i need help

imax · March 2, 2007

I was approached by a woman who sells jewelry and she asked me to take some pictures of her product. I have no idea how to charge her for the pictures I took. They are going to be used for her website and advertising material for her jewelry. Anyone have any suggestions how to set my prices and if I should charge per picture or per item?

By the way, here is a link to the pictures, let me know what you think.

http://www.imax.smugmug.com/Jewelry

Thanks,

Joe

pahl · March 2, 2007

Joe,
I think they all look ok. I like the background for many of them.
Some of the lighting does not seem to be the best.
This one for example:

http://www.imax.smugmug.com/gallery/2527660#132805730-L-LB

There is a large white reflection on what seem to be the part you would want to see the most detail.

I would have no idea what to charge, but I am interested in hearing the other replies as to how much to charge.

Just my thought.

jerryr · March 3, 2007

Hi Joe -
Great pictures -
especially like this one:
http://imax.smugmug.com/gallery/2527660/1/132806037/Large

Pricing - when in doubt :
Time = Money

That is, what do you normally charge per hour for portraits as well as
any editing/etc you do for the images ??
I would use that as a baseline....

Good job ! - jr

bsvirginian · March 3, 2007

:cool
On jobs like this I usually charge my typical "location fee" of which is $ 250.00 for 2 hours of photography plus any other expenses that I incur for the shoot. If in my own studio, it's my hourly rate of which is $ 125.00. Your set-up doesn't appear to be too extensive and if you've never done anything like it, I would learn from it and suggest a 2nd shoot with your just acquired experience.:ivar

DifferentSeed · March 3, 2007

Some of those are really nice pieces! I can't comment on pricing, other than also saying time = money.

I think the backgrounds are too distracting and the pieces don't pop out at me as much as they should/could. I can appreciate the natural, earthy feel and the natural products within the pieces and how that ties together. But it's distracting and taking away from the product imho. They really are nice pieces, but there are so many browns and beiges. Perhaps use a background with less texture that doesn't detract from the jewelry and with a more contrasting color... Maybe just laid out on black sand, a few dark black pebbles for example. And let the piece stand on its own. Just my 2 cents (from a potential customer for this stuff).

Sam · March 3, 2007

Joe,

At the risk of being the bad guy, these are not good enough to charge for!

It appears you have little or no experience in photographing jewelry. Then you agree to photograph said jewelry without any agreement of costs, or quality expectations.

Jewelry photography is an art science unto it’s self. If you want to do this type of work I would recommend you spend some time researching various techniques, obtaining whatever equipment you need, and practice until you know how to get the results your clients want, and deserve.

Talk to the jewelry owner and be honest and explain that this type of photography is new to you and you didn’t get the results you wanted, but after evaluating what you did get, and after researching photographic techniques used for this type of photography, you would like to re-shoot her jewelry.

Also discuss with the client what they want. Does she want the jewelry on a plain white background, or does she want the jewelry displayed in a more artistic way? Set the price upfront, before the work is done. You can not have a contract (legal term) or an understanding resulting in a good mutually beneficial business agreement without this.

Sam

imax · March 3, 2007

Thank you all for your response on this matter. I really appreciate it. I realize that time is money and it seems that most would agree that charging an hourly rate for the work is the way to go.

As for the backgrounds being too distracting, I guess I could have gone with the basic run of the mill person wearing the item like everyone else does or try something a little different and insert my own style into the photographs. The only expectations that were talked about were that I would look at her website and see what I could do with what she wanted me to shoot. I explained that if I could accomplish what she wanted (a natural looking setting highlighting her pieces in a way not done before) we would talk further about pricing and what she can expect from me and what I would expect from her. She gave me the pieces and I left.

