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hi all, i got a referral to shoot an engagement party for two hours then give them a CD with the photos from the day. just wondering what would be a reasonable ballpark figure for my services for the day. any thoughts or figures would be appreciated!

Before anything, how much does it cost you to do the shoot? How much are you expecting to get paid? How much you think you deserve from this? How many hours of post processing are you going to put into the shoot? It all accounts into the price you are charging.

A rough example:

Round trip to location: 1hr drive - insert petrol cost
Shoot time: 2hrs
Processing: 1hr
CD burning: 2xDVD - insert their cost

At a total, you are spending roughly 3-4hrs for this job. How much are you expecting from this?

On rough example again, $125/hr for the shoot and $75/hr on the processing = 2x125 + 1x50 = 325
Petrol cost $15, disks, $5

I'm just giving a 'rough' example of how to calculate things. How much you want to charge them is really how much you think it is worth from you. But as general rule to start off, don't start too low otherwise it will take some effort to raise your 'standard price' if you get another referral.

Yi-P wrote: But as general rule to start off, don't start too low otherwise it will take some effort to raise your 'standard price' if you get another referral.

There are also problems with starting too high...well at least in my case. Someone once emailed me after seeing some gallery shots on sugmug what it would cost for me to give them a CD of the gallery. I said $10, including postage. Obviously way more than they were expecting because I never heard from them again.

I'm with "never go low", I've been caught that way before. You're setting expectations that you don't want to fulfil. The cheap jobs I've done since then have all be "I've got no idea but I'll have a go" ones. You really, really don't want to be pushed into doing "mates rates" jobs for the friend of someone who once met your sister-in-law in a bar when she was raving about how good and cheap you are, just to keep your sister-in-law happy. To use a completely made-up example. Any resemblance between characters portrayed in this example and real people or places is coincidental.

moz wrote:I'm with "never go low", I've been caught that way before. You're setting expectations that you don't want to fulfil. The cheap jobs I've done since then have all be "I've got no idea but I'll have a go" ones. You really, really don't want to be pushed into doing "mates rates" jobs for the friend of someone who once met your sister-in-law in a bar when she was raving about how good and cheap you are, just to keep your sister-in-law happy. To use a completely made-up example. Any resemblance between characters portrayed in this example and real people or places is coincidental.

I agree Moz & Yi-P,

I have read a few articles from famous photographers who have ALL said that the hardest thing when starting a business is not to charge too low. Once you set yourself up at a certain price point it is very difficult to put your prices up (especially if 90% of your clients are referrals).

yes thats the problem i was having, i dont want to set my price to low but then again i didnt want to look like im charging through the roof seeing as i havent done many events so far. thanks for all the advice!

DavidR wrote:yes thats the problem i was having, i dont want to set my price to low but then again i didnt want to look like im charging through the roof seeing as i havent done many events so far. thanks for all the advice!

If you are confident you can do a good job charge what you think you are worth.

are you desperate for the cash? if so then do it for what you feel they will pay for, if not dont hurt yourself or the industry by lowballing the price, Yips estimate was pretty spot on i think, successful photographers learn to say no to jobs that are below their pricing structure, its hard but stick to your guns, if they like your images they should be willing to pay for them

DavidR wrote:yes thats the problem i was having, i dont want to set my price to low but then again i didnt want to look like im charging through the roof seeing as i havent done many events so far. thanks for all the advice!

not sure if you know the people, but do you have a feel for what they like in photos RE: PP ? my first ever paid shoot i did i went with a reasonable price, using a very simlilar model to what Yi-p said. but the couple wanted lots of PP. selective colouring and other sorts of PP. of course i said "no problem" but it really screwed me over cos the time i spent in the digital dark room was far more than i estimated. then it snowballed cos the referrals i got from them all wanted the same "can i have that cool XXXX effect." it took me a long time to get all of that out of the way.

i like to meet with the people first and get a feel for what they like. sepia, B&W, blemishes etc are pretty run of the mill, its the other advanced stuff that eats into your time. and young people, (getting engaged !), are more inclined to like that sort of stuff. offer them PP packages with effects but just be aware of the time it takes and try not to rip yourself off.