How Much to Charge?

[Koshua]

A girl contacted me asking if I would be her photographer. She's a small-scale brand representative for clothing companies, and she will drive to whatever location I'll be in (currently Minneapolis, a 2.5 hour drive for her). How much should I charge per session for something like this? I'd assume the number of shots would be around 10 or so per session and it wouldn't be too hard assuming the conditions are right.

I also have tons of people I'm supposed to do senior photos for. I just can't seem to figure out what to charge.

If you guys can help someone who's never charged for photography besides real estate projects, I would be totally grateful. Let me know if you need more info, and if you can link me to an external resource, that would be great too. I'm just here at work and don't have much time for research.

 

[table1349]

You charge for your time, to cover all expenses, not just the at the moment expenses, but a share of your ongoing expenses such as rent & utilities if you have a studio, a few bucks to put away for future equipment upgrades and/or purchase and a bit of profit for yourself.

 

[Designer]

Get a retainer. Just sayin'.

 

[vintagesnaps]

She's a what?? I'm not sure what you're photographing, the clothing samples? Get specifics first, because what came to mind is - why is she going to drive 2 1/2 hours to find a photographer? Maybe she lives out in the middle of nowhere, but do you know this person? If not make sure this is legit.

You'd be charging not just for your time, you're getting paid for your professional ability and any learning or training you've done, for your expertise and experience and know-how and talent.

Try American Society of Media Photographers or PPA for resources for professional photographers. If you don't have time after your regular work hours to devote to developing a business as a photographer I don't know how successful it will be because doing this type work will take some learning. You probably need to develop a plan and how you charge for portraits would probably be different than commercial work (which is what this sounds like).

 

[KmH]

Some of your costs will include registering your business with the state of Minnesota and the city of Minneapolis.
Starting & Managing a Business | The U.S. Small Business Administration | SBA.gov
The state will expect you to collect and forward to them any applicable sales taxes, and you may be liable for use taxes and state income taxes.
As a self-employed worker you may also be required to contribute to the state unemployment insurance system.
To be a legal business in Minneapolis, Minnesota likely also requires you to have business liability insurance.

Those are all costs you need to consider as you determine your Cost Of Doing Business (CODB).
Determining your CODB is just one small part of researching and writing a business and marketing plan.

 

[Koshua]

Great, thank you guys for the help! I'm looking into registering and then I'll figure out the cost from there. I have a pretty good idea after writing down all of my expenses and looking at what other people charge for senior photo sessions and such.

I will be taking photos of the girl modeling the clothing for her to post on social media and to be used on the clothing companys' websites. She gets paid and also gets clothes comped.

 

[Koshua]

Oh, and I know her. Haha, I'm not getting finagled.

 

[KmH]

I will be taking photos of the girl modeling the clothing for her to post on social media and to be used on the clothing companys' [sic] websites..

So the clothing company will be licensing the use of your photos for their advertising?

 

[Koshua]

I will be taking photos of the girl modeling the clothing for her to post on social media and to be used on the clothing companys' [sic] websites..

So the clothing company will be licensing the use of your photos for their advertising?

Yes, some sessions may not have a single photo they would use though. I would get paid by the company on a per image basis. I feel like I'm in over my head here, but I'm the kind of person that jumps in to things like this.

 

[tirediron]

Yes, some sessions may not have a single photo they would use though. I would get paid by the company on a per image basis...

Sorry, that makes no sense. WHY would a session produce no useable images, and who (you or them) decides for which images you get paid? This sounds like a lose-lose deal for you....

 

[vintagesnaps]

If you know her then at least it makes sense why she asked. But she's being paid and/or compensated, and this is asking you to do commercial work, which you need to consider for pricing. But I don't see anything on your Flickr page that shows that you do commercial work.

I think your skills seem to be in doing landscapes and scenery. The people photos seem to indicate a need to keep working on framing shots, thinking about vantage point and perspective, etc. - I see potential and also a need to keep learning.

And I think she'd need to be provided with photos each session - is it reasonable to expect her to spend 5 hours in the car + session time including wardrobe changes (and touching up hair/makeup) - and end up with nothing??

 

[Koshua]

Sorry, that makes no sense. WHY would a session produce no useable images, and who (you or them) decides for which images you get paid? This sounds like a lose-lose deal for you....

I'm not making myself clear, it's my mistake. She will be using all of the images that turn out nice for social media (that's what she gets paid for), and then if the company really likes an image or images from the session, they would pay her and myself to use it for marketing purposes (this would be an added bonus on top of the rate per session I'll be charging).

If you know her then at least it makes sense why she asked. But she's being paid and/or compensated, and this is asking you to do commercial work, which you need to consider for pricing. But I don't see anything on your Flickr page that shows that you do commercial work.

I think your skills seem to be in doing landscapes and scenery. The people photos seem to indicate a need to keep working on framing shots, thinking about vantage point and perspective, etc. - I see potential and also a need to keep learning.

And I think she'd need to be provided with photos each session - is it reasonable to expect her to spend 5 hours in the car + session time including wardrobe changes (and touching up hair/makeup) - and end up with nothing??

I haven't posted any commercial work on my Flickr, and I honestly haven't done much except for real estate. I thought this would be a good chance to keep learning how to photograph people (small-scale marketing photography), and the senior photos would be a good way to keep gaining experience while making some side money for student loans. I've adjusted my price lower in relation to competitors based on my skill level, and my clients can see the quality of my portraits and such from my Flickr and personal portfolio.

Would you advise based on my Flickr examples not to jump into small-scale projects like these that would provide experience and needed income and wait until I'm more experienced?

 

[KmH]

. . . I've adjusted my price lower in relation to competitors based on my skill level . . .

What kind of training did your student loans buy you?

 

[Koshua]

What kind of training did your student loans buy you?

Design and front-end web development. I'm a senior this year, and we've had to take one basic photo course and this year I'm taking a DSLR short film course. I'll also be getting good photo experience in my publication design course coming up.

 

[KmH]

Most new retail businesses fail because the business owner doesn't have business, marketing, and salesmanship skills.

A lot of the business owners that have a business that fails DO have business, marketing, and salesmanship skills. So the key is actually having very good business, marketing, and salesmanship skills. A fair amount of luck is also involved.