What's a fair price hike for a Christmas Eve shoot?

[William Petruzzo]

I was contacted by a prospective client this afternoon to shoot a family portrait on Christmas eve. I am willing to photograph the family, but I'm wondering what would be a fair price increase in the scheduling fee (being that I'll be taking taking time away from family engagements of my own)?

 

[Christie Photo]

Tough question.

If you are willing to do it, ONE thought would be requiring a minimum order... just to make sure you not doing it to sell an 8x10. I suggest a dollar amount... say.... $800?

That way you won't be gouging, but not wasting you time.

-Pete

 

[William Petruzzo]

Yeah, that was my thought. She was interested in purchasing the negatives, which in itself might make the affair worth it.

 

[tirediron]

Christmas Eve this year falls on a Wednesday, is that not a regular business day? Why would you increase prices at all?

 

[SrBiscuit]

if it;s afterhours, go double-time...just like any company rate for holiday time. (or time and a half)

tirediron makes a good point though...xmas eve aint a holiday.

 

[skieur]

Out of curiousity, why the need for the shoot to be on Christmas Eve?

skieur

 

[William Petruzzo]

After discussing the matter with some folks at ppa, I decided to quote high so she still had the opportunity to hire me if it was worth it to her. But, as expected she opted not to.

Out of curiousity, why the need for the shoot to be on Christmas Eve?

The reason is that her family is very large and once every five years they have a huge Christmas Eve reunion. She said that in the past, they'd hired a photographer and thought it was about the right time to do it again.