Pricing

[asterix0607]

Ok so I need a little advice. I will be shooting my first wedding next summer for a friend and need a little advice on what to charge. I am going to be sending our her contract this week. What I will be offering her is:

~an engagement session with a CD of 50-75 edited images

~her wedding, full day from start to finish, with a CD of 100-125 edited images

Is there anything that I could change or anything I need to add??

Thanks so much!!!!

[candleman]

be very specific about what she will and WONT get.
...too many images for an engagement session IMHO (for 1 hour i can do about 20 images)

...too few images for a whole day shooing a wedding IMHO I'll deliver 70 images for 2 hours shooting.
For a ful day (excluding Receptioon) i can comfortbaly do 220 images.

Something I do, is offer them a Free CD of low resolution images "Optimised to look best on the web" which are watermarked with my web address.
1. for copyright reasons.
2. free marketing when it hits facebook

as for working for friends.. good luck
Charge what you feel is right considering this is a friend.. and make SURE you factor in meetings, research and editing time. I spend roughly 4-5 hours doing work on that stuff for every hour i shoot as an estimate.

[Brian Mullins]

Don't forget to charge enough to cover your liability insurance and backup equipment rentals (if you don't have backup gear). You need to be able to cover the cost of extra batteries, extra flash cards, your editing time, etc.

I fully understand this is a friend but if something happens that causes you to not have images from their wedding, your friendship will go out the window.

[fantasmic2tek]

Brian is right. Take into consideration what your costs will be. Shooting and using your gear, your post processing time. The depreciation to your equipment over time. Your gas and hotel if you have to travel over night. These are just a few of the things to consider when figuring the CDB(Cost of Doing Business).

[asterix0607]

Thanks for all your advice!! I will definitely be taking into consideration everything!!!

[KayleighKins]

Originally Posted by fantasmic2tek

Brian is right. Take into consideration what your costs will be. Shooting and using your gear, your post processing time. The depreciation to your equipment over time. Your gas and hotel if you have to travel over night. These are just a few of the things to consider when figuring the CDB(Cost of Doing Business).

This is really good advice, could you show me an example?

It's hard for me to wrap my head around the costs of post production. I bought my editing software for $80, the computer I edit on for $600, the camera and lens are a combined $900, but I didn't buy these things for just her shoot, I bought them for all the shoots in my future.

How do I calculate how much money she should pay me for editing and shooting when the costs aren't black and white (like a gas bill or a hotel bill would be)?

[wsu_danielle]

Originally Posted by Brian Mullins

Don't forget to charge enough to cover your liability insurance and backup equipment rentals (if you don't have backup gear). You need to be able to cover the cost of extra batteries, extra flash cards, your editing time, etc.

I fully understand this is a friend but if something happens that causes you to not have images from their wedding, your friendship will go out the window.

What is the approximate cost of liability insurance? I need to look into getting some.

[Brian Mullins]

Liability insurance, for a 1M/2M policy, is generally around $200 a year or so (in my area). Venues require you have this if you are working in their facility and it covers you should someone injure themselves due to your presence. Also keep in mind that homeowners insurance, in almost all cases, do not cover equipment used in a professional capacity. You need a special rider called an "inland marine" policy that follows your gear to insure it against damage/theft.

To answer the above about post production costs, etc.. a very easy way is to determine how much you want to be paid, per hour, for editing. If you want to earn $25 an hour, take into account that charging $25 an hour is equal to you earning about $10 per hour (after taxes and writeoffs like equipment, software, etc). Taxes take up about 40% of your income and then your equipment depreciation generally runs about 5% - 10%. A decent #, ballparked, is to consider 50% of your income will be going towards other fees with the other 50% going for your pay and company profit.

This is a very, very elementary breakdown and if you are going to pursue this more professionally, further analysis is needed so you know your margins.

[nokiN]

Originally Posted by KayleighKins

This is really good advice, could you show me an example?

Here is just one of many online CODB calculators:

NPPA: Cost of Doing Business Calculator