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03/18/2004 12:45:07 AM · #1
A friend of mine has about 150 necklaces, one photo for each. How much should I ask for?

Message edited by author 2004-03-18 00:45:57.
03/18/2004 12:48:25 AM · #2
300 $ on CD ROM 600 $ 5X7 Prints,or is just me!
03/18/2004 12:52:29 AM · #3
I would put that under my commercial rates ($150 per hour). Figure out houw much yu would want to charge this person per hour, and, don't forget your computer time. That is as important as the time spent in front of the camera.

Good luck!
03/18/2004 12:53:10 AM · #4
Originally posted by fayenet:

A friend of mine has about 150 necklaces, one photo for each. How much should I ask for?


I think you might be better off charging by the hour rather than the photo. It might take you a long time to do 150 necklaces, one at a time!
03/18/2004 12:53:17 AM · #5
To a good friend that would be free or a very minimal fee if he insist, like 50$ for the time.

To a client, that would be higher.
03/18/2004 12:55:11 AM · #6
Wow! Many here don't sound to be very good friends to have, charging 150$ an hour for a service!

Maybe that's just me..
03/18/2004 12:56:40 AM · #7
Originally posted by procyon:

To a good friend that would be free or a very minimal fee if he insist, like 50$ for the time.

To a client, that would be higher.


Good friend has to respect the friendship and not to ask someone to spend 1500 minutes fixing /cropping or worse printing 150 photos for free!???

Message edited by author 2004-03-18 00:59:07.
03/18/2004 12:58:28 AM · #8
Originally posted by procyon:

To a good friend that would be free or a very minimal fee if he insist, like 50$ for the time.

To a client, that would be higher.


Actaully, I should call him "client". lol

I told him it should be around $20per hour. Damn.. it seems I'm sooooo unprofessional. :D


03/18/2004 01:03:42 AM · #9
Well, if I ask a friend to help me move, I'd expect that to be free and I'll throw in a beer or two during the day and pay the pizza when it's finished. I'd be free if I'd been asked.

If I ask a friend to help me paint my fence, I'd also expect that to be free and I'll still give the 6-pack out and to thank him, I may hand him a 50$ for the sweat and maybe invite him for a good night in a sports bar to relax and watch a game. That would also be free if I was asked.

That's what friendship's about, isn't it? Exchanging services, giving your time when he needs it, expecting him to give a couple of hours of his if you need it.. that's how I see it anyway.
03/18/2004 01:04:06 AM · #10
Originally posted by fayenet:

A friend of mine has about 150 necklaces, one photo for each. How much should I ask for?


Ebay or insurance purposes?
03/18/2004 01:04:13 AM · #11
Originally posted by fayenet:

A friend of mine has about 150 necklaces, one photo for each. How much should I ask for?


LOL, I'm reading this, and the responses to it, and thinking to myself, I don't understand what anyone is talking about here. I must be sleepy? I hope that's it. :)

03/18/2004 01:04:33 AM · #12
It is going to take you 2-3 days for the job well done so 20$ per hour might really be a 500$ !
03/18/2004 01:04:43 AM · #13
Originally posted by fayenet:


Actaully, I should call him "client". lol


Allright! Charge then! :D
03/18/2004 01:07:50 AM · #14
Originally posted by procyon:

Originally posted by fayenet:


Actaully, I should call him "client". lol


Allright! Charge then! :D


He didn't say 150 snapshots and hand him a memory stick!
03/18/2004 03:20:09 AM · #15
$150 per hour

$2 per capture

cost plus 200% on materials
03/18/2004 05:03:25 AM · #16
I have done portraits for my friends and basically charged at cost to ME and $30 an hour. The big question is, are these so they can sell them and make a profit on them? Or for archiving, insurance, etc.? That could make a big difference.
I still believe that you need to charge in some way or another. That is a big task it sounds to me. If you tell him you will charge by the hour, then if he has them all set up and posed like he wants it will save him money and you time. Just a thought
03/18/2004 07:31:49 AM · #17
If your friend wants a quick record of these necklaces - it should only take a few seconds per shot - you could do them all in a couple of hours. Don't spend long editing, and don't chareg him.

If he wants high quality shots for commercial purposes (I can't think of any other reason he'd ask a photographer) then go ahead and charge him. If he's going to be making money on the basis of your shots - he's not just asking you to take them in a friendly capacity - especially if there are 150 of them.
03/18/2004 07:47:02 AM · #18
Depends on what the photos are to be used for. If they are for records such as insurance and you are good friends do it for free of just the cost of the cd rom. If they are doing it for selling of the necklaces then I would say go with a fee per necklace. If saving them only to cd rom make it between $1 and 1.50 per piece if it is to be hard copies of each then ajust according to the size of prints.
03/18/2004 08:18:26 AM · #19
Friends also have to understand us starving artists need to make money. As everyone else said: If it's for commercial purposes, charge him. If for insurance, quick snapshots will do the trick. I typically charge $50 per hour plus any travel, plus costs on prints... sounds like I might be too cheap. :-)

03/18/2004 08:33:40 AM · #20
I think the various people posting about doing it for $50 or how it'll only take a few seconds have no idea of the time commitment this sort of work requires.

