For Family Portraits

[Skinnifatkid]

Ok, I am going to be doing some pictures for family; they want it in their backyard. I have ideas of what I want to do; IE-All 5 members together, Mom and Dad, the kids together and individually along with their dog when it will sit still.

I'm not looking to pay for my 7D by doing this set of photos, but as far as fee/cost, should I keep it low and simple or let them judge based on what the professionals in the area would charge? I don't want to step into doing something at a seemingly high cost and not get any follow on opportunities to further develop into doing pictures because of my fee/cost.


I am willing to show them the pictures electronically and let them chose the pics they want in the sizes they want. Is this a good idea or should I just see what the final product looks like and chose my self?

My intention is a package of 8x10, 5x7, 4x6, and disc for them.


Aside from the cost…things to consider or keep in mind?

I'd definitely appreciate any suggestions or ideas/thoughts from the collective who have the knowledge and experience.

Thanks SFK

 

[MTVision]

Ok, I am going to be doing some pictures for family; they want it in their backyard. I have ideas of what I want to do; IE-All 5 members together, Mom and Dad, the kids together and individually along with their dog when it will sit still.

I'm not looking to pay for my 7D by doing this set of photos, but as far as fee/cost, should I keep it low and simple or let them judge based on what the professionals in the area would charge? I don't want to step into doing something at a seemingly high cost and not get any follow on opportunities to further develop into doing pictures because of my fee/cost.


I am willing to show them the pictures electronically and let them chose the pics they want in the sizes they want. Is this a good idea or should I just see what the final product looks like and chose my self?

My intention is a package of 8x10, 5x7, 4x6, and disc for them.

Aside from the cost…things to consider or keep in mind?

I'd definitely appreciate any suggestions or ideas/thoughts from the collective who have the knowledge and experience.

Thanks SFK

Are they pictures for your family or a family? Do you have enough experience to charge what the professionals in the area charge? Also, like a few people will mention - you need a business plan (which will help you figure out what you need to charge), insurance, taxes, etc. If your skills aren't up to par then (and I'm not saying they aren't) then it's not really fair to charge them anyways. You should do some research on what other area photographers charge since it's always different in different areas. You don't want to charge to high or to low.

Are you going to post process every picture and then let them choose? That will probably be a lot more work and I probably wouldn't show them pictures SOOC. If I were you I'd choose re pictures that I thought were the best ( since your the professional) edit those an let them pick the sizes.

 

[Erinw417]

I would suggest letting them choose which ones they want and putting them on a CD.

 

[Skinnifatkid]

Are they pictures for your family or a family?

My wifes aunt and uncle's family...yeah my family.

Do you have enough experience to charge what the professionals in the area charge?

Experience...many years of working on getting better...um, no to answer the question

Are you going to post process every picture and then let them choose?

Only the ones that work and need touching

SOOC

?????...seen it a few times, still confused by not knowing what it stands for...sorry

If I were you I'd choose re pictures that I thought were the best

Totally my plan

let them pick the sizes.

I offered to do the leg work also just to make things more "Me" and more in the realm of doing it right.


Thanks

 

[KmH]

SOOC - Straight Out Of the Camera.

 

[Skinnifatkid]

It kind of occurred to me that that may have been the meaning, but was not certain. Thanks.

Erinw417

I would suggest letting them choose which ones they want and putting them on a CD.

Also what I would like to do.


I need to justify to my wife, she is awesome, that me buying the 7D after running down a Rebel was worth the cost.

Something I really wanted to get into seriously many many years ago. Photography period! Hindsight, DAMN you! I should have...

​

 

[Derrel]

Are you any good? How can we evaluate how much you ought to charge without an idea of your capabilities? You mention "what area professionals would charge"...well, what level of shooter are we talking about here? Some years back, my neighbor's daughter went to an established senior portrait shooter, and the package was $1,300. Her mom brought over proofs and asked me if I would "scan them all". I told her I could not do that. This was back before digital cameras were really "out", in 1999 or 2000. My neighbor was dismayed to find that the absolute lowest cost they could get any package was $900!!! Today, now that digital cameras are all over the place, costs even among professionals are (relatively-speaking) lower than in the film-and-proofing days, so $200 senior sessions are available.

One thing to keep in mind is THIS critical FACT: the interest in the photos is at its very peak upon the very,very first viewing of the images,and it is at that exact time that you need to apply sales skill and pressure. Once a client has control of the images, even low-rez images, the value of the images goes down almost by the hour...once grandma has been e-mailed a low-rez senior photo, your future print sales opportunities are dwindling. If the student or parents are given a "whole shoot" in proofs or on disc, your sales are doomed. They will excitedly share the images with friends and family, and within a few days, the entire level of enthusiasm will have been lowered--and lowered very far.

You need to charge UP-FRONT, a reasonable fee. Unless you know how to show-and-sell by appointment upon first viewing, you will not have much real opportunity for future sales. That's the way this actually works. Prints do not magically sell themselves in this day and age, and they can be EASILY scanned/copied/re-printed. Print sales are actually very dismal if a disc is an option, so if you're gonna sell that disc with images, I say it costs $300 to $499, minimum. Even for a hobbyist.

 

[Skinnifatkid]

...Thanks Derrel. I'd love to post some of my good pics, my wife has issue with posting "my muse" our daughter to the internet. I have more pics of her than any other and I tend to annoy the heck out of the two of them trying to figure things out with the new camera.

I will post some photos to help give an idea of capabilities.

