Charging for digital photos

I am preparing to make the transition from film to digital for my

commercial work, which is mostly event photography. A typical event,

e.g., a conference on saving the whales, involves shooting three rolls

of film and developing and scanning same, and these processes are

marked up and add to the profit per job.

 

My question is, is there an analogy to this in the digital world,

i.e., do people commonly charge a set amount for a digital "roll" of

40 pictures, or does the markup typically come in the form of the cost

for the CD or some other?

 

Secondly, and more importantly, for people who mark up the final print

prices, which I assume includes most photographers, do you keep

"ownership" of the high-res images and only give out low-res proofs or

contact sheets? Or do people typically find it easier to charge more

for doing the job and then simply hand over a few CDs worth of

high-res images?

 

Please no posts saying "it depends." I know it depends; I'm trying to

get a sense of business norms.

 

Thanks much...

Using common math, do you expect your 'digital' camera to perform for 100 functions or events? You should be able to divide the cost of your camera by 100; then add that to the cost of the prints. Plus you have to be able to 'figure' how much your time is worth. You have to get to the event, so some transportation cost is involved, plus you have to deliver the images to your customer.

 

 

 

You may be ahead of the game by sitting down and writing a simple business plan. That way you can see what expenses are involved.....

I charge based on the number ofcaptures per assignment, based roughly on what i

charge(d) for film+ development+ pmark up (100% over my costs. So far no client has

nhad a problem with that. They understand that there is a lot of work invested in getting

the photos from the camera to their desktop (editing, color balancing, etc.), and that the

equipemtn costs something too and needsto be paid for before more quickly than film

equipment. if they have a problem with a per iamge charge than I call it a digital capture

.procesing fee.

 

Anyone who gives their services away (in a commercial setting) is an idiot.

Tell an old architect that uses manual drafting and vellum that you will pay for the vellum used; as the fee for him to design your next house.

charging for time is what seems most common among digital users.....so whats your time worth? day rates can be anywhere from 150-1000$ a day, depending on what youre doing, and where you live..

<i>Anyone who gives their services away (in a commercial setting) is an idiot</i>

 

<br>

<br>

this is common practice among many and most publications....get used to it if you wanna work FOR someone else....