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04/11/2011 01:25:34 AM · #1 |
Ok guys, I really really need some advice.
I have been playing around with some Portrait photography for a bit now, taking pictures of my friends and giving them the pictures for free as well as one senior portrait shoot I did for a friend, which I used to gain experience (the mom donated a reasonable amount for the cause, but it was not predetermined)
But now, it is actually taking off as a (albeit very small) photography side job. I have been asked to shoot senior portraits for two nieces of a family friend.
The big deal is I have to figure out how much money I want to be charging (both for this job and in the future). I don't want to charge too much, because I am not professional yet, but I also don't want to charge too little so that it isn't worth my time and effort.
This is what I am thinking right now:
50 dollars for an hour of shooting of one person
25 additional dollars for every 10 edited pictures that I send them.
Client has to print pictures on their own but may make as many copies as they wish (I don't have any capabilities of doing that currently)
What do you think? Too much? Too little? Obviously its waaaaay less than most professionals charge, but I do have less experience.
I would probably be losing money time wise with the edited pictures, because those do take me a long time. Should I change the price distribution?
If you were the amateur portrait photographer just starting out, what would you charge?
Any and all advice would be appreciated. I am hoping to respond to the email request with definite numbers in the next two days.
Oh, and since pricing should obviously depend on picture quality, here is my portrait portfolio
Clicky |
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04/11/2011 02:26:16 AM · #2 |
Seriously...you should take a look at what  Skip has to say. PM him if you need to, but I think you should set up a few basic packages that you get printed someplace to at least get you started. |
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04/11/2011 09:16:27 AM · #3 |
We are in the same boat. I started shooting for friends and now I am getting approached by friends of friends about shooting portraits of kids and senior portraits. I wasn't sure what to charge, so I just decided to do what I think my time is worth. I do the shoot (I've shot anywhere from 30 minutes to 1.5 hours), give them a low-res watermarked version of all the pictures I think are acceptable, and then they choose the ones they like. They get the high res copy and do all the printing.
I will probably get hammered by the professionals because of my pricing scheme, but this is what I charge:
$25 session fee
$10 for every edited picture
May not seem like a lot, but if you take a lot of good pictures then you can really start making money. It forces you to work hard at nailing your shots and be creative.
Just my two cents...
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04/11/2011 11:59:09 AM · #4 |
Bump for the Morning Crowd. Thank you to everyone who responds and keep the suggestions coming :-)
I know that a lot of photographers do it differently, so I am hoping to hear from lots of different people |
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04/11/2011 12:13:15 PM · #5 |
Have you figured out what you want to make? You have to factor in your time, equipment, processing, expertise, taxes, overhead etc...
Figure a client only wants 10 photos. Ok so you will likely be shooting at minimum one hour. Then there is the traveling, just guessing but lets give that an hour as well just to make things easier (that is going to and from and setting up taking down). Ok so you are now at two hours, time to get to editing. Quick basic touch ups we can say 5 minutes a piece (lets say 6 to make it another even hour) Ok so you are three hours in for a $75 job. $25 an hour not too bad. now take about 33% of that for taxes and you are down to $16 an hour still not bad. But there is also business license fees, equipment costs and so on. This is of course assuming you are only delivering digital copies (prints you have to factor in shipping and material as well and if you are doing digital then there will be no returning for enlargements or anything else)
All this is really just to show you that it really depends a lot on your situation and what you want to get out of it. Personally I would suggest bumping up your session fee to $100 (you can always run specials or discounts or add in print credit. But I would suggest more money up front as you don't want to spend 3-5 hours on a job to end up getting paid $50 and that be it. Definitely check out Skip's profile and read up on some of his posts, it is a great resource. Good luck with your venture, I do hope you do well just beware, it is a lot more to it then you may think, it sure was for me. |
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04/11/2011 12:31:05 PM · #6 |
| MinsoPhoto is right... it all really depends on your situation. If someone only wanted 10 shots then I would charge differently. It really all depends. |
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04/11/2011 01:53:45 PM · #7 |
I think your 'chalk' portraits are wonderfully whimsical. I'd much rather buy a shot of myself and/or my family interacting with one of your chalk stories. Next to them, portraits are so boring.
Sorry I'm no help on pricing. I shoot products for a catalogue as a sideline a couple of times a year. $25 per shot, about 15 minutes total time invested per shot. 40 to 100+ items per shoot. No consumables. I find objects are much more pleasant to shoot than people.
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04/14/2011 07:25:27 AM · #8 |
First, congratulations Kristina on getting from 'enjoying photography' to where people want to pay you to take pictures!
As for pricing, it depends on what you're end game is. Do you want to simply pick up some extra cash, do you want to seriously moonlight, or do you want to run a business? Most people get into this because of the results they get with their gear and the fact that other people are willing to spend some money on good pictures. The problem is that there is SO MUCH MORE to having a business than just taking the pictures. A lot of people start out and end up bailing, simply because they aren't prepared to handle the production and administrative parts of the business, let alone the sales and marketing.
If you aren't looking to jump in all the way, then don't charge much. Money complicates things. People will have expectations and make demands. Do you want the stress?
Before you go too much further, take some time to explore the business side of what you're doing, especially in terms of where you might be going. Consider just how much time you want to put into it and how much you'll get out of it (in terms of enjoyment and revenue). A lot of times, these things can snowball into something a lot more complicated than the hobbyist had in mind (think taxes - especially sales taxes, business license, professional website, marketing material, accountant - you get the picture). As long as have a clear idea as to what you're willing to commit to and realistic expectations as to what you can get out of it, you can have some fun and pick up some extra gear money.
Keep it simple, don't over-extend yourself, and you'll be fine. If you are up front with people and tell them you are not a pro and you only charge in order to buy new gear, they won't have the same expectations as if they went into a retail studio. Just tell people you charge $50 bucks for about a half-hour session and you'll give them the best out-of-camera images on a disk and that they can do whatever they want with them. Offer basic post-production for another $25-50 for the whole batch. After that, maybe offer custom editing for $25/hr, charged in 15 minute increments to the nearest quarter hour, minimum one half hour. And if they seem to have "expectations", simply suggest that they might be better served by someone who does this work full-time.
Lastly, do read and research as much as you can about the business of photography.
Good luck!
Message edited by author 2011-04-14 07:27:27. |
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