How to handle..?

[lc1102002]

Hi guys. Ive been shooting portraits semi-professionally for about 18 months. Im still learning how to price my sessions. I typically offer a basic 1 hour portrait session for $125. Mini Sessions for $75.

Ive always been so grateful for the business that Ive been lax with some of the rules but am finding that more and more people try to stretch what they can get in an hours' time.

I can use some guidance. If I book a 1 back to school hour portrait session for 3 children but then mom wants 'a few' extra shots that include her and her husband or wants several individual shots of 1 child in a different outfit for submission to a modeling agency how should i handle that? It often takes time away from the original planned session. I either wind up feeling unprepared and rushed OR taken a little taken advantage of. In some cases the client will book for 1 type of session then at the end of the conversation will throw in a 'oh if theres time i'd like to get just one shot of the kids for christmas'.

Is it wrong for me to object? Is it ok to tack on an additional 'sitting' fee?
please advise. thanks

 

[tirediron]

First and foremost: Are you doing a pre-shoot consult with these people? Do you discuss what will take place, what they want, what they expect, what you provide, etc? If not, you need to start. Right. Now. If you are, and they're departing from that, then yes, by all means, my response would be: "Certainly Mrs Jones, I'll be happy to add a supplementary session. That shouldn't take more than an extra half-hour, which would normally be $XX, but I'd be pleased to offer you a <insert value - somewhere in the 10-15% range) discount and do for only $YY".

 

[randymckown]

+1 on consultations to prepare them for the session. Something along the lines of session time I do ... I will put a little dead space between two sessions so that I have wiggle room. Then I stress the importance of being on time to their session because I have another session immediately following theirs (even though I actually my wiggle timeframe) that means if you're 20 mins late to your session you're going to loose 20 mins of your session .. then I continue on to give them advice on preparing outfits (even though I'm going to dig through their clothes and create outfits that best-match each location anyway LOL). How to organize jewelry .. blah blah .. How to get to the shoot and I tell them I will send directions again the day before .. again stressing the reason why they need to be on-time. This give them a little pre-training that let's them know .. I'm not your cousins friend with a camera shooting for fun .. you're paying for a professional timeslot. Sometime you might need to motivate a slow-poke client with things like ... "let's hurry and change into the next outfit real fast. Because I really want to get a shot of you in front of <whatever you see in front of you> before we move on to the next location."

and then you will simply have that occasional client who is slow as a turtle and wants blah blah blah with no regard to your time .. In those cases, you use your wiggle room and point out at the end how much fun you had, that you're excited to get back and edit their images .. oh and there's no additional charge because we went over your session time. By pointing out .. hey I gave you extra time .. you might score some brownie points with the client for some extra word of mouth.

 

[pixmedic]

i gotta admit....ive never understood, nor done, a "mini session".
it always seemed like one of those useless photography buzzwords...I rank it right up there with
"natural light" and "lifestyle" photographer...

we sold packages. packages were based on number of pictures. some took a little more time, some a little less...it all balanced out in the end.
selling portrait work in blocks of time, like 30 minute "mini sessions" (which we frequently see in our area), always seemed stupid to me. it immediately sets you up for imminent time frame failure.

we sold based on xx amount of pictures. if you wanted more than that, you could either pay more and move up to the next package that had more pictures, or you could purchase additional pictures a-la-carte.
we NEVER worked on an "as many pics as we can get into an hour session" plan. your throwing money out the window like that.
the ONLY time an hourly rate came into play was for weddings or events where the client was paying for a specific amount of time...
the initial block was flat rated, with an hourly rate amendment in the contract for overages of more than 1 hour.

 

[tirediron]

I completely separate shooting and product. The client pays for the session, I create the images, then we have a proofing session and the client orders what they want in terms of product; as much or as little as desired. My session fee covers the creation, so even if they don't order anything, I'm not out.

 

[randymckown]

I always included mini sessions in our pricing not because we actually wanted to do them but because we used it as a tool to up-sell and to prevent people from combining a 3hr session with our cheapest print package. I'm not shooting a huge session and then editing a hundred images when the client is just buying a small package limited to only a few poses.

So we essentially sell a minimum required package before even shooting the session. What package are you interested in .. Package D .. Ok so that means you can choose from Session C or D .. Too expensive? Well then you can drop down to Session B but that means you have to also drop down to Package C .. Oh but you think you gotta have the product that is "conveniently" only available in Package D ??? ... And the client just got up-sold ... Strategically setting up packages that have minimum required sessions and contain popular items that are overpriced as an a la cartel but an awesome deal in a larger package is how you take a client who dreads spending $500 into a $1500 client who still walks out happy.

 

[KmH]

Hi guys. Ive been shooting portraits semi-professionally for about 18 months. Im still learning how to price my sessions. I typically offer a basic 1 hour portrait session for $125. Mini Sessions for $75.

Ive always been so grateful for the business that Ive been lax with some of the rules but am finding that more and more people try to stretch what they can get in an hours' time.

I can use some guidance. If I book a 1 back to school hour portrait session for 3 children but then mom wants 'a few' extra shots that include her and her husband or wants several individual shots of 1 child in a different outfit for submission to a modeling agency how should i handle that? It often takes time away from the original planned session. I either wind up feeling unprepared and rushed OR taken a little taken advantage of. In some cases the client will book for 1 type of session then at the end of the conversation will throw in a 'oh if theres time i'd like to get just one shot of the kids for christmas'.

There is no location information in your profile.
Particularly for business guidance location info often helps.

Does "semi-professional" mean you don't yet have a legal business?

Your business may not be a full-time business but because you're charging you are considered a professional photographer.
Because you charge for your service it's likely your city and state governments expect you to register with them and collect and forward to them whatever sales/use taxes they are due, even if you only conduct your business on a part-time basis.

Salesmanship is just one of the business skills needed if someone hopes to have an ongoing retail photography business.

I too completely separated the photography session from the products I offered.
Instead of packages all my products were a la cart, but I told my customers that we would make them a custom package during the in-person proofing session.
FWIW - in person proofing done effectively can significantly increase your average sale.

 

[lc1102002]

ok WOW so much great information here.
My pre-shoot consultation is done at the time of booking, usually on the phone. its usually at the end of the conversation that the client says 'and i'd just like to grab 1 or 2 christmas shots or family shots'. like a dummy i typically say no problem. I guess because I'm not fully established and hate to discourage people. I find I'm bending over backwards to just accommodate, get referrals or repeat business.
I totally agree with the mini shoot being stupid. Again, I offer it because Im hungry for business and want to offer an option for those on a budget. Im learning that mini-shoots work ok provided I'm shooting literally 5 mins from my home. ( I don't have a studio) AND if I'm working with an adult (who I'm assuming isnt crying, squirming or has a mouthful of teddy grahams).
I call myself semi-professional because Im learning as I go along and this is my 2nd income job.