# What do you charge for photographs/copyright release?



## Shadowwolf2008 (Oct 28, 2013)

Basically I want to get an idea of what everyone charges for photographs and a copyright release. I want to get an idea on what I should charge.


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## texkam (Oct 28, 2013)

$2000


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## DougGrigg (Oct 28, 2013)

£75 per hour. personal studio shoot. (including around 20 6x4 printouts on high quality paper)
£50 editing fee (10 images)

On location shoots incur extra fees.

weddings range from £300(484USD) - £2000 (3231USD)

Copyright release will range from partial copyright release for a time period or for a permanent release, prices range for me.


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## rexbobcat (Oct 28, 2013)

A bazillion dollars.

Seriously though I mostly shoot photos for college friends so I don't charge much. 

Like $100-175 depending on what they want. I am the problem of the industry.


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## KmH (Oct 28, 2013)

Be careful using the words "copyright release". You could wind up not owning the photos you make.

I suspect you mean a Use License, which is often termed a Print Release by retail photographers.

A use license/print release is like a rental agreement. You still own the photos (copyright), but allow some other entity to use your photo in some way.
For retail photography the usage is usually a personal use and the use license/print release does not allow any commercial usage.

How much you charge for photos has to based on an amount that lets you pay your business expenses. So step 1 is to determine what your Cost Of Doing Business (CODB) is.

Other photographers will have a different CODB from yours so their pricing structure would not necessarily work for you.
Yet another pricing consideration is the client demographic you direct your marketing to.

It may help to realize that having paying a photographer to take pictures is a luxury expenditure.

There are several different pricing models.
Loss leader
A La Carte
Sitting fee with a print credit
Packages, plus the sitting fee.
By the sheet
By the pose
The list goes on....
Or some combination of them all.

Prints are usually priced by size, in so far that as prints get larger so does the price.
Prints can be made on different media too, like c-print photo paper, metallic c-print photo paper, inkjet paper, inkjet fine art photo paper, canvas, acrylic, aluminum, etc.

So an 8x10 on regular c-print paper would cost less than the same photo on 8x10 metallic c-print paper, and the same photo printed on an 8x10 canvas would cost more than an 8x10 print on the metallic paper.

For digital image files on a CD/DVD many retail photographers require a minimum purchase before clients qualify to buy a disc of images.
Since digital images on a disc can be printed by the client at many different sizes, an average price is often charged for each digital photo file, say $20 to $50 per image file.


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## orljustin (Oct 28, 2013)

Shadowwolf2008 said:


> Basically I want to get an idea of what everyone charges for photographs and a copyright release. I want to get an idea on what I should charge.



Between free and a million dollars.  Google 'copyright release' to know what you are asking.


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## Shadowwolf2008 (Oct 28, 2013)

I already have a forum. I mean like a basic release were they can print the photographs at walmart. I do not grant any permission to alter the photographs


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## orljustin (Oct 29, 2013)

Shadowwolf2008 said:


> I already have a forum. I mean like a basic release were they can print the photographs at walmart. I do not grant any permission to alter the photographs



Oh, a "basic release".  

You were already told the correct terminology, but you didn't use it.  BTW, nobody cares if you "grant any permission" to alter a photograph.  If soccer mom wants to desaturate an image or crop it to put it on FB, they will.


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## ronlane (Oct 29, 2013)

KmH said:


> Be careful using the words "copyright release". You could wind up not owning the photos you make.
> 
> I suspect you mean a Use License, which is often termed a Print Release by retail photographers.
> 
> ...




^^^^This. Ultimately, you can charge whatever you want or at least what people are willing to pay for, but to do it correctly takes some work on your part.


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## pixmedic (Oct 29, 2013)

rexbobcat said:


> A bazillion dollars.
> 
> Seriously though I mostly shoot photos for college friends so I don't charge much.
> 
> Like $100-175 depending on what they want. I am the problem of the industry.



your not a problem of the industry. 
The problem of the industry is the people that think YOU are the problem of the industry. 
people that only have $100 to spend on photographs cant afford the "pros", and if the "pros" wont shoot for $100, then you are not taking any business from them.
you are simply filling a part of the photography market that those other people wont fill. Its just business, don't feel bad about it.


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