What do photographers charge?

[darklord]

How do you price your work? Did I come close to what would be reasonable (they loved the images BTW and didn't bat an eyelid at the price). I’m sure some of you experienced photographers would have some valuable input here...

I once heard charge whatever you can with a straight face and that's the price you are worth.


Whether you have to do this to feed your kids or how much you think your time and talent are worth are inconsequential. For only the end results count and they are worth what the market think they are worth.


All these commodity vs arts debates are just talks. Give me a chance and I would happily charge you $5K for 4 hours of work. But no one will hire me for $5K, they might hire Yervant for $5K and think that's the bargain of the century.


So what I think of myself is perhaps the least important factor in determining my pricing. What other think of ME is the most important factor, especially in this saturated market we call photography.

[Daniel Browning]

So what I think of myself is perhaps the least important factor in determining my pricing. What other think of ME is the most important factor, especially in this saturated market we call photography.

For me it's the opposite. 90% of projects are farbelow the minimum compensation I would accept, so they don't affect my pricing at all. Very rarely, a customer will think I'm worth more than I do, and in that case I would increase my price. If I determined my pricing based on craigslist alone, I would have to set it at about $2/hour (averaging the many "free" requests with the few $10/hour ones).


In my case, what I think of myself is the most important factor in my pricing.

[William]

Wow, some great replies here!