What is a good price for photography services?
I am a photographer starting out. I believe that photography services should be available to all people no matter their budget, especially in today’s market. As a client, what is the most you would be willing to pay for professional photography services such as senior portraits, weddings, etc?
If you are starting out a business with that attitude then I am afraid you will pretty soon be out of business.
Your prices should be set based on a number of factors not the least being what YOU need/want to earn.
You have to take into account ALL your outgoings and expenses and then factor in what you want to make as a profit.
Then you can set your prices.
If you set them based on what people can afford or what they want to pay then you could well be pricing things in a way that you will never even pay the rental on your studio.
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I would think you’d get better answers from people who were not photographers.
References :
It does not matter what your clients are willing to pay. It matters what it cost you to stay in business and make money. If your business does not support you it is not a business. Many of the pro photographers groups have an estimator on their sites for photographer to calculate how much money they need to bring in to cover cost and how much to make an income. From there you can calculate how many jobs you have to shoot to get the amount of income you are looking to get. Lower fees equal more work hours.
Calculate you cost of doing business:
http://asmp.org/tutorials/details-creative-fee.html
Here is an interesting survey from 2007. The economy is far worth now and those numbers will be much lower this year.
http://www.jimpickerell.com/articles2/admin-article-view.asp?id=2022
http://www.editorialphoto.com/resources/startingout.asp
References :
Hi Jennifer,
Go to different studios to see what their rates are. Look up the photographers in your area online and see their rates. Different towns and cities have different rates according to how much people get paid. For example, you will find San Francisco to be more expensive then Des Moines Iowa.
Then if you don’t have much experience…that will also affect on how much you can charge. Building your portfolio and experience takes time. You can also join photographer groups that meet once a month to talk shop and ask and see what they are getting. What one charges for a sitting fee vs what you charge for prints is also requires to do some homework. Whether you use your local supermarket to print your images or a professional lab is also a factor. Another thought, take continuing courses at your local college or school. There you can see what other people beginning charge and the classes are usually pretty affortable.
good luck.
References :
pro photographer
If you are starting out a business with that attitude then I am afraid you will pretty soon be out of business.
Your prices should be set based on a number of factors not the least being what YOU need/want to earn.
You have to take into account ALL your outgoings and expenses and then factor in what you want to make as a profit.
Then you can set your prices.
If you set them based on what people can afford or what they want to pay then you could well be pricing things in a way that you will never even pay the rental on your studio.
References :
Hi Jennifer. My experience which covers 25 years as a commercial photographer, is that fair prices vary according to the demand and the place you live. For example I live in a relatively upscale area and it is common to charge $2000 to $2500 for a day’s work. However, the recession has driven that price down and I find myself working for as low as $1500 per day in the second half of 2009. Your skill level should be considered to. Since you are just starting out and you need to learn more on the job, you could work for lower rates as long as you can support yourself and do good work. When I started I just talked to other photographers in the area and put my prices on the upper end,
References :
Please see the following sites: http://www.jimcoonstudio.com, http://www.jimcoon.com, and my blog: http://www.photo-verse.com