Question - New Here

Burnviktm · Mar 21, 2007

Hello everyone!

I am new to these forums, but I was led here by a Google search.

I have seen several threads related to pricing, but nothing that specifically addresses what I am going to ask...

I have been asked to photograph individuals at local high school and elementary sporting events. Some have been children playing soccer and others have been teenagers at track events.

I have absolutely NO IDEA what to charge.

I have heard of photographers going to an event, taking pictures of all of the kids, and then selling them, but this is for specific individuals. I guess that a good way to phrase it would be:

"If you wanted a photographer to come out and take pictures of your child through their entire little league baseball game, what would you expect to pay? What would you expect as far as a return? Digital images unedited? Digital images cropped? Prints?"

Argh! I am going to drive myself crazy... not really a long trip!

Thanks all!

Big Mike · Mar 21, 2007

Welcome to the forum.

Pricing is always a tough question. The right price in your city/town may be way off for another place.

I really have no idea where you should start...just make sure not to under value yourself.

Burnviktm · Mar 21, 2007

Big Mike said:
Welcome to the forum.

Thanks!

Big Mike said:
The right price in your city/town may be way off for another place.

True. I didn't really think about it that way. I am about 30 minutes East of downtown Dallas, TX. It is a rapidly growing little town where just about everything centers around young families moving into the area. A LOT of sporting events...

I could always just call a photographer and ask them what they would charge, but that just seems underhanded and that ain't me.

The two that I have lined up are freebies. Experience for me and some exposure too... but I know that I am going to be asked rates from referrals and I want to be ready.

Thanks again!

23pixels · Mar 22, 2007

Looks like you're going to have to price this one out yourself. I would certainly look up some photographers in your area to see how much they charge for portraits, something along that line. Take into consideration of how long you will be staying there. Do you also want to charge per hour? Will you be doing any post-processing. That means more time on top of the time taking the pictures.

Big Mike · Mar 22, 2007

I could always just call a photographer and ask them what they would charge, but that just seems underhanded and that ain't me

I was going to suggest that. If you don't want to feel 'underhanded' then just tell them that you are a new photographer and were wondering how the charge for jobs like this...maybe even offer to buy them a coffee/beer and talk about it. Some may feel threatened...but others may be quite friendly about it.

Are there any photo clubs or associations around you? This would be a good way to network with other photographers and find out what/how they charge.

xfloggingkylex · Mar 22, 2007

I agree with what mike said, or the other option is to talk to some people who have hired a photographer before and ask what they were charged (not incoming clients of course).

Yet another option is to get only/ in the yellow pages and see if any photographers have advertisements that list pricing. That will give you a good basis.

ksmattfish · Mar 22, 2007

Burnviktm said:
"If you wanted a photographer to come out and take pictures of your child through their entire little league baseball game, what would you expect to pay? What would you expect as far as a return? Digital images unedited? Digital images cropped? Prints?"

I would do it for $200 an hour. I would be concentrating on one child. The parents would get a set of 4"x6" prints (roughly 25 per hour of shooting), the basically edited high resolution image files, and permission to reprint and enlarge them as they like for personal use. I would retain all copyrights.

I don't know if anyone would pay that, but that's what I would charge.

ashfordphoto · Mar 22, 2007

Burnviktm said:
Thanks!

True. I didn't really think about it that way. I am about 30 minutes East of downtown Dallas, TX. It is a rapidly growing little town where just about everything centers around young families moving into the area. A LOT of sporting events...

I could always just call a photographer and ask them what they would charge, but that just seems underhanded and that ain't me.

The two that I have lined up are freebies. Experience for me and some exposure too... but I know that I am going to be asked rates from referrals and I want to be ready.

Thanks again!