I love photography and have been taking pictures for about 10 years. I'm the friend everyone asks to take their fall photo, holiday photo, newborn poses, pregnancy poses, etc etc. It's so painfully hard for me to "charge" friends for my time. This fall I am hoping to seriously spread the word. I will go on location to their choice, I will allow for changes of outfits, and taking pictures of each child individually or together. I will do their poses and suggest some of my own. I normally take 200 pictures in one hour...that's my average. I will give the customer ALL of the photos to print on their own. All they pay me for is my time.
Sooooo - tell me - what would YOU be willing to pay a photographer to do this? I have gone to portrait studios in the past and paid over $200 for photos - and only a 15 minute sitting. And the photos were just a few - not all. I think I do have something to offer - but want to charge a rate that will bring return customers. I have more thoughts but will shut up for now - and anxious to see what prices you guys come up with. Thanks for your ideas!
Well I just had my senior pictures taken a couple months ago, we shot for 2 hours, unlimited clothes changing, shot wherever I wanted (it just had to fit in the 2 hour block) and then I got 70 edited pictures on a cd, all for 300 dollars. I was very happy with them. I don't know how much you'd charge for family's or weddings... But yeah that's how much I paid!
I don't know...I"m sorry. What I can suggest is that you call around and ask for prices in your area. Then, I would charge half of whatever those prices are...even though you are providing more photos, etc. I believe that when you're starting out, you have less experience and you're learning as you go along. Also, you mentioned that a lot of your clients will be friends and family. If you're not comfortable, you may ask them what they would be comfortable paying and then you can choose to do it or not. Awesome idea though!
Do you do any post production on your pictures? That makes a difference.
This is the photographer my brother used for his wedding. She's also done new born pics for a family friend and comes highly recommended. I'd say she is on the high end, but my brother felt she was worth every penny. She does portrait sessions too and is REALLY good. you can check out the rest of your website to see how your pictures compare. FYI I am in no way affiliated with her. We were just really impressed with her and even though she was pricey, everyone said it was worth it.
Yes I do post work on photos. I can do any type of of editing needed, from changing the face on one person in the photo, to removing acne, adding lipstick, making someone smile, converting to black & white with a little bit of color, etc. I have been doing this for 10 years and think my pics are pro quality - but as a stay at home mom - I don't want to charge an arm and a leg. No reason for anyone to pay $35 for one 8x10 print when I know I can get it for .99 cents on great quality paper from a pro printer. I don't like that part of the business. I want to be affordable - but yet it's so fun for me to photograph that's why I feel guilty charging. I was thinking maybe $50 for the hour session and they get to keep all the photos. The ones in our area charge a lot - for example a friend is getting married and her pro wedding photog is charging $400 for two hours of his assistant taking candid photos - and I am going to do them for free. He was going to charge $200 for their engagement photo - less than an hour sitting - and I'm going to do them....for free. I don't want to be so inexpensive that I look "cheap" - I think people believe the more they pay the better the quality - that's why I'm sort of on the fence. Thank you so very much for the tips, advice and links!!!!
The editing is where you're going to be spending a lot of time even if the sessions are pretty quick. You'll need to estimate how many pictures you will take in a sitting then how long it will take you to edit them. Add those together and then figure a fair hourly rate for the whole shebang.
I want to be affordable - but yet it's so fun for me to photograph that's why I feel guilty charging. I was thinking maybe $50 for the hour session and they get to keep all the photos. The ones in our area charge a lot - for example a friend is getting married and her pro wedding photog is charging $400 for two hours of his assistant taking candid photos - and I am going to do them for free. He was going to charge $200 for their engagement photo - less than an hour sitting - and I'm going to do them....for free.
Yeah, but it's not just the time for the actual shoot--you need to be paid for your labor on the editing, too. That labor is valuable, even if you enjoy it. (Just because you enjoy your work doesn't mean you shouldn't be paid for it!!)
I definitely agree that you should start off lower than what's typical in your area. You can increase prices if you find that you need to.
I had an ex that agreed to do a bar mitzvah for a really low price. We was kicking himself during post production when he spent a lot of time doing post production. You'll get a feel for what you should charge and what people are willing to pay.
I would be wary of charging significantly less than other photographers in the area, but this also depends on a lot of things (listed below). I have several friends who are professional photographers and some of their biggest pet peeves are MWCs (moms with cameras) and 'fauxtographers' because they usually offer incredibly cheap shoots, with extremely basic or cheaply done prints, and since the customers don't know any different, when the customer does find a 'good' photographer, they balk at the price because so-and-so's mother did them for a quarter of the price.
A lot of the fee depends on:
1 - Your knowledge. Do you shoot on Auto only? Do you know about the exposure triangle? Can you use Manual, Aperture priority, etc. on your camera? Do you know how to properly expose for various situations, to bracket (maybe), etc.?
2 - What equipment do you have. Do you have a dSLR with at least a few varied lenses? Do you have lights or even reflectors? Do you just use a point&shoot (no matter how expensive it was)? Do you know how to use the lenses you have to the best of their ability and yours?
3 - What sort of post-processing, if any, can you do? Do you use Photoshop or Lightroom or are you using Gimp, Corel Draw, Paint Shop Pro, etc? Do you know how to fully use those programs, including print settings to get the best prints?
