Event pricing question....

WingsOfLovePhoto

Can I take a poll on how much you are all charging for events other than weddings? I have been asked several times to do things like baptisms, 1st birthdays etc which I have shyed away from but don't know how long I can hold out because these usually will turn into portrait sessions. What's the going rate for an average pro photographer in an average size town in the northeast? I was thinking like $125.00/hr with all the editing and such. Too much? Whaddaya all think? :dunno Thanks in advance for your advice

Cygnus Studios

What seems to work best here are package deals versus charging by the hour.
Once you find out how many finished images the client wants, offer a price according to what time you think it will take.
A lot of photographers offer 1 hour of time for $125.00
What you could do to get the client out of the "time" mentality is offer the 30 images they want for $125.00 or 40 images for $150.00 (however the math figures out)
I have found that some clients hear the 1 hour and try to figure out how to get the most images for that period of time. They also rush through the hour trying to get every possible pose. The last thing I want my client to do is be looking at their watch.
In the end you are getting the same hourly rate, just presenting it differently to get the client to see you working for them versus the clock.

Snowgirl

Ditto. An hourly rate seems to terrify clients. They don't understand that it's not just your 'salary' but that it's the hourly cost of running a business. So, by offering a fixed package that includes X poses and Y prints for $... they can understand the value per dollar vs. the dollar per hour.