What to Charge?

[wenrob]

Let me preface this by saying that I in no way think that a DSLR makes me a pro. Far from it and I've never had any aspriations to be. My biggest goal is to do eldest DD's Senior Pics justice when the time comes.

Here's my story. On the 4th of July my neighbor saw me doing all the nifty tricks I learned here and no matter how much I protested thinks I'm the Bee Knees. So she asked me to take pictures of her family. I agreed as long as she understood that I am NOT a pro and we would just do it for fun. Well, the pics came out fabulous, I was a little surprised, lol. Of course I found all sorts of nit picky things I could have done better but bottom line, they really are nice and she LOVED them. I refused money and put them on a CD for her, it was my pleasure and it made me happy that she was happy.

She showed them to her sister and now they want me to take pictures at their family reunion. Possibly five families separately and of course the big group shots. I told her this is something I would have to charge for because of the time and processing it would take. Part of me thinks I'm not ready for prime time and the other part thinks everyone starts somewhere. And to be honest, I could really use the cash. She knows I'm not a pro, I couldn't point that out enough but she still wants me to do it and I think I can do a decent job.

So long winded story short, I have no idea how to go about figuring out what to charge. Of course I'm not going to charge what a real photographer would but I can't charge Wal Mart prices either. Can anyone help me figure out where to start?

 

[zackiedawg]

Pros seem to charge in the range of $200-500 for an hour session for a family group...this would usually include a CD of all photos, and several prints of at least 8x10 size. I'd imagine if you are not set up for pro-style shots (no studio, no professional lighting, reflectors, diffusers, etc)...you'd have to be thinking at least in the range of half that amount maximum. From there, you just need to determine how much more to discount based on a lot of factors, from how good you think you'll do, how well you know them, and what makes you feel good in the end!

I'm in a similar situation - I don't make my living from photography, but I make some money from it...mostly a few print sales here and there at my office, and the occasional publisher request. But I have sort of walked into a few shoots unsolicited, and had the same dilemma over what to charge. I recently did a family shoot...my first one...so it might give you a ballpark idea. It was all outdoor, natural light shoot - so my only 'expense' was the time dedicated to do the shoot, some post processing time, and I figured easier to go ahead and order the prints too, so I could just deliver the prints and a CDR of all the shots. After perusing the web and soliciting other opinions, I settled on $150, without a time limit for the shoot, and including 4 8x10 prints and a CD with ample resolution for 8x10 prints if they wanted more.

The total shoot probably ran around 3 hours, as we drove to a few different locations to try some different scenery. I had around 300 shots, which was whittled down to 50 or so that I felt were worth keeping on the disc. Processing was probably 6 hours or so. Cost of prints was minimal (around $3 a print x 4)...and I have plenty of blank CDs.

So I figure my hourly rate, minus gas from driving around and print cost, was around $14 an hour - pretty cheap for a photographer! But they were happy, I was happy, I felt reimbursed for the work and they felt they got a deal...so in the end, that was enough.

 

[wenrob]

Thank you Justin! That's a big help since the example you gave is very similar to what this would be. It gives me a starting point.

 

[Steve's Girl]

Have you considered using a pro Smugmug account and have them order the photos through there? You could set the prices of the photos and make a profit based on how many they order. That way you know they will get quality prints also. A great photo can look pretty bad if printed poorly.

 

[wenrob]

Have you considered using a pro Smugmug account and have them order the photos through there? You could set the prices of the photos and make a profit based on how many they order. That way you know they will get quality prints also. A great photo can look pretty bad if printed poorly.

If this turns into something more I'll consider upgrading my smugmug but for now there are a couple of places I use for my digi scrap pages that I feel are high quality and a decent price. Through trial and error I've learned that all prints are not created equal.

I'm going to sit down and write down possible groupings and then have her and her sister go through them and decide which ones would be the most important to them. That way we're clear on what's expected. Since I will need a babysitter I'll have to put a loose limit on the time or it will end up costing me to be there. It's all starting to come together in my head a little bit.

 

[Suburbanmom]

I think Justin gave you good pricing advice.
Congratulations! It sounds like you are off to a great start.

 

[dmccarty]

You need to include in your price ALL of the time taken to get the photos to the time they get the prints/CD/media, your expenses, and profits.

I spend quite a bit of time processing the photos. If you do then it needs to be in the price you charge.

You are on a slippery slope. I read the Wedding and Events Photographer forum on www.photo.net. This type of question pops up over there frequently. Since you are not doing a wedding the risks are much less if the photo's are not satisfactory to the client. You can just refund the money. However, reading the photo.net forum many of the answer's to the problems that are asked are "What is in your contract?"

To be by the book you likely need a business license(s)/permit(s) from your local and state governments. It seems pretty obvious you are kinda being dragged screaming into this, , but one reference leads to another as you are finding out.

For price comparisons in your area look at Craigslist. There might be some advertisements on there for you to compare against. Price accordingly.

Later,
Dan