Pricing - How do you charge?

geoles2

Hello everyone, I am fairly new here and had a question about pricing.

If you are doing a wedding, senior or a family, how do you charge? Maybe wedding shouldnt be in this example.

Lets say I am doing a senior shoot, do you charge like $100 (just an amount for reference here) and then they just go to your site and buy the photos?

I am just wanting to figure out what to charge for doing a shoot, and then mark up the pictures, or not?

Thanks, George

ADMIT Photography

Personally I do this on the side so I'm not in it for a huge profit right now. I'm doing this to build my portfolio. That being said I normally charge a $100-$125 sitting fee and then my customers order prints right off my site at a marked up price. However I may be changing this soon just not sure how yet.

fredjclaus

Well, pricing is dependant on your skills and what your clientele will accept. If you are in Seriville, NJ you could charge $75.00 session fee. If you are in Beverly Hills, CA, you could charge $375.00 session fee. It all depends. I don't do senior portraits, but I know a couple studios in my area that do. They normally charge about $90.00 session fee that includes up to 3 outfit changes. Then they charge per print or enlargement. Print pricing depends on what you are doing. For some reason senior portraits are a bit more expensive than family portraits.

geoles2

Yes, this is what I mean about pricing, not so much about the price, but so you charge a "sitting fee" then they purchase the prints of your smugmug site at a mark up, correct? Just wondered how most people were doing it.

Glort

I think by virtue of the question asked there is a lot you could learn by reading some books on the business of photography before you go any further.

I have never heard of a photographer that dosen't mark up print prices. Significantly.
If you are scared or worried about making a worthwhile profit, please don't go selling anything until you have overcome that to avoid damaging the industry and making things harder for those of us trying to make a living out of it.

Cygnus Studios

Glort wrote: »

I have never heard of a photographer that dosen't mark up print prices. Significantly.

Really? Let us be your first. We do not charge 1 extra cent above our cost for prints. (art prints are the exception).

We are photographers, we charge for our ability to capture the image. We don't charge for ink and paper. And no, we are not cheap. We live in one of the most expensive places on the planet and 100% of my income is photography.

I know that a lot of photographers like to price according to where they live or others in their area, and if that works for you great. Here in the San Francisco area prices range all over the place, so that method is useless to us.

Others like to base their rates on how long they have been doing photography or how much equipment they have, but in all my years not 1 single client has ever asked how long we have been at it. They only care that we can deliver images that meet their needs.

Now this experience may be different for others, but we have multiple full time photographers working for us, hundreds of clients and we are busy seven days a week. Our way may not be the best way, but it works for us.

divamum

Depends on the market and the product. For instance, I do performer headshots - I charge a flat fee, but nothing for prints (that's their problem, and they usually want them mass-reproduced anyway, so use a dedicated repro house). I have two different packages: a 1hr+1 edit "student special", or a full package of unlimited session time (which has never yet exceeded 4hrs, and is usually around 2)+3 edits. Clients can order extra edits a la carte.

Some headshot togs include all proofs on a CD; I don't do that simply because a lot of what I deliver is in my cropping, post-processing and retouching, and it's not possible for me to do that on each the 150-200 shots I offer as proofs unless I significantly raise my prices to include the time that would be involved. Also, I don't really like the idea of people fiddling with my work when it has my name on it. I provide clients with colour & bw (or alternative processing) of each shot they choose to be edited, and will often also let them have multiple crops if I can't decide which one I like best. If they mention a particular shot they'd "love to have even though it's just for fun and not one of my choices", I'll usually do a quickie edit and let them have it as an "extra"; those are almost always outtakes or include another family member who happened to be at the shoot or whatever and aren't something I have a problem letting them have. I do have a problem with "negotiators" though - you know, the ones who try to "haggle" over getting extras! I tend to dig my toes in if they push too hard

I based my rates on

- researching other photographers delivering a similar product
- other photographers delivering a similar product in my area
- what I *need* to make to make the time worth my while

I started my pricing at the low end of the median I determined but am raising the price by about 10-15% until I reach what I think I'm "worth" now that I"ve got some experience under my belt (just about time to do that this year, in fact). I also offer a "student special", however, so those who really do need decent shots (well, i hope they're decent shots!) at a budget rate can still afford to use me - I plan to keep that option even as I raise rates for the full package.

geoles2

Let me rephrase the question, although I like the discussion we are having here it is very informative. What I mean is since I use Smug-Mug and one of their printing labs, like I'm sure a lot do, if they do a senior shoot do you charge X and then tell them where there pictures are for them to go through and purchase, after you edited them ofcourse. And then if they buy the prints are you marking them up a lot - little.

So do you charge 100 for a senior set and mark the prints up a decent amount, or
charge 200 and not mark them up at all? Just using round numbers, not meant for worth of photos.

