I don't think that by me charging $60.00 per hour to do an onsite shoot, and another guy charges $1400 is by any means degrading his quality or business.
I don't think $1400 is a justifiable fee for something like this. If he is only doing high end clients, they will never be calling me anyway. I'm to cheap to be good. I agree i should let them know i am starting out, not in photography, but this type of work. As i get better and more confident, i then would feel better in charging a bit more. As far as making $30,000, thats would be a tad less than what i made in the survey game, so its not a big deal, but that would be if i only didi photography. Thanks for the comments George, appreciated. Dave On Sun, Mar 30, 2008 at 10:45 AM, George Sinos <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I recently listened to an interview with a married couple that are > professional photographers. Pricing was a big portion of the > interview. > > Based on what I heard and assuming there is no cost-based reason for > the $1400 sitting fee, it sounds like the prices may be based on the > the photographer's desire to work with affluent customers that have > the disposable income to spend $1400 on a sitting fee. It's likely a > predictor that they will spend a significant additional amount on more > prints and other products after the fact. > > On the other hand, suppose this were your primary job and you could do > 30 of these sittings in a year. After expenses and taxes you might > have an annual income of about $30,000. For a family of four in the > US, that's barely above the official poverty line. > > So, they will need significant after-the-sitting sales to get up to a > reasonable annual income. > > These are very rough estimates and could be completely wrong, but it > doesn't sound that unreasonable to me. > > After all, this isn't the typical discount store or shopping mall > portrait studio. They going on-site for a time consuming sitting. > > I wouldn't want to undercut pros that are charging reasonable (and I'm > not saying they are) )prices. They are trying to make a living in a > very competitive and difficult business. Buy undercutting them, (and > I'm not saying you are) you're devaluing every one's work. > > If you are charging less because you are inexperienced and want to > learn, make that clear to your clients. Let them know that in the > future your prices will rise with your experience level. > > Best of luck, GS > <http://georgesphotos.net> > > > > On Sat, Mar 29, 2008 at 7:35 PM, David J Brooks <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > My wife works in a Pet Valu food store, and takes in my meager photos > > of our cats and friends dogs as part of their monthly > > specials and to help in adding extra photo work my way. > > > > I have heard a lot of good comments from these photos, and some of > > their customers have new dogs and cats > > and have inquired if i would be available to do a shoot. > > > > Of course i am, they just have to get dates organized etc, but i;'m at > > odds for rates. > > > > Just recently in the Toronto Star newspaper, they had a 1/2 page > > article on a couple of pet photographers scattered around Canada, > > Toronto, Vancouver and another city i forget. > > These people were charging upwards of $1400 for the sitting and CD. > > One was a very experienced person, the other two just getting in to > > it. > > > > I have no intention of charging these rate, but i feel a shoot at a > > place both owner and animal are comfortabel with, own home, local park > > etc would be best. Try some posed shots, follow the animal around and > > grab the animal doing its thing candids. > > > > Not sure if i explained that well, but hopefully YKWIM. > > > > Travel would be minimal, we are still a small town, but i feel it > > would be appropriate for my experience, and sense of fair play, that > > a rate of $50-60 for an hour shoot, and put a CD together add another > > $50-60 for time, PS work, maybe a bit more for a musical slideshow > > etc.. > > > > Am i in the ball park out am i way out of line to start off > > > > Dave > > > > > > > > -- > > Equine Photography > > www.caughtinmotion.com > > http://brooksinthecountry.blogspot.com/ > > Ontario Canada > > > > > > -- > > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > > [email protected] > > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. > -- Equine Photography www.caughtinmotion.com http://brooksinthecountry.blogspot.com/ Ontario Canada -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
