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How to Price your photos
mickicd
Registered Users Posts: 30 Big grins
Was recently laid off and have decided to do photography. Well, I've been doing photography for a long time but I don't know what to charge. Can some of you pros out there help me out on this?
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yeah, charge $500.00
Seriously, how can someone answer your question unless they know what you are photographing?
Do a little reading on the stickies at the top of this section, do a little reading throughout the threads in this section, figure out what kind of photography you plan to do, then come back and ask again, giving some details.
THIS could of great help to you ..............
Moderator of: Location, Location, Location , Mind Your Own Business & Other Cool Shots
You have to determine who your clients will be and what your market will bear.
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Wanting to be a "good neighbor" and fair competitor - how does one go about gauging what the market will bear on one side, and what is "amateur" undercutting on the other? Can folks in various specialties / markets respond, as many forum participants are still nailing down their nitch?
For the most part, prices are not posted on most local web sites, and cold calling seems both an awkward mix of too forward and too disingenuous. Urm, but wait, I guess asking this on the open forum *IS* a method of cold calling.
(I mean, maybe shopping your market IS the best way, but it doesn't hurt to ask if there is a better way, right?)
A method that has worked for me was being fortunate enough to be approached by a major magazine and being offered a rate. I took a chance and asked for 15% more. I got 5% more - however I STILL don't know if I did well or not. I also can see that this is not a method that can be used on a family looking for sweet 16 portraits.
I sometimes just sit down with a one book and look up competitors online...making note of those with prices and those without.......
Don't confuse your market with your neighborhood. Your camera will take pictures outside of your area, and you should not limit yourself to that neighborhood.
Also, when someone is paying you to take images, they are hiring you to capture professional results. Now this does not mean that you will make a living, but for that moment, you are a pro. The only time that you should charge amateur prices is when delivering amateur results.
Ask yourself if the prices charged by other photographers has any effect on your standard of living. Just because someone else is happy earning $50 for a portrait doesn't mean that you will be happy with it. It is the same with those who can charge hundreds of dollars for a portrait. Just because they can, does not mean that you can.
I know of a photographer here in S.F. that routinely charges ten thousand and up for a wedding. I also see plenty of ads of photographers willing to shoot a wedding for a couple of hundred dollars. So how is one to choose which is right for them?
You need to learn what your market is. You need to learn how to get into that market. You need to learn what that market will bear.
My method is probably a little different as I am a business person who happens to use a camera to make my living. My market is not limited to the city in which I live. As I understand this, I have not taken one second of my life to worry about the prices charged by the photographers here in the city, county or state in which I live.
My niche is commercial products. The majority of my clients are not here on the west coast, so matching my prices to those in the area would be a waste of time.
I first determined what it takes for me to live the lifestyle that I am accustomed to. I then found the clients who pay the fees that match those needs. I don't concern myself with what the other photographers do. They don't pay my bills, they don't live my life, so why worry about it.
Now this probably isn't the easiest or maybe even the best way to do this, but it has always worked for me. The world is pretty small. The internet allows me to deal with people all over the world at a moments notice. UPS and FEDEX deliver just about everywhere.
I know of a few photographers who shoot all over the world, or at least where they can get to by plane. I don't know for sure, but I highly doubt that their prices are reflective of those who believe that their world begins and ends in the S.F. area.
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In short, let me say that I, for one at least, do not expect this kind of question to amount to a table or formula that provides the answer. Feed back like Steve's - told within the context of his industry and goals - is like water to a dying man - or in this case sanity to a crazy, frustrating question.
As a photographer, you are offering a service first, and a product second. It truly is as simple as that.
If a new store opens in your town, do they discount the products simply because they are new? Does your mechanic offer a lower price because they have not worked on your model of car before?
The internet is full of photography forums and quite a few photographers play around on multiple sites. How many are also active members of business forums? Of parent forums? Of community sports forums?
Find your market. Find out where your potential clients are gathering.
In the real world, business people are gathering all of the time to develop new ideas, new marketing techniques, new customer bases, and all sorts of things that are needed to help them succeed. Become the solution to their problems.
Now before you start thinking that you that are not a commercial photographer, but you want portraits or weddings or pet photography or whatever else you desire to point your camera at, take a moment and think of the needs of these business people.
They still get married, they know people who get married, they have family portraits and senior portraits and guess what, everyone and their mother is asking them for support of some function unrelated to their business.
Go to your local sports park and notice all of the local businesses advertising along the fence line. Wouldn't they stand out with a great image?
People are people, and when seeking advice, we all ask those we know. How much more business would you have if the local grocer knew your name? The bank teller? The gas station manager.
I guarantee that every single business in your area has an issue that needs solved. If you figure out how you can help solve that issue, you will be on the end of their tongue in every conversation that they have.
If you cannot manage to take commercial images, farm it out to someone who can. Once again, you will be building your network.
Stop worrying about who else has a camera in your town. It does not matter.
Success is NOT what you know or even who you know. Success is who knows you!
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Good stuff to consider. Thanks!
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