Advice on pricing a photo shoot

surfjungle

Hi all,

I am looking for advice on pricing for 1 hr shoot of a family of 4 on location in St. Stephens Green. The pictures are informal / spontaneous. There are 40 of them.

I don't want to introduce any opinions of mine about the shoot in this post but I believe it was a success. I won't be printing the pictures for them; I will be giving them to the family on CD in JPG colour, black & white and sepia.

I'm an amateur photographer in that I've been at it for 2 1/2 years and it is not my primary source of income. To take a look at some of my existing photography see: http://www.flickr.com/photos/surfjungle/sets

Thanks in advance for the advice,

Surf.

Borderfox

Do you have to travel far to the job? any other cost to take into account, parking?

smelltheglove

Personally I would be looking at something in the region of 250 - 350. Its all well and good saying it was a one hour shoot, how long did it take to prepare for it, travel to and from and process. For that price they are getting a great deal... My sil paid 1700 for a shoot of one child in a studio for approx 30 mns and gor 6 5x7 prints and one large framed print so I reckon its a fair deal at 350!

stcstc

you need written permission to shoot in stephens green i believe

its an opw site i think

they will look for proof of your public liability insurance too

Angelo Mercone

Hi,
What I would charge is 250 euro for the session with 100 euro print credit. I wouldn't give them the cd with 40 high resolution images. You could show them the pictures on a laptop or on an online gallery and let them choose what they want. They can start with the 100 euro of the credit and if they want more, charge them. Do a price list with all the sizes and what you charge for them.
Take in consideration that you have to charge a percentage of your equipment as well as all the time spent on the pc post processsing all the pictures.

By the way, nice pics on flickr!!!

Angelo

CabanSail

Not able to look at Flickr during the day, so general comments. As stcstc says, you will need permission to do a commercial shoot in Stephens Green. You can try to wing it, but getting booted out by the security would not be a good look in front of paying clients. Maybe try Phoenix Park instead?

What is the relationship between you & the clients? If they are friends or aquaintences then I would not be looking at full on rates.

You also have to work out your costs. How much do you have invested in your equipment & what is the depreciation on that. What insurance do you carry for doing work like this? Any other overheads? Work out a fee for that. Then work out how much time will be spent in doing the job, including setting up & post production. Set an hourly rate for that. Then add it all up & see what comes out.

If you are Amateur & do not have a business set up with insurance etc. then if it were me I would not be charging professional rates. Tell the clients that you are not professional & cover your costs (making sure there's a drink in it ) Put that money towards updating gear etc. Still treat the job as if you are professional. If you are looking at going Pro then it's all good experience & you will learn from it. Get a Release signed so you can use the images for your portfolio & promotion in the future.

Good luck with it.

sunny2004

285 and supply the CD as agreed. Am I right that the shoot has already taken place ? or you intend to shoot inn the future in Stephens green ?

AnimalRights

CabanSail wrote: »

Not able to look at Flickr during the day, so general comments. As stcstc says, you will need permission to do a commercial shoot in Stephens Green. You can try to wing it, but getting booted out by the security would not be a good look in front of paying clients. Maybe try Phoenix Park instead?

What is the relationship between you & the clients? If they are friends or aquaintences then I would not be looking at full on rates.

You also have to work out your costs. How much do you have invested in your equipment & what is the depreciation on that. What insurance do you carry for doing work like this? Any other overheads? Work out a fee for that. Then work out how much time will be spent in doing the job, including setting up & post production. Set an hourly rate for that. Then add it all up & see what comes out.

If you are Amateur & do not have a business set up with insurance etc. then if it were me I would not be charging professional rates. Tell the clients that you are not professional & cover your costs (making sure there's a drink in it ) Put that money towards updating gear etc. Still treat the job as if you are professional. If you are looking at going Pro then it's all good experience & you will learn from it. Get a Release signed so you can use the images for your portfolio & promotion in the future.

Good luck with it.

Best advice I've read on these boards for similar situations.

dakar

AnimalRights wrote: »

Best advice I've read on these boards for similar situations.

Yup, same here, and I'm in a similar position to the OP, although the potential clients are good friends, and I have no desire to go pro.

I have decided to approach it as professionally as I can and use funds for gear upgrades.

surfjungle

Borderfox wrote: »

Do you have to travel far to the job? any other cost to take into account, parking?

No just travel by foot : )

surfjungle

smelltheglove wrote: »

Personally I would be looking at something in the region of 250 - 350. Its all well and good saying it was a one hour shoot, how long did it take to prepare for it, travel to and from and process. For that price they are getting a great deal... My sil paid 1700 for a shoot of one child in a studio for approx 30 mns and gor 6 5x7 prints and one large framed print so I reckon its a fair deal at 350!

