Should I charge?

wellmanwellman Registered Users Posts: 961 Major grins
edited December 13, 2006 in Mind Your Own Business
I have recently been asked to take senior pictures (high school) of the son of an acquaintance. I'm a relatively serious hobbyist, and I've done some portraiture in the past as a favor, figuring it would be good to build goodwill and a decent reputation. Plus, if something went haywire, well, the photos were free to begin with. But this time I'm wondering if I should charge. Given the tone of the manner in which I was asked, I'm betting they're expecting me to.

So, here's my question. Given the quality of my past "work" (see below), should I charge? And if so, what would be fair? I'm not expecting to make a killing, but this would involve night/weekend time that would otherwise be spent with my family.

If you think I should charge, what structure would you recommend? If I charge a fixed fee up front with at-cost prints, they get a good deal on prints, but risk the flat fee if they hate all the photos. If I do the shoot for free but mark up the prints, they have no risk but might get swamped by print markup. And then of course there's the hybrid approach.

Please take a look at the "portfolio" below and let me know what you think. Thanks for your thoughts… :thumb

-Greg

Model headshot:
75860601-M.jpg



Engagement:
68295057-M.jpg


Candid:
63465137-M.jpg


Family:
73187707-M.jpg

Comments

  • AngeloAngelo Super Moderators Posts: 8,937 moderator
    edited August 14, 2006
    Hey Greg:

    You asked so here's my two cents:

    What are you, a photographer or a print merchant? If it's the latter, sell off your gear and invest in an inventory of prints and posters and open up a frame shop near the college dorms and have at it.

    If you believe in yourself as a photographer, an artist, you wouldn't be asking this question.

    From the looks of the work you've posted you seem to have a good eye and real talent and I don't doubt that's what won your friends over, not the ninety-nine cent print in the KMart frame.

    Don't sell yourself short. Good luck.
  • AndyAndy Registered Users Posts: 50,016 Major grins
    edited August 14, 2006
    Do the up-front gig, IMO. Get paid for your time, and charge them for a CD. You can see some example fees on my site,

    http://www.moonriverphotography.com/gallery/830860
  • wellmanwellman Registered Users Posts: 961 Major grins
    edited August 15, 2006
    Angelo and Andy,

    Thanks for your kind words and thoughts. I'll post back with results and comments on how things go (probably not for another few weeks).

    -Greg
  • cmasoncmason Registered Users Posts: 2,506 Major grins
    edited August 15, 2006
    #1 is OUTSTANDING. People pay good money for far less, don't sell yourself short. Enjoy your hobby, and ask for money from those that otherwise would pay for someone else to do what you enjoy doing. If they don't pay, then you have a choice: do what you were willing to do anyway, or walk. If you don't ask , thou shall not receive.
  • Art ScottArt Scott Registered Users Posts: 8,959 Major grins
    edited August 15, 2006
    Charge a fee close too what others in your area would charge....your equipment and time are worth the same as any other photog's .....you can charge a setting fee....then charge for a portfolio of Proof sized prints and of course the enlargements.....
    If you do give out a CD of proofs make very sure to resize those pics to no larger than 4 x 6 inches and no more than 72dpi......a cd of proofs makes even those that are normally very honest tempted to save big and use the self print stations at the one hour lab, wally world, wal-greens etc.....but if the resolution doesn't allow it then it won't happen....or make them order ever thing thru your smugmug acct if it is so set up.

    Good luck
    "Genuine Fractals was, is and will always be the best solution for enlarging digital photos." ....Vincent Versace ... ... COPYRIGHT YOUR WORK ONLINE ... ... My Website

  • mercphotomercphoto Registered Users Posts: 4,550 Major grins
    edited August 16, 2006
    I like them all except:
    wellman wrote:
    Family:
    73187707-M.jpg
    The people are soft. I would bet you had center-point focus, and it focused on the background between the two people.

    Andy's point is a good one. Charge them a fee, hand them a CD. I would probably include one or two 4x6 prints as well that are properly printed. This way if they print it at home and the colors are off (easy to do) they can compare to the print you gave them and know its not your photos that are off! :)
    Bill Jurasz - Mercury Photography - Cedar Park, TX
    A former sports shooter
    Follow me at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjurasz/
    My Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/mercphoto?ref=hdr_shop_menu
  • AntoineDAntoineD Registered Users Posts: 393 Major grins
    edited August 23, 2006
    Wellman, you should charge:
    1/ you diserve it, for your work is far better than many other photographer in that speciality ;
    2/ because if you don't, then more and more people will try to find guys who don't charge, then photographers are going to disappear... it really happens in FRance, especially in small town :-/

    Andy wrote:
    Do the up-front gig, IMO. Get paid for your time, and charge them for a CD. You can see some example fees on my site,

    http://www.moonriverphotography.com/gallery/830860
    On your website, you're talking about extra-hours... but you forgot to mention initial time :D
    have a quick look at my portfolio (there's a photolog, too) :: (11-07-2006) experiencing a new flash portfolio. What do you think?
  • wellmanwellman Registered Users Posts: 961 Major grins
    edited December 12, 2006
    Well, it's been a few months, but I figured I'd follow up here, finally... The shoot went pretty well, and I learned a few painful lessons about GLARE. The kid's glasses would reflect the new moon! eek7.gif Some still came out mostly OK. The senior and his mom are both happy, which is all I can ask, I suppose. :D Some of the better ones below... I'll do better next time, for sure.