You dont charge like 200 with prints included do you, or do you?

Thanks,

Cygnus Studios

geoles2 wrote: »

you charge X and then tell them where there pictures are for them to go through and purchase, after you edited them ofcourse. And then if they buy the prints are you marking them up a lot - little.

The way we do it is charge for our time. Our basic senior portrait session is $895. All finished images are uploaded into a gallery and priced at our actual cost. We use Bay Photo. Part of our marketing plan is letting our client know that they pay "our" price for pro printing.

Everyone knows what a print costs. This is why so many people want their images on a disc. No one wants to pay $12 for a $3 print. Yet these same people have no problem with paying hundreds of dollars for a sitting fee.

If you make your money actually taking the images, it doesn't matter how many prints are ordered or if the images are delivered electronically.

If you try making money on both ends of the shoot you will constantly be dealing with people who want to know why you charge so much for paper and ink. There are plenty of threads on the forums about this type of problem.

LRussoPhoto

Glort wrote: »

I think by virtue of the question asked there is a lot you could learn by reading some books on the business of photography before you go any further.

I have never heard of a photographer that dosen't mark up print prices. Significantly.
If you are scared or worried about making a worthwhile profit, please don't go selling anything until you have overcome that to avoid damaging the industry and making things harder for those of us trying to make a living out of it.

Maybe instead of coming across as sounding very arrigant, so could try and answer his question, maybe giving some examples of your pricing?

LRussoPhoto

divamum wrote: »

Depends on the market and the product. For instance, I do performer headshots - I charge a flat fee, but nothing for prints (that's their problem, and they usually want them mass-reproduced anyway, so use a dedicated repro house). I have two different packages: a 1hr+1 edit "student special", or a full package of unlimited session time (which has never yet exceeded 4hrs, and is usually around 2)+3 edits. Clients can order extra edits a la carte.

Some headshot togs include all proofs on a CD; I don't do that simply because a lot of what I deliver is in my cropping, post-processing and retouching, and it's not possible for me to do that on each the 150-200 shots I offer as proofs unless I significantly raise my prices to include the time that would be involved. Also, I don't really like the idea of people fiddling with my work when it has my name on it. I provide clients with colour & bw (or alternative processing) of each shot they choose to be edited, and will often also let them have multiple crops if I can't decide which one I like best. If they mention a particular shot they'd "love to have even though it's just for fun and not one of my choices", I'll usually do a quickie edit and let them have it as an "extra"; those are almost always outtakes or include another family member who happened to be at the shoot or whatever and aren't something I have a problem letting them have. I do have a problem with "negotiators" though - you know, the ones who try to "haggle" over getting extras! I tend to dig my toes in if they push too hard

I based my rates on

- researching other photographers delivering a similar product
- other photographers delivering a similar product in my area
- what I *need* to make to make the time worth my while

I started my pricing at the low end of the median I determined but am raising the price by about 10-15% until I reach what I think I'm "worth" now that I"ve got some experience under my belt (just about time to do that this year, in fact). I also offer a "student special", however, so those who really do need decent shots (well, i hope they're decent shots!) at a budget rate can still afford to use me - I plan to keep that option even as I raise rates for the full package.

So in your 1 hour package will you do all the shots and then go through them all with the client in that one hour? And in the end they get that 1 edit that you include in your package? If they want more there is an additional cost per shot?

divamum

Again, this is NOT the typical scenario for a personal portrait session where prints are likely to be part of the deal - these are performer headshots, and I only provide digital copies (although I make those print-ready).

~60 mins session, including the chitchat about what to wear, makeup etc when they arrive. Usually around 30-45 minutes of actual shooting.

I cull, do basic processing on raw files and upload low-rez jpg proofs to my gallery on my own time; I find it hard to go through shots with the client looking over my shoulder. Nothing to hide, I just find it difficult, so it's more comfortable for me to do that when I can concentrate on my own!

They pick the one they want as their included final image, plus any others (for which they will be charged extra).

I "deep edit" the ones they have picked and upload high-rez jpgs for them (tiffs available on request).

Same thing for the full package, except no time limit on the shoot itself, and they get three deep-edited shots of their choice included in the flat fee (with any above those three incurring an additional charge).

Glort

QuadRacer041 wrote: »

Maybe instead of coming across as sounding very arrigant, so could try and answer his question, maybe giving some examples of your pricing?

I have no idea what " arrigant" is. Dosen't seem to be in the dictionary.

I gave an honest and direct answer that was completely relevant to the question asked.
There is a lot more to pricing than just numbers or one method suits all and every situation. To explain them all is impractical here. By reading a book and enlightening themselves to other ideas and practices, the OP has the best chance of coming up with not only the best business model for their current situation but giving themselves a head start with many others they will encounter in the future.

Unfortunate if you didn't like my reply but it was not in response to anything you asked and I make no apology for it.