# Photoshoot Price Question



## socalboh (Sep 24, 2012)

Hello all, I haven't spent much time on this forum. I'll start by saying I've been in the Photography world for the past 3-4years but recently have been getting my name built up in my area as well as my portfolio. I've done some work for pay (weddings, portraits, breaking news, vehicle shoots) but I've recently been approached to do a photoshoot with 7 vehicles for prints that will be hung in a local bar/restaurant that will be opening soon. I'm having a hard time trying to figure out a price quote for them. All 7 vehicles will most likely all be shot at the same location. I like to charge around $125-$175 for each shoot, that's about 1hr shooting time plus editing and with 2 8x10's. Since it will be used for a business to promote their restaurant I was thinking the price should be brought up a little.. Maybe around $1,000 + price for prints.. Would like to get some feed back from all of you please.. Thank you!


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## tirediron (Sep 24, 2012)

A search of the forum would have revealed literally thousands of amost identical "what do I charge" questions, and to each, the answer is almost identical.  It's virtually impossible for someone else to tell you what to charge.  You need to calculate your cost of doing business (CODB), factoring in everything from licensing and insurance to fuel and equipment replacement, as well as your salary for the time.  That will determine your cost for the shoot itself.  The prints are another matter altogether; you're not actually going to sell those, you're going to license their use to the restaurant.  That pricing is based on size of print, length of use, whether exclusive or non-exclusive and how much traffic the restaurant will see.

FWIW, I would GUESS-timate that my charges for this would be in the $100-200 range per car, and licensing based on a 16x20 print $2-500/year.


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## jaicatalano (Sep 24, 2012)

You must do what you feel comfortable. I did a photo shoot with a multi millionaire. The shoot overlooked Central Park. I quoted him my normal fee because I didn't judge him by his financial status. He has since used me 2 other times. Besides my work being good I charge with what makes me feel comfortable. Go with what you think will work best for you.


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## cgipson1 (Sep 24, 2012)

What Tirediron said! CODB! (what does it cost you to stay in business? Insurance, business license, equipment depreciation, TAXES!!! You do pay taxes on your earning right? If not, be careful, if your clients report this as an expense, the IRS will be very interested in you!)


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## amolitor (Sep 24, 2012)

tirediron said:


> A search of the forum would have revealed literally thousands of amost identical "what do I charge" questions, and to each, the answer is almost identical.  It's virtually impossible for someone else to tell you what to charge.  You need to calculate your cost of doing business (CODB), factoring in everything from licensing and insurance to fuel and equipment replacement, as well as your salary for the time.  That will determine your cost for the shoot itself.  The prints are another matter altogether; you're not actually going to sell those, you're going to license their use to the restaurant.  That pricing is based on size of print, length of use, whether exclusive or non-exclusive and how much traffic the restaurant will see.
> 
> FWIW, I would GUESS-timate that my charges for this would be in the $100-200 range per car, and licensing based on a 16x20 print $2-500/year.



This is one of those things where this is definitely a TPF-orthodox answer (quoted above), which is definitely not the whole story.

Getting a handle on what it costs you to do a shoot is certainly important and valuable. That's a lower bound number for you, and tells you what you should not charge less than without good reason.

This is NOT the whole story on pricing, ESPECIALLY not for luxury goods like photography. These sorts of things are normally priced on on a value-based model, where you make some effort to sort out what it's worth to the customer. For luxury goods, that's pretty hard to get a handle on, but a good start is finding out what other people are charging and paying for similar work for similar clients. Then you determine if that number is larger or smaller than your actual cost -- if it's smaller, pass on the deal, also, what on earth kind of photography is this? microstock?

If the number is bigger, then you make adjustments for various factors like whether this is client is likely to be a repeat or a referral, and if so whether raising or lowering the price will get you the repeat/referrals. Also you adjust for the quality of work you think you can provide, and any specifics of the case that make it harder or easier.

Asking around on an internet forum for pricing data isn't going to give you the best quality data, but it's not a bad starting point as long as you don't ask on TPF where the community has decided that that's a dumb question.


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## KmH (Sep 24, 2012)

If it were me I would plan on 1 very long day to shoot 7 cars at an outdoor location. Actually, I don't think I could do on location photographic justice to 7 cars in just one day. I would be more inclined to only shoot 2 cars a day. One car in the morning, and 1 car in the evening. Mid-day light often includes light quality issues.

The day (or days) would include the time it takes to prepare, load, and move all my gear to the shoot location, set up, shoot, tear down, load and move all my gear back to my studio. Shooting inside eliminates a lot of logistical, lighting, and timing variables.

A big issue is that you've only got about 12 hours of sunlight per day in Oxnard right now, and it is getting shorter by the day. Another consideration is how high above the horizon the Sun will be at any given time during the day, making the shooting location choice a critical factor. In others words the light in each of the 7 car photos will likely be different, and the cars will need to be 'posed' differently to account for the changing position of the Sun in the sky throughout the day.
Sunrise and Sunset for U.S.A. &#8211; California &#8211; Oxnard &#8211; coming days

So you really should add in some location scouting time too. Figure a day for location scouting.

You don't mention if you're planning on using any assistants, to rent gear like lighting, reflectors, a generator, or provide creature comforts for the car owners like shade, catering, beverages, etc.

But for the pricing of commercial assignment photography, many use pricing software like fotoQuote Pro 6.

You might visit www.ASMP.org and click on *Business Resources*.


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## 12sndsgood (Sep 24, 2012)

Correct me I I'm wrong but you said you charge up to $175 a car for a photoshooot. Them say u want to up the charge to a $1000.  That is less then 7 cars at $175.  Charge him your going rate and depending on the shoot maybe try and squeeze two un at a time depending on logistics.  Likely all 7 cars at the same location is going to wind up with similar  results where as seperate locations will wind up with more dynamic shots.


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## socalboh (Sep 24, 2012)

Well thank you all for giving some info. I was in a rush last night that is why I never searched for this question, I am sorry. I was thinking $1,000 just to give a little discount but now after reading what all of you have to say I will be rethinking everything out. The lighting will change for every car and I think I will be spreading this out to multiple days. Thank you everyone, Sorry for being a newbie..


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