    110562147-M.jpg

    110565053-M.jpg

    110561745-M.jpg

    116147957-M.jpg

    110564917-M.jpg
  • photogmommaphotogmomma Registered Users Posts: 1,644 Major grins
    edited December 12, 2006
    And did you charge?!? You definitely should have!!!

    My one comment about charging (although it's way too late!) would have been to (if you were thinking of charging a flat fee and letting them order prints):
    • Create a pro gallery
    • Set all prices 1¢ above the SmugMug price so that you could:
      • See what they purchased
      • See how MANY they purchased
      • Guarantee that they would get a very good quality print that was guaranteed - NOT Walmart or whoever
    • I also would have:
      • Watermarked all, turned on proofing and turned OFF downloading UNTIL they purchased whatever they wanted (just for tracking) - and edited fully ONLY the images that they purchased
    • And after all that, you could decide if you want to do this for real or not. If you do, that would help you decide if that flow works for you, they get a great deal on very well done prints and they can still download after their purchases are made!
    Hope you got paid and that you had fun! These look GREAT! (And glasses glare SUCKS!)
  • wellmanwellman Registered Users Posts: 961 Major grins
    edited December 13, 2006
    Andi,

    Thanks for the kind words! As to whether I got paid, here's the story. Most of the photos were so marred with glare that I felt I shouldn't charge for them, or my time. Maybe I was too hard on myself, but my stance was that I shouldn't charge for an inferior product. I'd tried some photoshopping, but I'm just not skilled enough to do a passable job.

    So, I've had the client pick his favorite photos irrespective of the glare, and I'll do the printing through Mpix, where I've had good luck with glare removal in the past on a photo of my own. (No slam on EZPrints - I just like Mpix's glare service.) The client will end up paying cost for the prints and the $8-per-head-per-file glare fix from Mpix, and I'll take my lessons as payment enough on this job.

    That being said, I took engagement shots for a couple back in the spring. They're getting married in April '07, and they won't accept no for an answer on me shooting their wedding, despite the fact that I've never done one. Wedding shots are too big a risk to "mess up" IMO, so I turned them down three times before I finally relented. I'll do the job right (backup bodies, prepared shot list, my eagle-eye wife to assist), so I will be charging for our time for sure.

    Anyway, that's probably more than you wanted to know, but there it is. :D Thanks for the pro-gallery suggestions, too. I will definitely do that next time around!

    -Greg
  • SamSam Registered Users Posts: 7,419 Major grins
    edited December 13, 2006
    wellman wrote:
    Andi,

    Thanks for the kind words! As to whether I got paid, here's the story. Most of the photos were so marred with glare that I felt I shouldn't charge for them, or my time. Maybe I was too hard on myself, but my stance was that I shouldn't charge for an inferior product. I'd tried some photoshopping, but I'm just not skilled enough to do a passable job.

    So, I've had the client pick his favorite photos irrespective of the glare, and I'll do the printing through Mpix, where I've had good luck with glare removal in the past on a photo of my own. (No slam on EZPrints - I just like Mpix's glare service.) The client will end up paying cost for the prints and the $8-per-head-per-file glare fix from Mpix, and I'll take my lessons as payment enough on this job.

    That being said, I took engagement shots for a couple back in the spring. They're getting married in April '07, and they won't accept no for an answer on me shooting their wedding, despite the fact that I've never done one. Wedding shots are too big a risk to "mess up" IMO, so I turned them down three times before I finally relented. I'll do the job right (backup bodies, prepared shot list, my eagle-eye wife to assist), so I will be charging for our time for sure.

    Anyway, that's probably more than you wanted to know, but there it is. :D Thanks for the pro-gallery suggestions, too. I will definitely do that next time around!

    -Greg

    Here is a thought on the wedding. You have time between now and April, but it will go faster tahn you think. Contact a local wedding photographer, or two, explain your plight, and off to assist on a few weddings for free just to learn enough to do a decent job for the couple who won't take no for an answer.

    Also pick up a book or two on the subject, and how about fast lenses and or flash for the low light, you will probably be faced with?

    Sam
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