Need help with event photography pricing...
heatherkphotography
Registered Users Posts: 128 Major grins
Hi all,
I am looking to do someone's party which will last about 3.5-4 hours. I am just getting started with this and am not sure what to charge them. They want all the jpegs on cd. The camera I am using is an Olympus C750 ultra-zoom 4 MP camera. Although it is not an SLR, it is still a pretty good camera and the customer has seen my on my website and complimented me on it. Please advise, I appreciate any and all feedback!
Thanks,
Heather
I am looking to do someone's party which will last about 3.5-4 hours. I am just getting started with this and am not sure what to charge them. They want all the jpegs on cd. The camera I am using is an Olympus C750 ultra-zoom 4 MP camera. Although it is not an SLR, it is still a pretty good camera and the customer has seen my on my website and complimented me on it. Please advise, I appreciate any and all feedback!
Thanks,
Heather
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Comments
And I get deeper and deeper
The more I see the more I fall no place to hide
You better take the call I get deeper and deeper...The Fixx
http://www.clubflys.com/v2/page.php?8
We are a nightlife and event photography website.
Just about all of our photographers still use this pricing for events such as private birthday parties.
Well, pricing by this method leaves a bit to be desired. You have to consider your skill and experience too. And your equipment. Even if you can deliver consistent, top-notch results from you p&s, the quality is likely to be less than a DSLR (the sensor is most certainly smaller and noise will be a factor in high ISO images, for one).
So the questions to ask yourself are:
1) How confident are you that you'll deliver professional results (and not just one or two good photos but dozens?)
2) How fast is your p&s? Events are all about capturing the moment and most p&s's have a shutter release delay (I have a G9 -- canon's finest p&s and it still has a slight delay) that make this tough.
3) What will you be using for light? Even the best natural light often needs some fill.
Based on these questions, if you sincerely believe you can charge a standard rate, then check out what other photographers in your area charge and base your prices on that.
But... I'm just assuming by your equipment that you might not be the most experienced photographer. No big deal-- you can still charge but don't charge as much as the pros in your area AND make it very clear to the event people that your equipment is not pro gear and you don't have experience with this type of event.
How to gain experience then? Volunteer, assist, shoot family events, etc until you are 100-percent confident you can deliver results every single time you shoot.
Portland, Oregon Photographer Pete Springer
website blog instagram facebook g+
Hell, I shot most of my first year nightlife events for free. I just happened to be going out a lot and took my camera with me. It wasn't until later in the year that I felt comfortable with charging folks. And at that time.. I was only charging $30 per hour. I was also give a guestlist to the events and a bar tab which I shared with my friends.
Nowdays, I charge $75 per hour with a 2 hour minimum. Most of the time, I am booked for 3 hours. I earn my profits from the booking as well as the prints sold via my smugmug portion of my site.
You don't charge nearly enough for the members on this site to fully appreciate.
And I get deeper and deeper
The more I see the more I fall no place to hide
You better take the call I get deeper and deeper...The Fixx
This is a very good point. You can only charge what your market is willing to pay. And unfortunately, that price is actually going down in many cases since so many people have cameras and often don't care if their shots look poor. We all know there's more to shooting than pushing the shutter-- but often the public doesn't.
I've found with event photography it's also important to offer something unique-- for example I guarantee I'll post the proofs within a week of the event or the shoot is free. It's getting increasingly crowded in the photographer world and you have to use every trick possible to stand out in a crowd. Another "trick" I do for events is to bring a step ladder. If nothing else, it gives me an angle no one else is getting. I'll also bring CTO gels for my strobes so indoor light looks correct in the entire photo-- little things like that can make your work stand out.
Even so-- I often shoot events (mainly fashion shows) on spec and sell prints/downloads afterwards to make money. When shooting on spec, it's crucial to MARKET yourself. Get there early, hand out cards, meet people, and make sure they all know where to go to see (and hopefully buy) photos from the event.
Portland, Oregon Photographer Pete Springer
website blog instagram facebook g+
For the free shoots we have done from time to time, it has been for networking and making sales off the prints. We go to events, network and pass out business cards like candy. On our business cards, we have in nice large text "Get your FREE photos courtesy of ClubFlys.com".
The end users love getting things for FREE. We do not give prints for free, but they are welcome to right click and save the image for free. Of course the image has our watermark so it is only more adversiting and popularity for us. If they really like the photo, they are encouraged to purchase prints or the digital download without watermark and we always stress this as we hand them a card.
At the same time, we are networking with business owner and event organizers and selling ourselves to them as a service which they can provide to their customers/clients as a "Free service". We make it possible for them to advertise that FREE professional photography will be available. However, the business owner or event organizer pays us a booking fee.