Photo Shoot Rate

In a post back in May (2009) Daniel Browning said that two things determine the rate of a photo shoot. Those being: "how much your time is worth to you and how much your time is worth to the customer." He continued to say "the price you charge should fall between those two points."


My friend was doing research for her boss and asked me how much for professional headshots for three people (three poses each). And then in addition to the headshots she wants group shots. I told her $250 plus travel (because round trip it would be over 100 miles). What do you think of the rate?

Man let me tell you, this is a tough question here in central Florida. There are so many people shooting around here and most of them are giving it away for next to nothing. We have so many people doing stuff for $25-$50 or something, then when I tell someone I want $350 for the better part of day, they look at me like I'm a crook. On the other end of the spectrum, there are guys charging $2500 for a days shoot. So it so scary to even tell people what you charge. You don't know if they are going to freak because you're too high or they aren't going to take you seriously because you don't charge as much as Mr. Superphotog.


I read an article about how under cutting is destroying the industry. So true.

Agree with you Keith, but to some photographers out there I am the one price undercutting with a rate of $250. So I guess it is all relative.

There's no rightanswer on pricing. I'm constantly changing sale offers, discounts and offerings to fit what customers seem to want. I can give you some basics for the DFW area.


I try to estimate my time at the actual shoot and get about $150 / hour that I'm shooting. If I'm shooting senior portraits close to home, I figure onehour worth of shooting and charge a $150 sitting fee. For simple portraits in the studio, I estimate about 30 minutes and charge a $75 sitting fee.


My prints run from $3.99 for a 4x6 to around $50.00 for 24x36 enlargements. When a customer exceeds $300 with an order I start applying a discount to the prints.


Using this method, senior portraits usually gross in the $400-$600 range. A quick studio session with prints usually generates $200 in revenue. Weddings always require a custom quote and usuallyrange from $600 for the ceremony to $1,800 or so for a package including engagement, bridal portrait, wedding and reception.


You can do absolutely nothing but make yourself sick worrying about the folks that will undercut your prices. There are 3 photography studios in the mall closest to me and they are in a price war from hell. Last week I saw one of them advertising a studio session with one 8x10 print for $3.99. [:O] I guess they hope to make it up in volume.


Hope this helps...

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Originally Posted by powers_brent

What do you think of the rate?

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If it works for you and the client, then it's great.


The 2010 mileage rate is $0.50/mile, so that will be another $50 ($300) to cover the travel expense. If you calculate out the hours:

• 2 hours traveling
• 2 hours set up and shooting
• 2 hours post processing and delivery
  

That's $50/hour. Or you could spend 3 hours shooting and 5 hours processing and come out at $30/hour. Either of those would be sensible to me. When people go below $15/hour I start to wonder about their sanity, but it's still their prerogative.


As Dallasphotog said, some customers would balk at $250 because they expect everything for free (they even have the attitude that they are doing you a favor by letting you take their picture). Others would balk at it because they expect good photographers to charge four digits just to get out of bed. The biggest variable is the customer.

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Originally Posted by Dallasphotog

You can do absolutely nothing but make yourself sick worrying about the folks that will undercut your prices. There are 3 photography studios in the mall closest to me and they are in a price war from hell. Last week I saw one of them advertising a studio session with one 8x10 print for $3.99. [img]/emoticons/emotion-3.gif[/img] I guess they hope to make it up in volume.

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I work at a studio in Target (It's better than washing dishes). They do a "just come in and you get a free 8x10 and no sitting fee!" deal.. I had a walk in the other week that got just that. No revenue whatsoever. Part of me died that day.. They also do the $3.99 "traditional sheets" where every sheet that is straight out of camera be it 1 8x10, 2 5x7's, or whatever is only $3.99. The rest of me died when I saw that.


As for personal pricing, I'm one of the undercutting jerks (being new and only a senior in high school, it didn't feel right to come out first-year-shooting with a three digit sitting fee). I won't tell you my sitting fee here for fear of persecution haha :X My print prices are in line with a Target studio though. On average, I'm grossing about $150-$200 per senior shoot. Am I correct in saying, "not bad for a first year photog still in my age group." ?

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Originally Posted by Rodger

it didn't feel right to come out first-year-shooting with a three digit sitting fee).

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But if you have spent the money on gear and have the know-how to use that gear efficiently why is there something wrong charging three-digit sitting fees?





Every other point brought up I completely agree with. But at least for this shoot, I will only be providing the images on a DVD, so I am not even thinking about print prices.