Does anyone else do photo shoots on the side? I started doing them last year and charged about $45 for each shoot. They would get a full CD of all the photos and complete rights to print them as many times as they wanted. This year, I changed my price to $55 for the first person + $5 for each additional person. They will still receive all the photos on a CD. I recently just looked at a few surrounding photographers and they do the CD's as well, but they are charging a LOT more then I am. One for instance charges $250!! Am I not charging enough or is that person just outrageously priced? If you do it on the side, and don't mind posting your prices, I would love to hear them!
Hmmmm .... I don't sell anything, yet, but $250 seems reasonable for the full exclusive rights to what's on the cd. How many photos are you talking about? How much time are you spending at the shoot, transportation, and on editing and what are the costs for any supplies you may be using, including the cds?
I looked around out of curiosity once and the prices here are much, MUCH higher than that... and to be frank, the results I've seen are nothing compared to the "amateur" results just on this site. I say up the prices.
highest price I've seen is £360 for 4 hours, and ONE fully edited headshot from that session that you get exclusive rights to. Even with makeup and studio setup, that seems a little excessive non?
Since im novice and I take photos on the side and im just trying to build a portfolio so I charge only $40. My cost is just to cover day care fees. They get 20 edited images and all the unedited images on a cd, with rights.
I do military style pin ups too for friends. I charge $60 and up for these they too get 20 edited images and all unedited images, cd, and rights. Part of the reason I dont charge much is im not using a professional camera, I just use my Sony a300, but generally I change lenses depending on the location.
I want to make sure my work is good enough before I raise the prices. Like Annie said there are so many people out there that advertise high prices for 'amateur' work.
Unless you are building your portfolio then I would charge somewhere around $150 to $250 depending on the session (time spent) your cost as for gas to get to local, daycare for kids, cd, prints, and framing (if they want that) albums would also cost more. this is just my take on it but I would stay below the lowest rate in your area better business if you do so.
Yes...don't undersell your talent and hard work. It's very likely that your day rate is very much underestimated, just your time alone in preparing, shooting, editing, processing and making the disk. WHat about the cost of wear and tear on your shutter, car, etc...... it definitely adds up. Don't feel that you are "fleeing" anyone. Remember, the gear is only a small part of the equation. Your talent, eye and customer service attitdue is what folks pay for.
I started out doing portraits, but I lean more towards places, culture, and history photojournalism now.
When I was shooting portraits, I charged $200 for a one hour shoot, plus $100 for each hour after that. If it was a group, it was the same rate. I gave them a CD with low-resolution, watermarked photos for them to use on Flickr and Facebook, but I never gave them the high-resolution photos. I would provide packages of prints for each photo shoot, but if they wanted more than what came in the package they had to buy them from my website.
One person demanded a CD with high-resolution copies one time, and I told her it was $1200. She paid it. Only person to ever ask and only person to ever pay.
Pricing your services is all about Return on Investment. It's a classic business term. Think about your expenses, and what you would need to make to cover them. Do you need new equipment? A website? Business taxes? Insurance? There is a lot to consider, and then you can decide how much to charge yourself.
@kmstudioart - I am not a Professional by any means BUT I say that if you want your hobby to become a business then you need to raise your prices and STOP giving away your images. Giving a CD with copyrights is a great seller but you want to treat the photos as a business and know that your time and effort are worth the clients only getting a select amount of pictures. Selling your photos at the price you are selling them at is telling the clients that you think your art is only worth this much when I'm sure they are worth way more than that to you. I agree with what Jason Barnette says about Return on Investment. That's the key.
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*If I've got the wrong person here woops, my Ex was on the phone about her headshots yesterday - that exact price...
I do military style pin ups too for friends. I charge $60 and up for these they too get 20 edited images and all unedited images, cd, and rights. Part of the reason I dont charge much is im not using a professional camera, I just use my Sony a300, but generally I change lenses depending on the location.
I want to make sure my work is good enough before I raise the prices. Like Annie said there are so many people out there that advertise high prices for 'amateur' work.
When I was shooting portraits, I charged $200 for a one hour shoot, plus $100 for each hour after that. If it was a group, it was the same rate. I gave them a CD with low-resolution, watermarked photos for them to use on Flickr and Facebook, but I never gave them the high-resolution photos. I would provide packages of prints for each photo shoot, but if they wanted more than what came in the package they had to buy them from my website.
One person demanded a CD with high-resolution copies one time, and I told her it was $1200. She paid it. Only person to ever ask and only person to ever pay.
Pricing your services is all about Return on Investment. It's a classic business term. Think about your expenses, and what you would need to make to cover them. Do you need new equipment? A website? Business taxes? Insurance? There is a lot to consider, and then you can decide how much to charge yourself.