Charges for per portrait photo

[focusHeart]

Hi i would like to earn some pocket money in portrait photography and was thinking of charging $4 for per photo the clients wishes to purchase. Am i charging very cheap? Thanks... I also would like know how other charges for such services..thank you..

[night86mare]

[Clown]

technically nobody can stop you even if you want to charge 40cents per photo.
in the end it's how much you think your time and effort is worth.

[Lomographer]

Originally Posted by focusHeart Hi i would like to earn some pocket money in portrait photography and was thinking of charging $4 for per photo the clients wishes to purchase. Am i charging very cheap? Thanks... I also would like know how other charges for such services..thank you..

well, it's your choice

quote a price you think your photos are worth (be realistic and honest with yourself)

[night86mare]

Originally Posted by focusHeart Hi i would like to earn some pocket money in portrait photography and was thinking of charging $4 for per photo the clients wishes to purchase. Am i charging very cheap? Thanks... I also would like know how other charges for such services..thank you..

actually, i don't know.

do you think your photos warrant a charge? i'm just asking generally, not trying to tell you anything.. i think this is a very important question everyone has to ask themselves. if yes, then you should know your price, no need to follow what "market price", because there is no real market price. just general guidelines.

if no, then why are you charging? why not brush up, practise more, before you can be confident about delivering what i think should be a minimum standard for photographers who wish to even charge a fee. else you are being very inconsiderate by giving society as a whole a slipshod impression of freelancing photographers, which can only be a bad thing.

[rijac]

Originally Posted by focusHeart Hi i would like to earn some pocket money in portrait photography and was thinking of charging $4 for per photo the clients wishes to purchase. Am i charging very cheap? Thanks... I also would like know how other charges for such services..thank you..

maybe post some examples and then people can comment if its worth paying 4 bucks or not....

[Rashkae]

Originally Posted by rijac maybe post some examples and then people can comment if its worth paying 4 bucks or not....

I agree. Post up some sample pics. I've known people who could charge 200-300 for a single picture due to all the extra Post-processing time involved. But if your skills are poor, then you yourself may need to pay people to take their photo first.

[godzilla60]

Basically it is a demands-regulated market....Your friends may pay you $4 for a portrait shot but then again how many of these willing friends do u have?

As the rest of the bros have stated, what is your competency level at producing a photo that is worth $4?

Assuming your competency level is worth less than $4, you are over-charging. This can seriously impact your reputation in future as a photographer, assuming that you want to go long-term into this career (which i dun think u are planning).

Assuming your competency level is worth more than $4, you are under-charging and at that price, you obviously have not factor in transport, time, opportunity cost, etc.

Either way, it doesn't seem like a good ending is in sight. But nothing can stop you from offering this service if you have found a niche that the professionals/freelancers have missed or decided to pass.

Have fun!

[sabrecruz]

Originally Posted by focusHeart Hi i would like to earn some pocket money in portrait photography and was thinking of charging $4 for per photo the clients wishes to purchase. Am i charging very cheap? Thanks... I also would like know how other charges for such services..thank you..

You charge according to hourly, half-day or full day rates. Whether you want to give them hard copies or soft copies depends on you. Photography is an art and charging too little will undermined photographers.

Does your "portrait" photography entail indoor or outdoor?

Do some researching

Al the best!

[godzilla60]

Originally Posted by sabrecruz You charge according to hourly, half-day or full day rates. Whether you want to give them hard copies or soft copies depends on you. Photography is an art and charging too little will undermined photographers. Does your "portrait" photography entail indoor or outdoor? Do some researching Al the best!

Frankly, I dun find photographers who charge too little a problem at all. They are providing a service to a segment who otherwise could not afford the higher-charging photographers.

What is an ideal rate? If every photographer start charging the same market rate, will it lead to an investigation of price-fixing?

A photographer who charges too much for his/her quality of work and any other value-added services will find himself/herself out of biz in no time.

A photographer who charges too little for his/her quality of work and any other value-added services will find himself/herself out of money or out of time soon.

There is also no basis for assumption that a low-charging photographer will undermine the industry in general. Have you seen the entry of Chery QQ affecting the prices of Ferrari?

But I will worry more for the photographer who charges too low and have to incur losses due to poor estimate of resources required for the work...

[ellery]

I hate to have to say it depends, it could be free to out of the world prices like units of tens of thousands. It all boils down to what you can provide and whether the buyer agrees that your work is worth that much.

Then there is the biz side of it, what is your cost in time, materials, wear and tear are you charging enough to cover costs and make a profit ? Your sale amount is not your profit - if you think so then you fail 101 business management.

My opinion is that $4 after less out transportation, leaves almost nothing for time cost that&this costs and profit...so in reality you will be in the red. If you really want to earn money, this is not the way to go. It could be better to work for Mac's if money is what you want. Getting people to pay you to practice is tricky.

[waltztitus]

Originally Posted by night86mare

lol same response somehow.

[Complex13717421]

Originally Posted by ellery My opinion is that $4 after less out transportation, leaves almost nothing for time cost that&this costs and profit...so in reality you will be in the red. If you really want to earn money, this is not the way to go. It could be better to work for Mac's if money is what you want. Getting people to pay you to practice is tricky.

Yeah... $4 is very cheap if u need to go all the way to take a photo. If i want to execute this plan... Since i'm a NUS student, i can organize a Take portrait photo day for $4 day. Then bring all my stuff, reflector diffuser background all that stuff to school to shoot. But first must register all my friends, collect $$$ first loh. HAHA. then must find location ( go ninja club room!!) If u got 20 friend want to take portrait, then that's 80 bucks.

But obviously i won't charge 4 dollars only. at least 10. And without print. 4 bucks is like lunch money. Unless u work at immigration got stead flow of people to take photos if not 4 bucks is really not worth it -_-

[earthling82]

Hi

Volume is also a consideration. If your shoot consist of say 300 pcs, then thats $1200 already and that can be a wedding rate already.

For reprints, I sometime charge a nominal $1 depending on the customer, package details agreed beforehand and volume.