 08:10:15 AM · #13
If your good enough to get paid then how good are you? Average? Sucky? Great? then charge accordingly. The average photog wants around $100-150/hour. If you're 1/2 as good then charge half as much,ir you're great then you can charge more.

What are the photos for? Personal use then that pricing works. For anything commercial you have to add on a per-image usage fee type of thing.

It is unlikely ANYONE will pay you more that you ask. So if you don't place much value on you and your time and skills, then no one else will either.
02/19/2009 01:34:40 PM · #14
Thank you all for everything that you have said. it has all been helpful!
02/19/2009 02:24:16 PM · #15
I know this has been said before, but you really should put your terms up front. Just curious, what are you going to do if the client decides that your pricing is too high and doesn't want the photos? You have now just done all the work for nothing. Even if you don't know how much to charge for each photo...always always at least charge a sitting/shooting fee and then you can negotiate over how much each photo is worth. The sitting/shooting fee isn't negotiable because it's based on how much your time is worth...strictly on time (unless you have some added equipment, facilities or such...those would be included in that price also).

Now to help with your questions... Try and figure out what the photos will be used for. See if you will be given credit for the photos. What distribution will the photos have (local, worldwide, etc.). Then decide on a price.
02/19/2009 02:26:10 PM · #16
Originally posted by violinist123:

Always negotiate the terms up front. #1 rule in life. Applies to business, marriage and cab rides in foreign countries.


I thought the rule in marriage was to negotiate the terms up front...and then when the all the joys of being smitten when first in love wear off...you try to re-negotiate your contract with stiffer terms in your favor!

Message edited by author 2009-02-19 14:26:39.
06/09/2012 09:51:13 AM · #17
Just this morning I've been working on this very problem I decided I'd shop around and see what going rates are and just average it out of 3 places so far this is the average

$165/hr sitting fee

Package 1:$43
9 wallets
3 4x6 portraits
2 5x7 portraits
1 8x10 portrait

Package 2: $52
10 wallets
8 4x6 portrait
2 5x7 portrait
1 8x10 portrait

Package 3 $89
32 wallets
12 4x6 portraits
3 5x7 portraits
2 8x10 portraits
1 11x14 portraits

A La Carte:
10 wallets $11.25
4x6 $5.50
5x7 $10
8x10 $19
11x14 $50
16x20 $70
20x24 $90

Mileage fee after 30 mi round trip $1.00/mi

Touchups $17.50/per pose

Hope this helps. Don't sell yourself short!
Pages:  
Current Server Time: 03/28/2024 06:59:31 PM

Please log in or register to post to the forums.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Prints! - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2024 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 03/28/2024 06:59:31 PM EDT.