4 - Where are you printing your photos? Are you taking them to Wal-mart, a pharmacy, or are you taking them to a proper print shop? Do you know what types of format you will need to print them?
What you may not understand is that the photographers charging $400 are actually "cheap" when you think of all the time, money, and overhead they need to cover just to take those pictures. I'm sure you know cameras are not cheap, and even lower-end dSLRs can cost a decent penny. Throw in a higher end dSLR and you're looking at a significant cost. Lenses, too, are very expensive. Keeping up-to-date with post-production software isn't cheap either, pirating it doesn't really look good in a business. And that's what these people are doing: it's their business; their livelihood. Someone coming in charging not even half what they charge (even if your quality is just as good as theirs), is neither fair nor ethical (in my opinion).
A really good site to learn about photography and photographers (and how much to charge) is the Digital Photography School forums. Excellent site
Rainbow Girl - LOL on the moms with cameras - because I know EXACTLY what you mean! Every mom I know with a camera think they are a pro. Like I posted before - I've been taking pics for 10 years - and I have DLSR and external flashes, all the extra equipment etc to help with my light. I do not shoot on auto only - if I did - then I would never get the shot I wanted. Yes, I have multiple lenses too. I understand that post production can be time consuming. I average 200 shots in one sitting - and out of those I might photoshop 40 of them. Not all of them. I try to work and get a shot so that I don't need to photoshop. I've had many photo classes over the last ten years - some in groups and some private classes, one on one in the field and all the pros tell me that everyone photoshops their work. Which is nice I guess but I like to use my equipment to capture that perfect shot. I will photoshop if needed and can photoshop to the style a customer likes. As far as printing - I will not print - I will give them all of the shots for them to print on their own. I know the sites that most pro photogs use and I know the prices of those pics. That's where there is a huge mark up and as a mom - I know other families can be on a budget - so I don't want to over charge for prints - would rather they just print their own and I can suggest where they go (not walmart or pharmacies, etc.) At this point I do not need to learn photography, I know it and I know I'm good. It's taken me 10 years to get this good and to collect all the equipment I have and I also have almost every photo edit program you can think of. I'm ready to leap out there and collect business - and no longer be the friend with the camera. I just don't want to charge as much as others - Hmmmm.....so many great comments. I guess I won't under charge my time - perhaps I'll go half what others charge? I'm hoping to break ground in September and stay busy with "fall photos" then Christmas card shoots. Thank you so much everyone for all of the input!!!!!!!!!
chickadee - I apologize if my comments sounded 'harsh' (I know you didn't mention this but upon reading them this morning I did a major facepalm!).
From what you've said in your latest post, I think going for the half-price as other photogs in the area sounds like a good idea. You won't be majorly undercutting them but you'll still be able to make a bit of money for yourself. If you hear of any of the local photogs complaining, using the fact that you're starting out and didn't feel like you were at the same level as them to charge the same price might smooth things over =D
I would charge more than 50% of the going rate---maybe 65-75%, especially since you are providing the pictures at no additional cost. After the 1st sitting/photo shoot, you could always give out a coupon for the next sitting for a discounted rate. Set up a FB page promoting your work (you can also offer discounts and specials there).
I think a problem with many home based businesses is that they undercharge for services that are usually higher quality than a "cookie cutter" shop.
Beware of charging too little though...if the photography community is like the cake decorating/baking community, if you charge way too little, you'll be seen as trying to undercut the competition, which could give you a bad name in the community.
There are other reasons to avoid being much cheaper than the competition. Cheaper doesn't always draw more business, in fact it can scare business away.
People tend to believe they're getting what they paying for, and are reluctant to hire the cheapest craftsman. If they can't afford the mid-range price, they'll forgo a service completely (or "hire" a relative willing to do it for free) rather than hire the cheapest.
I've faced this with my crafting sales. I'm a bit of a cheapskate myself, and I don't really have a clear understanding of the perceived value of my work. I've always been very creative, and have been able to duplicate crafty items that I've liked, so I usually think "that's WAY too expensive" about just about every craft I see. So when I started, I drastically underpriced my work, and I'd only end up selling to friends.
The only exception was when I started selling on ebay, because a lot of people underprice the starting bid, and it was understood that artists were taking a gamble, not truly believing their article was worth no more than the starting bid - and it only took two competitive people to have a $1 auction, turn into an $80.00 bidding war.
But asides from auctions, I wasn't selling much because I was undervalueing the worth of my work. At first I didn't realize that, and dropped my prices even lower, and the few sales I was getting suddenly stopped.
When I started selling in a local artist's co-op, the owner of the store took 50% commission... at the rates I was charging, I wouldn't have even broken even... the cost of my materials was more than half my charging price. To make a profit, I had to charge 3 - 4 times what I was charging on my own.
Suddenly my sales started picking up. I started charging a little more, and the sales kept increasing.
It should have made me very happy, but it made me a bit uncomfortable, because I thought people were absolutely nuts for paying such prices, and I wanted to serve the folks who like me "wanted things they couldn't afford."
Problem was, when I charged less than the average price, people assumed my stuff wasn't worth having.
My workmanship didn't change, but people's perception of it did.
What would you pay an on location photographer?
