# Price to charge for a beginner??



## flyphotos (Jan 29, 2010)

:meh:


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## gsgary (Jan 29, 2010)

You don't have the equipment to do the shoot


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## gsgary (Jan 29, 2010)

In that case as much as you think you can get away with


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## TJ K (Jan 29, 2010)

$56.37


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## gsgary (Jan 29, 2010)

$56.38


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## Dominantly (Jan 29, 2010)

A happy meal combo with a large coke.


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## Derrel (Jan 29, 2010)

I'd tell them your Day Rate is normally $900 per day, and if need be, allow them to bargain you down to no less than $650 per day. That's in no way exorbitant. If you were a "real photographer" (in air quotes, no insult intended) doing small product commercial on a 31-item job you'd be billing at least $4,000 or so, but these people are probably small potatos, so inferring several things about you, your client, etc, I think you ought to start with the $900 day rate quote,and proceed from there.

Do not under-sell yourself.


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## RauschPhotography (Jan 29, 2010)

Derrel said:


> I'd tell them your Day Rate is normally $900 per day, and if need be, allow them to bargain you down to no less than $650 per day. That's in no way exorbitant. If you were a "real photographer" (in air quotes, no insult intended) doing small product commercial on a 31-item job you'd be billing at least $4,000 or so, but these people are probably small potatos, so inferring several things about you, your client, etc, I think you ought to start with the $900 day rate quote,and proceed from there.
> 
> Do not under-sell yourself.



I mean no offense what so ever, but for someone who just started doing paid photography and with the list of equipment... The standard price is highway robbery.


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## Ron Evers (Jan 29, 2010)

RauschPhotography said:


> Derrel said:
> 
> 
> > I'd tell them your Day Rate is normally $900 per day, and if need be, allow them to bargain you down to no less than $650 per day. That's in no way exorbitant. If you were a "real photographer" (in air quotes, no insult intended) doing small product commercial on a 31-item job you'd be billing at least $4,000 or so, but these people are probably small potatos, so inferring several things about you, your client, etc, I think you ought to start with the $900 day rate quote,and proceed from there.
> ...




Equipment is not the criteria, what is produced by the equipment is.  

We are not privileged with photographic examples of the finished product to judge the value of work.


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## flyphotos (Jan 29, 2010)

-


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## Dominantly (Jan 29, 2010)

I don't believe solely in that jive.
It is about the equipment, and it is about the skill.


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## ChasK (Jan 29, 2010)

If you believe you have the tools and the skills to do the job, do it and don't let anyone talk  you out of it.  You'll gain valuable experience.  Be sure you put your big girl panties on and be prepared to see it all the way through.  Remember whatever you charge will never be enough.  My experience tells me that these types who don't want to pay full price and seek out a cut rate deal will never be satisfied with the finished product.  When money's on the line friends aren't so friendly and snap shots won't be good enough.  They're expecting work that rivals Gucci's photographer, and he/she didn't work for $900 a day.  If you can finish in less than 10 hours I'd be amazed!  I could be wrong, but let us know what happens.


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## Live_free (Jan 29, 2010)

I looked at the photo's and if that is what they want they MUST be a small place. All of those photo's look like garbo. Basically looks like the camera was on auto with pop-up flash and natural light. If that is what you are looking for you can just close your eyes and take better pictures.


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## c.cloudwalker (Jan 29, 2010)

Ron Evers said:


> Equipment is not the criteria, what is produced by the equipment is.



+1

If you know your gear and it's limitations, you can get great shots by working around the limitations. If it was a question of gear, I never would have worked as a PJ since I never owned "pro" gear.

When I got my first strobes, I learned to use them by replicating photos from top names in the commercial world. Imagine that, I was producing the same shots for a 10th of the cost of those top dogs. 

I would be much more worried about the poster's technical abilities and general business sense than the gear. The fact that he is asking here about what to charge, makes me wonder


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## flyphotos (Jan 29, 2010)

If someone wanted you to take pictures of 31 items(10 shots of each) 310 quality shots for $2.50 in 5 hours. What would you tell them?


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## jackieclayton (Jan 29, 2010)

do you have a portfolio or a blog or something that we can see your work?  Then maybe we can get a better idea of how much you're worth in the customer's point of view.  After all... (and its true for everything, especially these days)  ...its only worth what someone is willing to pay...


