Pricing for E-Commerce Photography

<p>I have recently received a few inquiries about photographing clothing and accessories for some local boutiques. One shop has asked me to shoot between 20-24 outfits (dresses and tops), and possibly a number of accessories as well. It sounds as though the clothing and accessories would be photographed on different days. They want the work completed in their store, which is about 20 miles from me, and are asking for medium-sized jpegs straight from camera. The images will be for use on their website, and not for advertising or print of any kind.</p>

<p>Photography is only a part-time job for me at this point, and my "day job" is in residential construction and woodworking. I'd love to make the jump to photography full-time at some point, but have yet to see how it could provide a sustainable income for me. Pricing the various types of work is somewhat a mystery to me. When I attempt to calculate the charges for travel, shooting, and material costs I often end up with a high figure that causes people's jaws to drop. I know there are plenty of less experienced photographers out there working for next to nothing, and I suppose I have yet to connect with the right kind of clientele. </p>

<p>As to my level of experience - I have a solid understanding of photography and own professional gear: 2 Nikon bodies (D800/primary & D200/backup), 24-70 f/2.8G, 85mm f/1.4D, and a Sigma 50mm f/1.4. I have a good deal of studio equipment as well: several Paul Buff strobes, various modifiers, grip, etc. I'm not someone who just bought my first camera a few weeks ago. I'm confident in my ability to produce high-quality work for these individuals. </p>

<p>So...basically I'd just like to hear what a common approach may be for pricing this type of work. I'm currently thinking of quoting a flat fee for travel and setup ($150-$200 ?), and charge hourly ($18-$20 ?) for the shooting and any editing. The nagging voice inside my head is telling me even this is too low.<br>

Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks!</p>

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<p>I'd charge a day rate, with a half day minimum. Around here (Silicon Valley) 20 miles isn't worth charging for. I suspect this will take multiple days, depending on how organized they are, and how picky they become.<br>

I suggest shooting tethered to a laptop so the client can see and approve the shot immediately. I suggest having at least one assistant dedicated to keeping stuff flowing, so you're shooting not running stuff down.<br>

Shooting in a store isn't going to be easy, not only will you have space constraints, you will likely have to deal with mixed lighting. Strobes and store fluorescent lighting don't play nice together.<br>

So, this isn't going to be a piece of cake. Don't charge like it is. Around here this would be a $1200-$2500 job for a pro with his own lighting, backgrounds, and grip gear.<br>

<Chas><br /><br /></p>

 

<p>$18 - $20 an hour? <em>"The nagging voice inside my head is telling me even this is too low."</em><br>

I would listen to that nagging voice in your head. I recommend that you sit down and determine how much it costs you to provide your services to a client. You also need to determine what others are getting in your area for the same services. From those numbers you can determine a more realistic hourly rate - I suspect most likely in the neighborhood of $100 an hour.</p>

<p>$18-20 <em>is</em> too low. By a factor of 10, at least. For location work, finished results delivered on the spot? $150 hour, at least. You've gotta pay for the gear, taxes, and the rest. If you charge $20, you're really working for well less than minimum wage.</p>

<p>I am not a professional, but I have some experience on both sides of this.</p>

<p>For location work, it is usually best to charge hourly for on-site work only. The editing should be absorbed into this rate (as well as gear, taxes, etc). The client may not comprehend what is involved in editing, or they may try to get you to give them unedited images and edit themselves. You also need some type of minimum, like a half day, this would include reasonable travel.</p>

<p>If you run over your estimate, then decide who was at fault, if it was you because you had equipment problems, then stick with your estimate. If it was the clients fault, because they were completely unorganized and didn't bring you items in a timely fashion, then charge them for the excess.</p>

<p>If you are not experienced in this type of work, then you should go as low as necessary to get your foot in the door and build a portfolio. </p>

<p>Besides the cost, the next thing that screams at me about your post is BACKGROUND. Are you bringing the background? The client may think they have a suitable background, but it may be lousy.</p>

 

<p>$18 an hour?<br>

If you are as competent as you let on, you might want to add at least one zero for shooting time. </p>

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<p>$18-20 <em>is</em> too low. By a factor of 10, at least. For location work, finished results delivered on the spot? $150 hour, at least. You've gotta pay for the gear, taxes, and the rest. If you charge $20, you're really working for well less than minimum wage.</p>

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<p>No, for that amount, you're paying <em>them</em> to work for them.<br>

Agree on a half-day rate, but somewhere north of $100 / hr is your starting point, and probably north of twice that. They're paying for your time and skill; you may not have to post-process in LR, but you will have to edit/process in-camera to give them what they want. That skill is what they're paying for.</p>

<p>Dont' know your area, but here in Washington, D.C., the going rate for event photography -- walking around a cocktail party shooting people schmoozing, photographing a speech, covering a congressional hearing or news conference -- is around $150 an hour. That is very straightforward shooting, and sometimes you can hand over jpgs on-site, take your check home and be done. What you are talking about is much more challenging shooting. Unless you have done this day in and day out, you probably wont' be creating jpgs straight out of the camera -- you will want to shoot raw and will probably need post-processing time after the shoot.<br />Your rate for shooting has to take into consideration all the thinking/prep time that the clients don't get billed for directly, post-processing time, the cost of your gear and the cost of your talent. <br />I would charge a minimum $150 an hour. You can calculcate how many hours it will take, but I would charge a minimu half-day for each day you are there. And setup time would be billable at $150 since it's part of the work when they insist that you come on location.<br />I would not charge for travel for anything less than a couple hours away.</p>

<p>From a creative perspective, what are they looking for? Are they planning on providing models/hair/makeup? Or are they just looking for you to take shots of their stuff on hangers? Why shoot at the store?</p>

<p>If they don't want to have models wearing the clothes, it would be way, way easier to have them give you all the stuff and you take shots in whatever studio environment you have or can cobble together. If they do want models, do they want the models isolated against a white background (back to the studio) or do they want environmental shots? Either way, the store seems like an odd place for the shoot.</p>

<p>My recommendation is to have them show you some examples of similar on-line catalogs that they would like you to emulate. You will be in a better position to plan the shoot and come up with your pricing.</p>