Advice Please

canon400d

I am doing quite a lot of shoots at car rallying and I am the official photographer for South of Scotland Car Club. I am getting asked for photos of themselves taking part in the rallies and they are willing to pay. How do I go about doing this to charge them and what do I charge obviously they will only want photos of themselves and the number of images would vary. Do I send them via email or disc. Also what would I charge? I have in the past just sent them by email and never charged because it has not incurred any cost to me. Things seem to be expanding rapidly and the rally season has just begun so any help in this direction would be more than appreciated.
Cheers
Bob

BCSPhotoguy

canon400d wrote:

I have in the past just sent them by email and never charged because it has not incurred any cost to me.

This is the first and hardest thing to work on - Those pictures HAVE a cost to them! You have quite the list of equipment listed, i doubt it was free! Change your thinking and put value in your gear and your talent. If neither of those where there - they couldnt get the pictures and ask you to do future work.

As for pricing, do some homework and find out what people are charging in your area. Dont be afraid to be on the higher end. Your photos are you product, I normally shy away from buying the cheapest of the cheap and photos are not any different. Just make sure that your photos are different then the next guys. Make sure they are PP but not overly done, unless that is what people are looking for.

Hope this helps!

budman101

canon400d wrote:

I Do I send them via email or disc. Also what would I charge? I have in the past just sent them by email and never charged because it has not incurred any cost to me. Cheers
Bob

Bob, I don't know if SmugMug Pro accounts are avialable in Europe but that would be the ideal solution. Send your PP images to a gallery then let the customers decide on which ones they want to buy. Since SmugMug handles all the back end sales it's pretty easy. You just have to build in the annual cost for a SM Pro account and their cut of each sale to the pricing structure.

canon400d

budman101 wrote:

Bob, I don't know if SmugMug Pro accounts are avialable in Europe but that would be the ideal solution. Send your PP images to a gallery then let the customers decide on which ones they want to buy. Since SmugMug handles all the back end sales it's pretty easy. You just have to build in the annual cost for a SM Pro account and their cut of each sale to the pricing structure.

Yes I appreciate what you are saying BCS the gear didn't come cheap and I am upgrading to a Canon 7D very shortly. I will try and find out what people are charging on the shoots. I don't know if you have found this but photographers tend to keep themselves to themselves unless you personally know them. This gives out the feeling if you asked they would probably think I was stamping on their territory. I don't know. I thought someone on Dgrin would know what they are charging for a disc fo so many photos, if I am making myself clear.
Cheers
Bob

canon400d

budman101 wrote:

Bob, I don't know if SmugMug Pro accounts are avialable in Europe but that would be the ideal solution. Send your PP images to a gallery then let the customers decide on which ones they want to buy. Since SmugMug handles all the back end sales it's pretty easy. You just have to build in the annual cost for a SM Pro account and their cut of each sale to the pricing structure.

Thanks Budman I will certainly make enquiries in what you have told me. I really appreciate that and thanks again.
Cheers
Bob

Svennie

budman101 wrote:

Bob, I don't know if SmugMug Pro accounts are avialable in Europe but that would be the ideal solution. Send your PP images to a gallery then let the customers decide on which ones they want to buy. Since SmugMug handles all the back end sales it's pretty easy. You just have to build in the annual cost for a SM Pro account and their cut of each sale to the pricing structure.

You can get a SM Pro account (I have one), that's not limited to your location. However, the prints are made in the US and need to be sent across the ocean, if I'm not mistaken. Which is of course a bit silly

canon400d

Svennie wrote:

You can get a SM Pro account (I have one), that's not limited to your location. However, the prints are made in the US and need to be sent across the ocean, if I'm not mistaken. Which is of course a bit silly

Thanks for that Svennie.
Cheers
Bob

BCSPhotoguy

What i did was ask around to the people buying the pictures as you are right - asking the photographer may not get you an honest answer. Also, send a PM to someone on here that does the same sort of photography as you. Some will help out realizing that you are no where near their market - but some wont. I personally had and am still having an issue with pricing. I admit i started high. Its easier to lower your pricing then raise it. Also, in some cases for me, different sports have slight different pricing or structures ( CD sales over print etc) as well. It really depended on who i was dealing with. I sent a polite email to am MX photographer i know who was giving away all his photos on facebook etc. I just let him know that his pics were great and to put some value on his time/talent/gear and charge for them! Personally, pricing is one of the hardest things to create for the first time. Once its set and people are buying, stand firm by it- you will be questioned by some - dont give in!

canon400d

BCSPhotoguy wrote:

What i did was ask around to the people buying the pictures as you are right - asking the photographer may not get you an honest answer. Also, send a PM to someone on here that does the same sort of photography as you. Some will help out realizing that you are no where near their market - but some wont. I personally had and am still having an issue with pricing. I admit i started high. Its easier to lower your pricing then raise it. Also, in some cases for me, different sports have slight different pricing or structures ( CD sales over print etc) as well. It really depended on who i was dealing with. I sent a polite email to am MX photographer i know who was giving away all his photos on facebook etc. I just let him know that his pics were great and to put some value on his time/talent/gear and charge for them! Personally, pricing is one of the hardest things to create for the first time. Once its set and people are buying, stand firm by it- you will be questioned by some - dont give in![/q

Thanks for that BCS I really do appreciate what you have outlined. The Scotland Car Club has also told me to charge and are prepared to send me all the email addresses of all our members so I can contact them with a view to charging. To me it looks like a disc job, that is if I get any requests.
Cheers
Bob