Thanks again

 

[katerolla]

as a beginner i would charge $10 per photo on the CD so if you give them 15 photos on the cd i would charge $150 and I would let them choose the number of photos so you can get an idea of what level you are at

 

[MTVision]

My wifes aunt and uncle's family...yeah my family.

Experience...many years of working on getting better...um, no to answer the question

Only the ones that work and need touching

?????...seen it a few times, still confused by not knowing what it stands for...sorry

Totally my plan

I offered to do the leg work also just to make things more "Me" and more in the realm of doing it right.

Thanks

Pretty much every picture needs some kind of processing - even if it's just fixing the white balance.

When I got my daughters pictures done the photographer picked the images - I never saw all the images and I never saw any unprocessed photos. I was happy with what she chose since she knows what she's doing. I paid 100.00 for just my daughter (it was more for additional people) and I received 64 edited pictures on a CD.

The family you are shooting aren't photographers so they may choose an OK photo because they don't know any better and because they are emotionally connected to the photos.

If it's family and you don't actually have a photography business yet I wouldn't charge them too much. At least this shoot with help build your portfolio.

 

[Skinnifatkid]

as a beginner i would charge $10 per photo on the CD so if you give them 15 photos on the cd i would charge $150 and I would let them choose the number of photos so you can get an idea of what level you are at

I will totally use this idea, I like it.

 

[Skinnifatkid]

My wifes aunt and uncle's family...yeah my family.

Experience...many years of working on getting better...um, no to answer the question

Only the ones that work and need touching

?????...seen it a few times, still confused by not knowing what it stands for...sorry

Totally my plan

I offered to do the leg work also just to make things more "Me" and more in the realm of doing it right.

Thanks

Pretty much every picture needs some kind of processing - even if it's just fixing the white balance.

When I got my daughters pictures done the photographer picked the images - I never saw all the images and I never saw any unprocessed photos. I was happy with what she chose since she knows what she's doing. I paid 100.00 for just my daughter (it was more for additional people) and I received 64 edited pictures on a CD.

The family you are shooting aren't photographers so they may choose an OK photo because they don't know any better and because they are emotionally connected to the photos.

If it's family and you don't actually have a photography business yet I wouldn't charge them too much. At least this shoot with help build your portfolio.

Thanks for this. My wife openly admitted and told me straight up to not expect any offer of payment from her aunt, "She's cheap!" She also mentioned the building of a portfolio, something I really should have been doing all the years I have been "Hobbying" lol :er:

 

[Jace]

Personally I wouldn't charge anything for family, unless you don't like them much. I hope to have a small business one day, but while I'm practicing and building up a portfolio I just do some free stuff. That way there's no pressure in case half the images are OOF, which if they were I'd probably just hang up my camera and let the wife kill me. If there are five people and you ARE wanting to work on a portfolio, maybe take some family shots, and then do some portraits of individuals and or couples. Also, if you have friends with kids and they want photos taken, and you KNOW they won't tell people they had them done for free, offer to shoot for them for the rights to use the images in your portfolio and for them to tag you or something in whatever they post on facebook.

Just tell them to tell their friends you charged them out the ass, but that it was worth it!

If they come out good that is. If they don't, just tell them to tell their friends it was a random guy in the park.

 

[mwcfarms]

My wifes aunt and uncle's family...yeah my family.

Experience...many years of working on getting better...um, no to answer the question

Only the ones that work and need touching

?????...seen it a few times, still confused by not knowing what it stands for...sorry

Totally my plan

I offered to do the leg work also just to make things more "Me" and more in the realm of doing it right.

Thanks

Pretty much every picture needs some kind of processing - even if it's just fixing the white balance.

When I got my daughters pictures done the photographer picked the images - I never saw all the images and I never saw any unprocessed photos. I was happy with what she chose since she knows what she's doing. I paid 100.00 for just my daughter (it was more for additional people) and I received 64 edited pictures on a CD.

The family you are shooting aren't photographers so they may choose an OK photo because they don't know any better and because they are emotionally connected to the photos.

If it's family and you don't actually have a photography business yet I wouldn't charge them too much. At least this shoot with help build your portfolio.

64 editted images on a disc for 100 is why other photographers who want to make a living at it are having such a hard time lol. Good for you for getting a good deal like that. Personally I am with the cost per image. I generally charge a session fee and they get between 5 and 10 images and if they want more its per image. Then I get them to pick prints when they get to see the 5 to 10 images and I think it tends to like Derrel said seal the deal when excitement is high.

Now that being said this is family and I don't charge my family here for pictures ever. I don't go overboard either trying to please them. Good luck have fun and post some pics when your done.

 

[MTVision]

64 editted images on a disc for 100 is why other photographers who want to make a living at it are having such a hard time lol. Good for you for getting a good deal like that. Personally I am with the cost per image. I generally charge a session fee and they get between 5 and 10 images and if they want more its per image. Then I get them to pick prints when they get to see the 5 to 10 images and I think it tends to like Derrel said seal the deal when excitement is high.

Now that being said this is family and I don't charge my family here for pictures ever. I don't go overboard either trying to please them. Good luck have fun and post some pics when your done.

That is actually the going rate where I live! There are some people who charge 40.00 for a session with all photos included. So, yeah the majority of photographers in the RURAL area I live in all charge around the same price. Of course rates will be higher in a city or a more populated area but I live in Vermont in a small town (with huge economical issues). So, sorry but that isn't the reason other photographers are having a hard time making a living (at least not in my town). Prices aren't universal.

Granted, if I drove an hour away to the biggest (population wise) city in Vermont, prices would be a lot different.