Starting up: How much should I charge?

[philaphotog]

No offense, but if you, as a professional are going to wait for a client while they take a nap or eat, then you are bound to fail. The client needs to schedule during a time when they have an hour uninterrupted to give you.

What can I say? I think baby sleeping and baby breastfeeding pictures are lovely. I really enjoy shooting them and clients love to have them. I consider them an important part of my product as an "artist." (Sorry if the word "artist" is going to make people gag) My pleasure factor in taking these types of shots is as valuable as my time.

Your photographer sounds like Wonder Woman. I could probably learn a lot from her.

 

[Village Idiot]

You can charge as much as you want as long as you can find some one that will pay for it.

 

[NateS]

What can I say? I think baby sleeping and baby breastfeeding pictures are lovely. I really enjoy shooting them and clients love to have them. I consider them an important part of my product as an "artist." (Sorry if the word "artist" is going to make people gag) My pleasure factor in taking these types of shots is as valuable as my time.

Your photographer sounds like Wonder Woman. I could probably learn a lot from her.

Sorry, you gave the impresssion (I think) that you spend 3 hours because of downtime caused by naps, feedings, etc.... It's hardly downtime if you photograph such events which again makes me think that a 3 hour photoshoot for a baby is crazy. Do what you need though and as stated above.....charge 1000 sitting fee and $200 per 4x6 if you can find someone willing to pay the prices.

 

[SpeedTrap]

So figure she cleared $180 + 65 = $245 minus 45 for expenses (and I'm shooting a little high) = $200. It probably took her 2 hours to post process the 33 prints that we were given as proofs. So clearing $200 in 3 hours of work puts her at about $67 an hour which is pretty good in my opinion.

Keep in mind that we live in the country and $66/hour isn't as great in the city. But.....she had competetive prices for the area and she's still making a decent amount.

Take the 1 hour of shooting, 2 hours of PP, Time to travel to and from your home, Downloading and Backup of Images) Your 3 hours has just turned into 4-5 hours.
Not bad right, well it depends, is he doing two shoots a day or two shoots a week.

Have you factored in replacement costs if a piece of equipment breaks down before you planed on replacing it?
Did you deduct the taxes paid on the income, or the costs of doing business in the area (Fees and taxes)
How about health insurance, Retirement savings, Vacations. The thing about being self employed is that there are many cost people don’t think about.

 

[Mike30D]

Here's a possibility:

Newborn package - $400 sitting fee:
Includes 2 photo shoots - one at birth, one at 4 - 6 mos
Each shoot: 1 location, 1 - 3 hours total
50 images per shoot
1 free 8 x 10 per shoot
Online hosting of images for 6 months
Then, the pictures would be moderately priced. Maybe $5 for 4 x 6, $10 for 5 x 7, $25 for 8 x 10?

For parents whose babies are a little older, a single photo shoot (with conditions above) for $300. (So the package deal would save parents $100 on sitting fees)

For friends, I've been putting all the images on a disk for them to print wherever they wish. I don't think this is a good idea for professional work because then I make no money at all on prints, and I can't control the quality (what if they print a copy on a crappy home computer? I don't want my name on that)

The "online hosting" would be my shutterfly website, which I could also use as a promotional too by inviting potential customers to visit and see my work.

To those who were not able to use the "Amanda" password - try again? It's worked for all my "customers" so far...

WOW. If you get someone to pay that much for a sitting fee, tell me how you did it, would ya?

I've never heard of sitting fees that high before. The highest sitting fee I've ever seen is around $120

That's why prices for prints are a lot more for portraits than they are for weddings.