I had a similar situation, based on a friend of a friend seeing this shot



She wanted 80 similar shots taken for a catalog. I figured that total time per shot for setup, checking reflections, taking, getting to a final proof, providing print ready CDs etc would take me 10 minutes per shot. I'd do a couple for free (maybe taking an hour to do 4 well) That's a good learning experience. But 80 is a whole different level of effort.

That was to do a semi professional job (i.e., good enough to go in a catalog) To do 150 shots will probably take about 1500 minutes, which might not sound much, until you realise thats 25 hours. Probably it would end up being full time work for at least 3 but probably 4 days.

Unless you like working for nothing to help someone else profit, I wouldn't do 4 full days work for $50. I ended up offering to do them for $1000. That didn't include the time or costs to produce final prints or have them colour corrected and printed at a lab.

I do portraits for friends for free, because I want to learn. We exchange time for prints. They get a couple of prints that are finished quality, I shoot maybe 200 frames over a couple of hours. If they turned round and asked for 150 of those shots finished, printed and finalised - they'd have to pay for the week's worth of work just the same.

Message edited by author 2004-03-18 08:37:28.
03/18/2004 08:34:42 AM · #21
Originally posted by procyon:

To a good friend that would be free or a very minimal fee if he insist, like 50$ for the time.

To a client, that would be higher.


To a good friend, I'd offer to do one or two for free. I wouldn't expect a good friend to ask me to do a weeks worth of work for nothing.
03/18/2004 08:35:10 AM · #22
Sounds like the story of the street vendor selling pencils: A potential customer asked him how much were the pencils? The vendor replied $50,000.00 each. The customer was astonished and asked, Why so much? The vendor replied because then I would only have to sell one.:)
03/18/2004 10:09:30 AM · #23
Some other random things you need to add in to how long this would take.

Setup of each shot
Probably having to shoot 2 or 3 per piece for different light/ reflections/ polarisation/ orientation (vertical/ horizontal maybe)
Selecting from those shots any final versions.
Any post processing you will do.
downloading the shots to verify you haven't messed up
Any time required for reshooting
Collating all the image titles with which piece they are for/ setting up some sort of database/ list of this and keeping it up to date.
03/18/2004 11:27:59 AM · #24
Wow - what a wide range of responses to this question!

Here's mine, assuming that this is for retail or insurance purposes. I think you should charge a fixed amount that is based on an hourly rate for the project, which you will identify by doing the following:

Estimate how long you think it will take to photograph those 150 necklaces. A minute per shot seems kind of low to me (the prices quoted on Elance really shock me). Assume that most of the setup time will be spent on the first few pieces to work out the layout, lighting and such. Once you acquire the basic setup, then you can create an average time estimate per piece and multiply by that by the number of pieces.

Then, you have to estimate how long it will take to upload, review, select, and process the files on the computer. As a rough estimate, I would say maybe an hour per piece, on average, depending on how good the photos come out.

Then you have to estimate your cost of materials - will you be printing proofs for your client to look at, or will you be creating a web proof gallery? What is the final delivery format? By FTP, CD, prints? How long will it take you to complete the delivery?

Estimate how much time you'll spend in consultation/review meetings with the client.

I agree with the others - this will be full time work for you: several days - maybe a week, so you should not be expected to do it for free. Quote a rate that "you" will feel comfortable with.

Consider this - if this turns out to be a full-time business for you, what kind of income do you need to break even and make a profit? Divide that income requirement by the number of hours per week that you will work your business, to come up with an hourly rate. If you bid low now and get the project and then lose money on it, it will be harder to raise your prices later because customers do talk to each other.

Establishing a price is a very hard decision. A photographer once told me not to be afraid to quote high. You just might be surprised at how the customer will respond.

BTW: I just recently had to create a price for stock usage rights purposes. It was very stressful for me, but I quoted a rate that seemed high for me, but was still somewhat in line with what other photographers were asking, and guess what? I made the sale! No quibbling by the client! I also got an assignment, in which I quoted a lower price per photo, and am now regretting that quote because it will hamper future efforts in the same line of business.

Not much new to say in this response, but I hope it gives something to think about. Good luck, and let us know how it all turns out.

<edited for grammar>

Message edited by author 2004-03-18 11:32:34.
03/18/2004 11:35:07 AM · #25
Oh - and one other thing. In Ontario Canada, if you are a registered business, you must charge GST AND PST. Photographs, even if they are delivered electronically, are considered to be a taxable product.

AND - if your friend reacts with shock to your price, don't be afraid to describe all the work that is involved in this project. It's not as simple or quick as one might guess.

Message edited by author 2004-03-18 11:37:00.
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