John Patrick
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: Off
|
 p.1 #6 · Portrait Session Pricing | |
Erik Moore wrote:
I am a serious hobbyist just starting to be paid for my work. In researching industry practices, it seems most common for a photographer to charge a site fee + charge for prints for a portrait session.
There's a reason for this, and it isn't the film part.
To me, this seems like an antiquated pricing structure, rooted in the time of film, and before the internet. It seems to me that these days, more valuable than prints, are photos that can be emailed to grandparents and used in slideshows, blogs, digital frames, and as desktop wallpaper.
Low res, low res, low res, and low res. I don't see a need in any of those reasons for a digital file for it to be high res. You can add low-res images to the package if you want, but realize they may try to print them.
Also, in the age of digital photography, at least as much time (and usually more) is spent on post processing than on shooting and printing.
For non-studio shots, maybe. For studio shots, abso-freaking-lutely not! You should have minimal post-processing on studio shots, like cropping and maybe straightening (if not on tripod) only. No reason to color correct (you got the right custom white balance in the camera), no reason to dodge, burn, tweak exposure (as you lit it properly with your studio strobes, metered with a flash meter, and have the exposure within 2/10ths of a stop), no reason to clone something out.
If they had a bad complexion day and want a touch-up, that's additional. Maybe you throw in a PS touchup (limited to light usage of the healing brush, etc.) on a single image of their choosing as part of the package. But anything more is extra.
So it seems to me that rather than a pricing scheme on site fee + prints, it would be smarter to charge a flat fee for a shoot and a CD with 20 or so processed shots, for which the client gets full printing rights.
Well, a sitting fee should be your flat fee. Charge for prints vs charge for CD: Price each CD image at 5-10 times your print charge, then you're getting close. But you need to know WHY they need the digital file, so you can give them what they need. Giving them a 16-bit TIFF in Adobe RGB won't work if they're going to Target for printing. Likewise, an 8-bit JPG in sRGB might not be the best choice if they're using it in advertising (press-printed). Of course, if they're using it in advertising, you'll be charging a licensing fee, right?
I understand that there is also the issue of clients making prints themselves, and using their own printers or a crappy service, and then displaying your work on crappily printed media. Seems to me that this could be addressed with a simple request- "Please allow me to print or use this service that I trust for your prints, and please understand that the quality of the print reflects on the quality of my work".
And they'll ignore your request and go print off 4x6s at Walgreen's. I don't care what you recommend, they will get it as cheap as possible. One thing you can do if you want to allow them to print as many as they want for "at cost" rates, is upload the images to an online-lab that offers client viewing and printing, and then they can order to their heart's content. You've already screened the printing quality of the lab, so you know they're getting a print of the quality you want to best illustrate your work. They can print as little or as many as they want.
Those of you who are charging a shoot fee + prints- have you examined your pricing in the era of digital and the web? Is your scheme held over from the days of film? Did you choose your scheme simply because that's what many others were already doing? Or have you examined/tried more "modern" alternatives, and found that the old way is still the best?
Perhaps I am being naive. I am pretty new at this. I don't have my pricing scheme down yet, but I need to get it figured out, as I am getting requests for portrait sessions weekly now.
Again, I apologize if this has been covered ad nauseam. I really did try to search and find previous threads on the topic.
...Show more →
Print vs CD has been argued here and elsewhere countless times.
One thing you can do if you still want to provide prints is only shoot clients who want the real big prints. I read an article about a guy who only shoots clients who want the old-fashioned wall portrait: 24x30 or larger. They get that in canvas, and sell 8x10s to the client for gifts to relatives.
John
|
I only charge $30 for an 8x10, was going to up that, but in this economy, I think I'll not do a rate change for 2009, and market on that as a plus!!