There was very little preparation but I am not a professional. Thanks for the advice..

surfjungle

stcstc wrote: »

you need written permission to shoot in stephens green i believe

its an opw site i think

they will look for proof of your public liability insurance too

Thanks for the advice. I don't fully understand public liability insurance which kinda proves that I am not a professional. It was just me with my camera walking around the green with a family of 4.

surfjungle

Angelo Mercone wrote: »

Hi,
What I would charge is 250 euro for the session with 100 euro print credit. I wouldn't give them the cd with 40 high resolution images. You could show them the pictures on a laptop or on an online gallery and let them choose what they want. They can start with the 100 euro of the credit and if they want more, charge them. Do a price list with all the sizes and what you charge for them.
Take in consideration that you have to charge a percentage of your equipment as well as all the time spent on the pc post processsing all the pictures.

By the way, nice pics on flickr!!!

Angelo

Thanks for the advice. Since I know them - it was quite informal - it'll probably put a different slant on the pricing structure. The charge percentage of equipment is a good idea and I'll probably spend 2 hrs post processing the pics (which hasn't gone unnoticed for my pricing)!

Thanks for the compliment by flickr!

surfjungle

CabanSail wrote: »

Not able to look at Flickr during the day, so general comments. As stcstc says, you will need permission to do a commercial shoot in Stephens Green. You can try to wing it, but getting booted out by the security would not be a good look in front of paying clients. Maybe try Phoenix Park instead?

What is the relationship between you & the clients? If they are friends or aquaintences then I would not be looking at full on rates.

You also have to work out your costs. How much do you have invested in your equipment & what is the depreciation on that. What insurance do you carry for doing work like this? Any other overheads? Work out a fee for that. Then work out how much time will be spent in doing the job, including setting up & post production. Set an hourly rate for that. Then add it all up & see what comes out.

If you are Amateur & do not have a business set up with insurance etc. then if it were me I would not be charging professional rates. Tell the clients that you are not professional & cover your costs (making sure there's a drink in it ) Put that money towards updating gear etc. Still treat the job as if you are professional. If you are looking at going Pro then it's all good experience & you will learn from it. Get a Release signed so you can use the images for your portfolio & promotion in the future.

Good luck with it.

The mother is a friend from work so I won't be charging them what I'd consider (with everyone's help) normal "amateur" rates. Clients know I'm not professional and is one of several reasons they asked. I agree that it is good experience and your advice is great! Will definitely try to get a release signed as I want it for my portfolio.

smelltheglove

I'll prob be eaten for this but heres what i do with people i know.

I put the pics on disc, dont charge, add to gallery and request they choose one for me to mount and frame. I then have it printed, usually stcst and and mount and frame. I tend to still make around 100 - 200 depending and often they throw in a few extra quid just for happiness of the shots.

Happy people = word of mouth and more business.

surfjungle

sunny2004 wrote: »

285 and supply the CD as agreed. Am I right that the shoot has already taken place ? or you intend to shoot inn the future in Stephens green ?

Yes, the shoot was done on Sunday (great day). Can't charge them the full whack though as my knowing them and the fact that I'm an amateur were the reasons she came to me. Thanks again for the advice though - much obliged!

surfjungle

smelltheglove wrote: »

I'll prob be eaten for this but heres what i do with people i know.

I put the pics on disc, dont charge, add to gallery and request they choose one for me to mount and frame. I then have it printed, usually stcst and and mount and frame. I tend to still make around 100 - 200 depending and often they throw in a few extra quid just for happiness of the shots.

Happy people = word of mouth and more business.

I agree with that last part but I think she may print them herself : )

Thanks though. At least I know for again!

Trojan

I recommend reading this thread: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055379799

Wildly varying opinions on the business and value of photography and pricing, a great read.

My take on it is based on free market pricing (which tends to value quality photography quite highly):

snopes.com wrote:

What is the value of a task? As this legend points out, performing the actual labor can easily be the smallest part of the process, with the real value lying in correctly diagnosing the problem and coming up with a viable solution to it. Ultimately, a task is worth whatever the person who needs it performed is willing to pay, whether the work is cerebral or manual.

smelltheglove

ahno she prob will print herself but with your connections etc if she wants a pic enlarged and framed even at double cost it would be cheaper to get it from you. You can get great frames from stewarts, printed laminated and put on backing board by steve and mount it for close to 100 for 20 x 16 size and 200 for that is really really cheap considering the quality of shot frame and print... Bear it in my mind, give her an option maybe, 100 or 150 for disc or professionaly printed and mounted framed pic of her choice depending on frame for 200 - 300, still a decent profit for you and a huge saving for her. Whereabouts are you? I have the brochure for frames if you fancued showing it to her.

surfjungle

Trojan wrote: »

I recommend reading this thread: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055379799

Wildly varying opinions on the business and value of photography and pricing, a great read.

My take on it is based on free market pricing (which tends to value quality photography quite highly):

Thanks.