How much should I charge?

[grantcarlin]

I maybe getting into automotive photography soon, but I have no clue of how much I should charge for the photos, any ideas?

this can also apply for portrait photography aswell, should it be expensive? cheap?

thanks

[waffles]

How good are you? How much does comparable work cost both inside and outside of your area? Do you plan on selling more than one copy of each photograph or only 1?

[grantcarlin]

im not too good as far as experience goes. I would like to do personal cars first to build up my portfolio as opposed to commercial.

as far as prices go around I dont know of anyone that shoots automotive photography near. Im also not sure how pricing goes, whether you charge for a set or per photo.

if anyone has experience in this, that would help alot

[Zane]

Are you shooting for people that request your services? Or are you just taking opportunities to shoot and trying to sell the prints afterwards?

[grantcarlin]

well im shooting for a mate next week, then Ive also got to shoot a few people carriers for a website, so hopefully a few people may approach me. But this isnt like a full time job so I wont need a steady flow of business. Just need to know what to charge people.

[KatzPhotography]

When I started building my portfolio, and always for friends and family(close friends) - I only charge them at cost....i.e. I charge them whatever it costs for me to get the images printed, as long as I get to use the pics in my portfolio. So, at first, I made no money but I didn't lose any money because they covered any costs..... I basically did my time for free. After I started getting more experience, I started charging a little bit. My first wedding was $150 but I had never done one and could not guarantee that they would get any pics at all. Now, having more experience, I feel more confident charging people for my time. I am still building parts of my portfolio, and on Tuesday I have to go take pics of my cousins new baby girl and it will be at cost, and if she wants just a cd, that is all she pays for, if she wants prints, then that is all she pays for. Two reasons for that, one, she is family, and two, I have only done a few babies, they turned out good, but for me to build my portfolio, it is worth the cost of my time.

So, I would say that from your response you do not feel extremely confident in how they will turn out, so I would suggest doing your pics at cost until you feel you have the experience nessecary to charge more.