I spent 3 hours on Wednesday working on different ideas along with my wife (someone who does know jewelry and what a woman wants) and the link above is what we came up with, after all a great woman is behind the success of most if not all successful men and I value her input. We both were quite happy with the results that we accomplished, so we put the images up on smugmug and sent the link off to our potential client to hear her opinion. I received this e-mail from her yesterday

Hi Joe, just checked out you site and my photo's. You’re my guy!!! Finally I found someone who understands what I'm looking for in pics.... I can't wait to talk to you. My favorite was the fist two of the tuq hair sticks with all the light on the marbled rock them 18 and the necklace on the white coral....Please call anytime. I'd like to talk more....

So I guess Mission Accomplished. We did what we set out to do, achieve something different for her that no one else has done and made her happy, which is the key to running and managing any business. We will be meeting with her tomorrow to start the beginnings of a mutually beneficial business agreement and the start of a new avenue of photography

Thanks again for your input.

Joe

bsvirginian · March 4, 2007

Hi Joe

As someone in the business of photography it will be interesting to find out how much she agrees to and how much business she give you. We all have these "trade offs" providing virtually free service to gain experience and clientelle. In my experience they don't work out (if you are trying to feed your family).
My only criticizm of your photography is the Copywrite. I really couldn't see the subject that well. I liked the set-up and evidently the prospective client did too. Keep us posted. BS

Nikolai · March 4, 2007

Joe,
I tried it once (also for a friend who's in custom jewelry business). It's a very special field that requires both certain skills and certain equipment. Unless she's planning to give you a lot of business (think $100-$200 per every hour you spend shooting since you will be spending a lot of it postprocessing, at least at first) I would not start investing in it...

HTH

imax · March 4, 2007

Update On My Help Needed Post
Thank you all for your comments both good and bad. As for this afternoons meeting, it went quite well. I received cash in hand for the work provided, as well as additional work to be done. Not only that but I met with several of her friends and now have another job (10 fountains to photograph) as well as future work to be done.

Not bad for a leisurely Sunday afternoon spent with my beautiful wife. You just never know..............

Joe

NEIGHBORHOODSPIDERMAN · March 6, 2007

Time=money
How Long Did It Take,is She Making Alot Of Sales, I Would Have Probally Gone With $150 For 2 Hrs Of Shoot Time ,including Delivery (upload To Website)and Time For Photoshop To Spruce Up Pics.

mike-in-columbiaMd · March 7, 2007

The comments about the background were interesting, especially after hearing that the Jewelry Maker liked your shots.

It just helps to prove that rules are there to be pushed, and at times broken.

In general (you don't have to tell the exact price) what range did you finally price your work? (if you don't mind asking) I have a similar job in line.

imax · March 8, 2007

How Long Did It Take,is She Making Alot Of Sales, I Would Have Probally Gone With $150 For 2 Hrs Of Shoot Time ,including Delivery (upload To Website)and Time For Photoshop To Spruce Up Pics.

Thanks. As for the time spent on it, probably around 3 hours total. As for sales I couldn’t say, I just gave her the cd last week. Thanks for the recommendation, but I went a little higher then that and the nice thing was that there wasn’t a problem with it. No bickering, no trying to get me to go lower, just a happy customer who was pleased with the work.

The comments about the background were interesting, especially after hearing that the Jewelry Maker liked your shots. It just helps to prove that rules are there to be pushed, and at times broken.

In general (you don't have to tell the exact price) what range did you finally price your work? (if you don't mind asking) I have a similar job in line.

See above.

Thanks for all the questions. Here are a few more pictures of some additional work that she gave me to do. Let me know what you think………

A Real Lively Piece

Bracelet

Thanks for looking. Oh and about the shadows, they are there by choice. I like the way hard lighting looks. The rest can be seen here

http://imax.smugmug.com/gallery/2557049

Have a great day

Joe

Scott_Quier · March 8, 2007

The one with the shell is absolutely wonderful. I really like it.

The "Lively Piece" looks like it could have benefited from a little more DOF ad the far strand looks a little OOF. Otherwise, this is a wonder full shot as well.

The last one is really effective at hidding the details of the pins (or whatever they are). Not sure this is an effective sales photograph.

i need help

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