Hey everyone! Been a long time since I posted anything on here! I have been asked by a vet friend of mine who has been selected for a very prestigious national award to take his headshot. The company sponsoring the award wants a headshot on a white background in a studio setting (isn't it lucky that I just purchased a studio setup complete with a white background and alienbees strobe?!?!)
Here's the BEST part....they are going to PAY me! WOOHOO! That's the tough part...I'm a lawyer, not a photographer (by trade anyway). I have no idea what to charge. Never been paid for photography before. Here is what the email said from the company rep:
"...we would like to own a few of the best photos. We aren't sure how many times we will be using them so would prefer to just buy them, rather than pay per use. Let me know how you would like to work that out."
Or phone round a few local photographers ask them how much they would charge for this, just say your doing research for a friend or something, oh and congratulations
@griff I think this is a good idea. Try to charge less than everyone does. Maybe that'll get you a good reputation and they'll recommend you to other people.
@alvarop I must disagree about charging less! That would be undercutting professionals, and I believe Ms. Alison's work and time involved editing and producing those photos should be making money according to her labor, not what others are charging. Charging less may seem like a way to get business, but believe me, people will pay for quality.
@laceyjogautreau You may be right. I am not a professional and I was just pitching that idea since it's the first time Alison gets paid for her pictures.
@alvarop Yep! I hear ya! I think most have that idea when just starting out, but I just think it's a bad habit to get started, because I know from experience that people will want to take advantage of that, and then you're left doing a whooole bunch of work for little money and it sucks. :)
@alvarop@laceyjogautreau what I meant was you could see what an average price for this is, I recently did a friends wedding, if I had charged I wouldn't have priced anywhere near the pro's, because I didn't think I was up to there standard, however after the event I have re-appraised this as I took apprx 1000 photo's which took me about another week to edit so when I equated that to the cost I realised I would be seriously losing out, and when they compared my work to the pro's that they had I'm chuffed to say they prefered mine. So I would use the pro pricing as a guide to pitch it about right
@griff I completely agree. I did a friend's wedding, also, and after all of that work, I realized I should have charged waaaaay more. It's a pretty important job, capturing all of those memories that can't be recreated, and I worked my ass off to make sure every photo was as good as it could be. I totally get pricing now. Sometimes you just don't know how much work is really involved until you have the experience, but now I know. :) Not trying to hijack your thread, Ali-saaaaaan. XD
Never underprice yourself. As long as you have the same (or better!) quality and workmanship as others doing similar work, then you have every right to command the same pricing. Clients do not mind paying higher prices for exceptional quality, and pricing yourself too much lower than the competition may actually make people doubt your ability. Wouldn't you be suspicious of a professional service provider who charges significantly less than everyone else in the same market?
yes i agree with others you do not want to undercharge -- also i don't like that they are taking advantage of you by wanting to buy the images flat out... i'm not sure whether you are in the usa but most professional photographers maintain their copyright and have what is called a use fee... each time the shot is used in a separate medium the photographer is entitled to a fee... scenario they love your shot pay you a ... and then you notice that not only is it used on their website but then in magazines and in trade journals...brochures and on the company wall... use your legal skills to research this area of the law... as in copyright and use and then your negotiating skills as well... (i'm also an attorney) a good book: best business practices for photographers by john harrington ... he has a website too that has a lot of good information about what to charge...
I don't think they should 'own' them. Sure, they can pay you a flat rate for using them as many times as they like, but the photographer is the sole owner of the images. (Ithey are copyright) I would be sure to put that in writing so that you can also use the images. I don't think $150-$250 is out of the question.
My rates are $350 for a photo shoot (they can last up to 3 hours). They receive all the high res images on DVD to use as they please. I also post a gallery on my website where friends and family can purchase them online (rates vary per print). I think this is the minimum any professional should be charging. I've done a lot of free work to build my portfolio, and it's extremely time consuming. I let my clients know the post-processing takes longer than the photo shoot, so they see the value of the shoot. After numerous courses taken, the most consistent message from Pro photographers is: Don't Underestimate Yourself!! If we don't value ourselves, our clients certainly won't.
I've been charging $200 per file that they want, and simply giving them a release with an expiry date - if they want to use them beyond that time they need to pay a fee, or have new shots done (which kind-of makes sense for them to do anyway). I typically go for a two-year expiry, depending on what the images are.
Oh, I also put limitations in the contract. For example - "website, business cards, brochures, signage no larger than AxB" etc. If they want to use the images for a billboard campaign, well, they can negotiate that and they can pay suitably for it - if it is going to cost them $40k for a billboard set, they can afford to pay me more than $200 for the photo.
THANK YOU ALL for your wonderful responses! You have been a huge help and I appreciate it so much! You'd think I would be able to draft a quick contract and ensure I am protected under the law, but this type of legal work isn't exactly called for that much in my sleepy little town :) I will definitely let you all know how it goes!
I like this: "Don't Underestimate Yourself!! If we don't value ourselves, our clients certainly won't." I used to charge minimal for parties but then my partner and friends always tells me to charge more for the time i spend in post processing which usually takes long into the night or very early in the morning. thanks for all your posts here, it's been helpful!
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THANK YOU ALL for your wonderful responses! You have been a huge help and I appreciate it so much! You'd think I would be able to draft a quick contract and ensure I am protected under the law, but this type of legal work isn't exactly called for that much in my sleepy little town :) I will definitely let you all know how it goes!