Pricing?

[PhotoRebel4]

Hey everybody. Let me start out by saying this is going to be my first paid photography job.

I'll be shooting some product photo's for a friends custom fishing lure company, and don't even know where to start when it comes to pricing.

There will be about 30-33 pictures total (3 styles of lures in 10-11 colors each). I'm assuming it'll take me about 2 hours to shoot and edit all the pictures. He is a good friend of mine, and it isn't a huge company. He just wants better pictures than he can take, but can't afford a professional photography.

Here's a picture of one of my own homemade lures that I shot. His will all be similar to this one.



So what would be a good price per picture. I don't want to charge him a fortune, but I need to make it worth my time.

Thanks in advance.

[BigVinnie]

What are the photos going to be used for?

Online, print, both?

[PhotoRebel4]

Originally Posted by BigVinnie

What are the photos going to be used for?

Online, print, both?

Whoops, forgot to mention that.

I know they will be used on his website, and they may be used in his small catalog.

[PhotoRebel4]

Anybody have a good idea of where I should start price wise? My friend is waiting to hear back from me.

Thanks.

[Brian Mullins]

Need more information on this:

What's his website traffic per month?
How long does he plan on using these?

Most commercial photography is done in one of two ways - flat fee or percentage of sales. You could charge him a fix flat rate up front plus a percentage of lures sold as well.

In the end, no one here can tell you what to charge. I would think 2 hours is on the low side as you still have your processing and setup to consider.

Personally I would charge a "friends" fee of $1500 of this. But if you are just getting started, you may want to consider something lower - maybe around $600-$900. Remember, he may be a friend but your work will be directly responsible for making him money,

[BigVinnie]

I given this some thought. I am POSITIVE that others will not agree with my opinion.

This guy is a friend so that is something that I would take into account. It is also not your normal business, but could be. The images are not something that I would consider marketable. It is a straight up catalog shoot. The images have no use to you other than a possible portfolio use. So you are going to had him a CD with web and catalog publishing rights.

Done right it is a half day and sooc images. Processing should be an automated conversion. With this in mind I would price it out at $600. The low side of what Brian said. I would also make sure the agreement is made clear that rate remain confidential. You don't want to use him as a referral and he tell the next guy how cheap it was. This rate works out to around $20 a per item which is dirt cheap.

[tzimmerman]

I would do them for $20 a photo, with a web license and limited print, in other words he can use it for his own brochures or catalogs up to say 1000 copies.

If he wants to run an ad in a large magazine or such, he would have to purchase another license.

[SuperDan]

first of all, congrats on landing a paid deal!

Did you already do this?
i would agree on the 2 hour for the shoot, but, editing may take a bit longer...

I did a quick shoot for a friend and did pro bono... *i made a deal for him as I wasnt the happiest with how they came out, but he was... but ... i had him keep my watermark on the images



ps. where in the glass city are ya? i used to live outside BG

[spider87]

Did you do this yet? What did you end up charging/quoting?

[PhotoRebel4]

Thanks for all the help everybody. No, I haven't done the pictures yet, or even quoted him anything. He's waiting till he has all his colors decided on, then he's going to give me a call.

We were thinking of doing around $20 an image until I talked to my uncle who is a photographer on the side. He liked the priced. Then we got talking about lenses and what I was shooting my shots with. I mentioned how I'd love to have the Canon 100mm macro lens to do these shots and he suggested having my friend buy me the lens in exchange for me doing the shots. Not only will this be slightly cheaper for him ($520 new from B&H), his pictures will be a lot better than anything I could do with my kit lens, and I'll have some new glass. It's a win win, and I'd be happy with the new lens.

Thanks again everybody!

Oh, and SuperDan, I'm west of Toledo in the Sylvania area.