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## Actor (Jan 29, 2010)

A reasonable entry level pay rate for a person with a technical skill is $25 per hour.  Multiply this by 1.5 to adjust for the higher than national average cost of living in the Los Angeles area = $37.50/hr.  Multiply this by the actual time you spend on the assignment.  Don't forget to include time spent off-site doing processing, preparation, whatever.  To this cost add your actual costs such as film, processing, printing, whatever.  Don't forget to include transportation costs; if you are driving your own vehicle this should be $0.50 per mile.


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## jackieclayton (Jan 29, 2010)

Ron Evers said:


> RauschPhotography said:
> 
> 
> > Derrel said:
> ...



big ditto :thumbup:


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## jackieclayton (Jan 29, 2010)

flyphotos said:


> If someone wanted you to take pictures of 31 items(10 shots of each) 310 quality shots for $2.50 in 5 hours. What would you tell them?



i don't get what you're asking... they offered to pay you $2.50 per hour or per photo?  you just spent 5 hours of your day (not including the time and resources it takes to get over there) for about $10??? I hope its not per hour... if its per photo... thats about $800, which is good.  remember they are not only paying for your talent and skill, but also your equipment your using.


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## flyphotos (Jan 29, 2010)

$2.50 per item not including 10 shots of each item.

31 items x $2.50 = $77.50 for 310 shot??

Not enough, even for someone whose never done paid work??


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## KmH (Jan 29, 2010)

flyphotos said:


> $2.50 per item not including 10 shots of each item.
> 
> 31 items x $2.50 = $77.50 for 310 shot??
> 
> Not enough, even for an amateur photographer??


That's to much for an amateur, since amateurs do it for free.

If you're going to do it for money, do it for money.

Day rate is one way. Charging a Creative fee plus a Use License for each photo, or set of photos is another.

You can explore use licensing at www.asmp.org. Click on 'Business Resources' on the left side of the page.

Get a couple of books:

*Professional Business Practices in Photography* by the ASMP

*Best Business Practices for Photographers* by John Harrington www.johnharrington.com


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## AG74683 (Jan 29, 2010)

If this is still a hobby for you, then do it for the price of gas there and back to your place, and perhaps lunch.

If you feel like you want to make this a business, then start small. Dont charge as a professional quite yet.


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## AlbertoDeRoma (Jan 29, 2010)

flyphotos said:


> I live in Los Angeles. I just started taking pictures for pay. I'm not a professional, but I can take quality shot. I have to go to their place use my equipment. How much should I charge per item as in apparel photography? Shoes, handbags, etc??
> 
> Example 31 items, 10 shots per item in 5 hours.
> 
> ...



I'd charge a relatively low fee in exchange for references.  The latter will be worth to you much more than the former - assuming you do a good job.

Alberto


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## koolme007 (Oct 19, 2010)

so im a beginner in photography and i was wondering how much should i charge my friend . she asked if i could take pictures for her 10th year high school reunion.


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## KmH (Oct 20, 2010)

You should have started a new thread. This one died 9 months ago. 

You don't give anywhere near enough information for anyone else to say what you might charge.


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## ghache (Oct 20, 2010)

koolme007 said:


> so im a beginner in photography and i was wondering how much should i charge my friend . she asked if i could take pictures for her 10th year high school reunion.


 


dont do it. ****in run


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## Rekd (Oct 20, 2010)

flyphotos said:


> :meh:



Ermmm, 

What did you guys do to the OP? All his/her posts from the first page are gone. Did you guys make another n00bie cry and delete all their posts???


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## bigtwinky (Oct 20, 2010)

Looks like, and for once, I wasnt involved lol


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## pgriz (Oct 22, 2010)

We've been getting a lot of spam lately.  One way to find out if the "new" poster is legit is to see how many other posts they did.  If you see several posts scattered in various forums and all within a few seconds of each other, then you know the answer.  Real people don't (usually) behave in this manner.


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## KmH (Oct 22, 2010)

How can it be spam, if they don't have a link anywhere in their post. :scratch:


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## pgriz (Oct 22, 2010)

KmH said:


> How can it be spam, if they don't have a link anywhere in their post. :scratch:


 
Well, you could be right, but I've seen quite a few new posts, where the "person" asks the same question in several subforums, with little attempt to mesh their question with whatever the thread discussion was about.  When you look at the posting times, they are often just seconds apart.  So we either have a keener with a very short attention span, or we have something else.


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