CC 1st newborn shoot and business ?

[Mcarlson]

d

 

[grandpa_chris]

Friend I don't want this to sound too discouraging, but best you hear it now. You're not ready to start charging yet until your work gets better if the color photo here is exemplary of your skill. Three to four months is not a lot of practice time.

 

[tecboy]

These photos are nice but don't start charging people. Someone from another thread had bad experiences with amateur photographer, and this person wants her money back! There is nothing wrong taking free shots for your friends and family. I do that most of the times, and it is fun and good practice. Just have fun and shooting pictures and learn as much as you can.

 

[jenko]

I have sort of a different perspective on charging.

Photography is expensive. It is also a lot of work.

I think it can hurt commercial photographers when too many people are out doing freebies all the time. It drives down the market. So, I say charge a fee, but a fair one. A fee that is fair to your level of experience and skill. Explain this to the client! Tell them you have only been shooting a few months, so your fee is lower. Show them what you have done. That gives them all the information they need to make an informed decision. The only way I would see it as unfair to the client is if you did not let them know you are a newbie and you did not show them your work. They are adults and can make the decision whether to pay the fee or hire someone else.

 

[paigew]

#2 is the best of the bunch imo. I agree, you have a ways to go before you are ready to charge. If someone complained about these would you be able to defend them? Or would you end up giving the money back? You need to be 100% confident in the product you are selling before you put it 'on the market'.

 

[pixmedic]

200-300 shots on a newborn shoot?!? 40-60 edited photos on disk? for free?!? wow.
first, that's a LOT of photos for a newborn shoot. I would venture to say way too many. You should probably be looking at closer to 10-20 edited photos.
I give around 10 photos on disk for a portrait shoot. you can only pose the same person so many ways before you just end up with duplicates. also, too many photos makes it hard for a client to pick pictures they want prints of. keep it simple for the client.
Since you ask about being ready to charge...these pictures are not what I would consider professional.
your color photo for instance. blown out highlights, poor Depth of Field, and white balance issues. If you do not understand what I am saying about the photo, and understand how to correct the issues, then you are not ready for professional photography. most professional photographers here have spent years learning the trade before starting their business. There is a lot more involved in taking professional quality pictures than just pointing the camera and pushing a button.

 

[cgipson1]

#1 is a bit soft... and the white balance is way off. The others are relatively sharp... but I am wondering why they were converted to B&W (often done to hide color / wb issues) Manual WB is always a good idea, if the Nex will do it!

A NEX-6 is hardly a professional camera... and will be very limiting as far as even learning many things that a "PRO" needs to know! It is probably as good as most entry level DSLR's image-wise (with some limitations), but it is not something you can ever upgrade to pro gear with. Sort of in between a point and shoot, and a DSLR. Supposed to be unacceptably noisy at ISO 3200 and above, which will really limit low light ambient shooting.

1/40 shutter speed at F2 at 200 ISO, no flash? Are you using cheap incandescent lighting? Or was it just incandescent ambient? Really too slow a shutter to be shooting babies with, they do move! And based on the softness of the shots you posted, you probably shot at 1/40 handheld... they are not sharp enough for tripod shots.

Most pro's shoot this type of work with either good window light, or flash...using reflectors for fill as needed... your NEX will limit you on the Flash side somewhat, but using it is something you will need to learn.

[PhotoME]
PhotoME version: 0.79R17 (Build 856)

[Overview]
URL: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...st-newborn-shoot-business-dsc04095-large-.jpg
File type: JPEG
File size: 185 KB
Creation date: 6/18/2013 15:55
Last modification: 6/20/2013 06:53
Make: SONY (Sony USA - Consumer Electronics Products, Movies, Music, Games and Services)
Camera: NEX-6
Lens: T-Mount or Arax MC 35mm or 80mm F2.8 Tilt & Shift; or Zenitar 16mm F2.8 Fisheye or no lens
Software: NEX-6 v1.00
Dimension: 1625 x 1080 px (1.8 MP, 3:2)
Focal length: 50 mm (equiv. 75 mm)
Aperture: F2
Exposure time: 1/40" (+0.3 EV)
ISO speed rating: 200/24°
Program: Aperture priority
Metering Mode: Spot
White Balance: Auto
Image Stabilizer: On
Flash: Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode

 

[IgsEMT]

Average newborn shoot, you should get UNDER 200 (INCLUDING family combinations) frames. out of which on the first run of cleaning up you ought to end up with about 100 (obvious garbage). On your second run of clean up you really should end up with 50. If you aren't doing family combinatins, then less. Final product, from about 20-40.

