Pricing?

thinktwice

Hi guys,

One thing I've been working on recently is pricing. I have a most of it done and it's working nicely but I've been asked to photograph kitchens for a brochure/webite and not sure how much to charge. I have to travel 40 mins, it's ten kitchens, five shots per kitchen so total 50? Any advice greatly appreciated as I have to get back to them asap. working in photography 7 yrs and recently out on my own so it's a different than usual job! :eek:

magicbastarder

work out how much financial outlay it will cost you to do the job, including wear and tear on equipment, computers, and transport.
work long it will take you to do the job, with travel, shooting, processing, and whatever else will take your time. multiply this by an hourly rate you think is fair (e.g. 20 quid per hour), and add the figure you got above. this should be your starting point.

thefly

500 euro for a days work


Just name a price. If you get it great if not move on

thinktwice

magicbastarder wrote: »

work out how much financial outlay it will cost you to do the job, including wear and tear on equipment, computers, and transport.
work long it will take you to do the job, with travel, shooting, processing, and whatever else will take your time. multiply this by an hourly rate you think is fair (e.g. 20 quid per hour), and add the figure you got above. this should be your starting point.

Thanks for that, I was thinking in or around €150? I think it would be fair, travel, time photographing, editing and processing....and as you added wear and tear. Would you think this is reasonable?

thinktwice

thefly wrote: »

500 euro for a days work


Just name a price. If you get it great if not move on

I know the guy who asked me so that's what's making it a little more difficult other wise I'd reasonably price it and if I didn't get it I would get over it. :P

VisionaryP

€150 per hour, or in total?

thinktwice

VisionaryP wrote: »

€150 per hour, or in total?

Total, too little isn't it! I'm grand with my wedding and portraits but this work is different for me so really not sure. And as I said on the other post I know the guy who asked which makes it a bit harder to price!

VisionaryP

Well I imagine if you've been a professional photographer 7 years, you have a full range of equipment and professional grade lenses, and that you know technically know your ****, so yeah, €150 is too little. Figure out your daily rate, then charge full day, half day or quarter day, depending how long it will take to shoot, edit and present to the client.

Tactical

So you're thinking 150 for what I'm estimating to be two days work depending on distance to travel and setting up equipment for each kitchen.

Ask yourself how much you'd reasonably like to earn in year, then divide that figure up to get a daily rate and allow for equipment purchase, travel costs, your business costs (light, heat, insurance, rent, phone, internet access, sundries,professional services i.e. accountant if used etc...). That'll give you a reasonable starting point if you're looking at it from a business point of view where photography is your primary source of income. But if its from an additional income point of view where photography is not your primary income then you just need to put aa value on your time and expertese.

Its always hard to put a figure out there as everybody has different overheads and different income expectations. You really need to see what you want to make a year, how much it will cost to make that in terms of overheads and sales costs. I know that some photographers will apply different rates for different work but I also know some who charge a flat fee regardless of the type of work. Horses for courses I guess :rolleyes:

thinktwice

VisionaryP wrote: »

Well I imagine if you've been a professional photographer 7 years, you have a full range of equipment and professional grade lenses, and that you know technically know your ****, so yeah, €150 is too little. Figure out your daily rate, then charge full day, half day or quarter day, depending how long it will take to shoot, edit and present to the client.

Ya have 5d, been working for a paper all that time and gradually doing my own stuff, so new jobs like this need a bit of thought on pricing! I know my stuff alright and have lenses too, photoshop, Apeture and Mac and mobile studio. That's a good idea on the day rate. I've seen other photographers with it so I'll work it out.

Thanks for all your help guys, was thinking it was too little but just needed the advice and you're all great to give it.

Tactical

thinktwice wrote: »

Total, too little isn't it! I'm grand with my wedding and portraits but this work is different for me so really not sure. And as I said on the other post I know the guy who asked which makes it a bit harder to price!

The guy who asked wants to make money from his work too!!

He's running a business, so are you. Doing favours doesn't put bread on the table I'm afraid. Its not personal, its business

VisionaryP

Have you shot this type of stuff before? It's not as easy as you may think. What lens are you planning to use? Depending on the kitchen, I would imagine you'll need to go very wide (12 to 16mm maybe), and that in itself can present big problems with regards to perspective, angles, distortion, etc. Also, have you planned how you're going to light the scenes? What are the surfaces like, are they reflective?

You might find that €150 worth of work is up before you even click a shutter.

Tactical

That's what I was thinking too when I mentioned time setting up and transferring from kitchen to kitchen.

150 defintely sounds too cheap for that amount of work and effort.

However of you can afford to work at that rate go for it.

pixbyjohn

A grand would be nearer the mark to charge to be honest. €1000. There is a huge amount of work in that project.

thinktwice

Tactical wrote: »

The guy who asked wants to make money from his work too!!

He's running a business, so are you. Doing favours doesn't put bread on the table I'm afraid. Its not personal, its business

Ya was thinking the same, must get a better business head, have always loved photography but should put a better value on my work.

thinktwice

Tactical wrote: »

The guy who asked wants to make money from his work too!!

He's running a business, so are you. Doing favours doesn't put bread on the table I'm afraid. Its not personal, its business

VisionaryP wrote: »

Have you shot this type of stuff before? It's not as easy as you may think. What lens are you planning to use? Depending on the kitchen, I would imagine you'll need to go very wide (12 to 16mm maybe), and that in itself can present big problems with regards to perspective, angles, distortion, etc. Also, have you planned how you're going to light the scenes? What are the surfaces like, are they reflective?

You might find that €150 worth of work is up before you even click a shutter.

No haven't done this work before, it sounds more complicated now that you mention it. I'll have to get more info from him before I commit and it'll give me a better idea for the price. Cheers.

Tactical

Its worth remembering that you can also hire in equipment if needed. Take into account enough time to familiarise yourself with it if you haven't used it before. Avoids a lot of wasted time on a shoot. I charge extra's like this at cost.

What's the location like? Is it a showroom, warehouse, clients houses? Remember everything will have to be absolutely spotless. Background could be a big issue if in a warehouse or showroom so you may need some background materials to avoid having to do some serious work in PP.

Definately get as much information as you can from the client, try and visit the location before hand too.

A shoot that is not normal run of the mill stuff can be exciting and challenging. Doing the homework first will usually pay off.

Let us know how the shoot goes and how the day worked out against what you anticipated.

Best of luck with the shoot

thinktwice

Tactical wrote: »

Its worth remembering that you can also hire in equipment if needed. Take into account enough time to familiarise yourself with it if you haven't used it before. Avoids a lot of wasted time on a shoot. I charge extra's like this at cost.

What's the location like? Is it a showroom, warehouse, clients houses? Remember everything will have to be absolutely spotless. Background could be a big issue if in a warehouse or showroom so you may need some background materials to avoid having to do some serious work in PP.

Definately get as much information as you can from the client, try and visit the location before hand too.

A shoot that is not normal run of the mill stuff can be exciting and challenging. Doing the homework first will usually pay off.

Let us know how the shoot goes and how the day worked out against what you anticipated.

Best of luck with the shoot

Thanks for the advice, I gave him a price of €300 for a half day 8 kitchens in same location 2 others near I'm told. Waiting to hear back as I told them an hourly rate of €50 thereafter. I don't mind if it seems too little at this stage it's another type of work for the portfolio and I'm hoping to get more commercial work from it (if I get it that is!). I'll keep ye posted!