Re: [PRODIG] Digital Pricing

[Andy D'Angelo]

I have had many such discussions with other shooters here in my neck 
of the woods(USA) over the years, including members of ASMP, PP of A, 
part time shooters and pros alike. The emphasis of the conversations, 
however, should be what services, supplies, products are billable and 
NOT who much we bill for each. Regional, local economics, 
competition, overhead and the VALUE of the photography to each 
individual client will indeed factor into the cost the market will 
bear. It is not un reasonable, and certainly acceptable, to charge 
for time and materials utilized in the production of a 
product/service, including overhead, maintance, advertising, 
equipment costs, and even( GASP!!) profit. Usually the problem is not 
WHAT to charge for but communicating the necessity to charge for 
services that SEEM to be (?) outside the perceptual realm of "taking 
a picture"...ie. digital processing, post capture fees, color 
correction, converting to other file formats, saving files to CD, 
retouching, etc. MOST ad agencies and designers are aware of these 
services and the time needed to finish the task and thus are open to 
billing for such...other clients are not as informed...and here is 
the key...communication with the client that these services may not 
be optional, but rather an integral part of the process. We are being 
forced to have a thorough knowledge of photography AND offset 
printing, color correction, color seps, retouching so why are we 
afraid to charge for these services and time??? The answer lies in 2 
veins: thorough communication...and "you cannot please everyone all 
the time"...walk away from those clients.
Andy
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