When I first dove into the child/newborn arena, I realized quickly that I need to shoot more. With weddings, I had 85-95% keeps, with kids that number changes to about 20-30% keepers. With weddings, shooting at wider apertures at 10-15 feet away, I had a bit more DOF to play with; with children, (especially newborns) I'm b/n 2-5 feet and at 2.8 I need to get the perfect shot (which b/c of the camera/user movement) takes at times 3-4 shots of the same.
My average Newborn session, I end up with about 100-120 frames, out of which on the final product clients have 20-40 to choose from. BUT NOT 200 to give to the client.

Editing: I'd suggest to cleanup the skin even more.

Pricing: newborn photography on average starts at around $400 and I know some that charge $2000. Some make set packages, other have minimum print order a la carte. The price depends on your cost of running the business.

Good Luck

P.S. The other day I had a wedding and came home with about 1200 frames, once cleaned I'll have about 1100 to deliver to the client. It'll take me LESS time to clean up and edit those 1200 from a wedding then 120 from the newborn... on newborns, every pic needs to be cleaned up.

 

[pixmedic]

Average newborn shoot, you should get UNDER 200 (INCLUDING family combinations) frames. out of which on the first run of cleaning up you ought to end up with about 100 (obvious garbage). On your second run of clean up you really should end up with 50. If you aren't doing family combinatins, then less. Final product, from about 20-40.

When I first dove into the child/newborn arena, I realized quickly that I need to shoot more. With weddings, I had 85-95% keeps, with kids that number changes to about 20-30% keepers. With weddings, shooting at wider apertures at 10-15 feet away, I had a bit more DOF to play with; with children, (especially newborns) I'm b/n 2-5 feet and at 2.8 I need to get the perfect shot (which b/c of the camera/user movement) takes at times 3-4 shots of the same.
My average Newborn session, I end up with about 100-120 frames, out of which on the final product clients have 20-40 to choose from. BUT NOT 200 to give to the client.

Editing: I'd suggest to cleanup the skin even more.

Pricing: newborn photography on average starts at around $400 and I know some that charge $2000. Some make set packages, other have minimum print order a la carte. The price depends on your cost of running the business.

Good Luck

P.S. The other day I had a wedding and came home with about 1200 frames, once cleaned I'll have about 1100 to deliver to the client. It'll take me LESS time to clean up and edit those 1200 from a wedding then 120 from the newborn... on newborns, every pic needs to be cleaned up.

1200 taken and you will deliver 1100 to the client? Wow. Our keep rate isnt near that high. We did a smallish wedding 2 weeks ago where we both shot and we had a total shot count of around 900. after they are all gone through and processed we will give around 150 to the clients, maybe less.

 

[IgsEMT]

When I was shooting film, I was given 10 rolls and was allowed to skrew up on 1 or 2 frames.

With digital, most studios want MORE. The emphasis isn't only on the bride and groom but on the guests.
On an average 8hour wedding (single crew) I end up shooting around 800-900 frames. Majority of the out takes are from reception/dancing.

 

[tirediron]

Average newborn shoot, you should get UNDER 200 (INCLUDING family combinations) frames. out of which on the first run of cleaning up you ought to end up with about 100 (obvious garbage). On your second run of clean up you really should end up with 50. If you aren't doing family combinatins, then less. Final product, from about 20-40.

When I first dove into the child/newborn arena, I realized quickly that I need to shoot more. With weddings, I had 85-95% keeps, with kids that number changes to about 20-30% keepers. With weddings, shooting at wider apertures at 10-15 feet away, I had a bit more DOF to play with; with children, (especially newborns) I'm b/n 2-5 feet and at 2.8 I need to get the perfect shot (which b/c of the camera/user movement) takes at times 3-4 shots of the same.
My average Newborn session, I end up with about 100-120 frames, out of which on the final product clients have 20-40 to choose from. BUT NOT 200 to give to the client.

Editing: I'd suggest to cleanup the skin even more.

Pricing: newborn photography on average starts at around $400 and I know some that charge $2000. Some make set packages, other have minimum print order a la carte. The price depends on your cost of running the business.

Good Luck

P.S. The other day I had a wedding and came home with about 1200 frames, once cleaned I'll have about 1100 to deliver to the client. It'll take me LESS time to clean up and edit those 1200 from a wedding then 120 from the newborn... on newborns, every pic needs to be cleaned up.

1200 taken and you will deliver 1100 to the client? Wow. Our keep rate isnt near that high. We did a smallish wedding 2 weeks ago where we both shot and we had a total shot count of around 900. after they are all gone through and processed we will give around 150 to the clients, maybe less.

This seems MUCH more reasonable to me.