CD pricing

I am just starting out and have about 6 potential weddings coming up. One of

the brides wants 4 CDs/DVDs with her photos. I am just wondering what to

charge. I will still post some online for the guest to buy and maybe the bride

will buy large prints from me.

 

Do you charge one flat rate and the a lower "copies" rate? I have no idea what

to charge for them to OWN my photos.

 

Thanks

If you want to make sure she doesn't make any prints larger than 8x12 don't let her have any files bigger than 1500x1000 - You really shouldn't sell her any files larger than 640x425 (email size) - If you want to sell her the files on CD/DVD then charge her for shooting the wedding - $600~$1000 and then charge her $400 for the first CD/DVD. If she wants more copies after that- I don't know maybe $50 a copy? She'll probably only buy one 1 copy of the CD/DVD and then dupe it herself. But selling files to a bride (like selling negatives) leaves you sliding down a slippery slope - not a good thing to do... and not considered the right thing to do in professional wedding photography.

Jamie, I don't want to make this answer complicated, but I don't want to oversimplify it

either. The fact is, you need to decide what all of the time and effort you put into this is

worth if they end up never ordering prints from you. And you need to decide if that price

would be enough to sustain you if someone else expected the same pricing.

 

Here are some things to think about when deciding on how to price and handle giving

your files on disk...

 

http://photolovecat.blogspot.com/2007/07/protect-your-rights-when-giving-files.html

 

http://photolovecat.blogspot.com/2007/03/pricing.html

If you want to actually register your files to copyright the form- "VA" from the Library of Congress is:

 

http://www.copyright.gov/forms/formvai.pdf

 

and the filing fee is:

 

http://www.copyright.gov/docs/fees.html

 

basically the way it works is you burn all your files to CD or DVD - however many files - however many CDs or DVDs and then burn a 2nd set - fill out the form and print it out and mail it with both sets of the discs with $45 or you can do it online for $35

 

Remember this! - If you were hired to take the photos- wedding, portrait, commercial, etc.. then it is a "work for hire" and you list the person who hired you on the copyright form as they have rights to the images as well.

Jack, you might be hired to take photos at a wedding but don't most contracts give copyright to the photographer?

How about charging her a per file price? Let her pick the photos she wants on CD. Emphasize that you are also selling the rights to reproduce if she balks at the price.

 

And has been mentioned, nothing wrong with selling a CD. Just price yourself high enough to make it worthwhile. In fact, using a CD to justify a higher price saves the trouble of fulfilling print orders.

 

If you find the price does not sustain you, raise your rates.

Luongo- Images that are shot "for hire" are protected differently than those that are just created by the photographer. Yes you still own the rights to the "for hire" images but you can't use them for commercial purposes unless you have a model release from the people in the images- of course this can apply to other images as well.

 

You're on the right track about selling digital files like re-prints. I think this is going to be the "best" way in the end. Maybe each file for what you'd charge for an 11x14?? I like the sound of that. Of course that doesn't really address the "usage rights" of the image ;-)