Pricing

[schmuy]

I just shot my cousin's wedding as a second photographer (unpaid). She is now

looking at buying some images off me and I would like to charge her a fair rate

but also make sure my editing time is accounted for. I do not shoot weddings

professionally, and photography is just a hobby so I don't really know where to

start.

 

 

These are the costs of getting prints done:

4x6" $0.50 each

5x7" $1.50 each

8x10" $6.00 each

12x18" $15.00 each

(prices decrease on quantity printed)

 

 

I was thinking of charging the following to my cousin:

4x6" $1.00 each

5x7" $3.00 each

8x10" $15.00 each

12x18" $40.00 each

 

DVDs (image files only, jpg format,unlimited images)

-without rights to print (watermarked images)- $25

-with rights to print (no watermark) $50 (more?)

 

 

Please comment on this. I am really unsure of how to deal with the

copyrighting/pricing on DVDs. What options do I have. I realize this is

family but i would still like to protect myself and compensate a little for my

time. I guess part of the irony with the DVD is that if I were to watermark the

images its more work for me and i'm charging less for that disk.

 

 

What to do???

 

Thanks in advance,

Bryan

[joey_grob1]

quit your dayjob and wait.... you'll know what to charge.!!!..:)

How much do you need to make ? how many can you sell ??

Maybe for example you want a SB800 ($400) and think you can sell 100 prints .... $4 is the price you need ... the next wedding you shoot with the new flash is so good you can sell 200 prints at $4 and afford a fast lens.... NeXT THING YOU KNOW you're financing 2 bodies, 4 lenses, a mean computer, 2 cars and an average house on a half acre....

 

just figure out what it takes to make a decent living and make budgets... if you're gonna be a rockstar, it'll happen :)

 

joey

[steve_levine]

It's your cousin, give it as gift, and hope it's good enough that she shows it, and refers you.

[david_schilling___chicago_]

Geeeez....this is your cousin??? Give the files to her and offer to help by referring her to a good local lab. Save watermarking and price questions for later if you get pro experience and training.

[dzeanah]

Gift it. No question. If you're going to do the work then offer it at cost.

[dave_thielen]

And what about the guy that has to make a living doing photography? You know the one that your cousin hired to take the photos? Why don't you ask them what would be a fair price.

[rannbphoto]

If this is your cousin and you like her at all I would at least give the images to her for printing cost. Just my opinion! (Make sure you give her a bunch of business cards to hand out, though)

[dave_thielen]

Seeing that the sarcasm seems to have been missed. Lets change the question. You are the one that was hired to take the wedding photos, some other photographer shoots behind you, and then gives their pictures to the bride and groom. How many of you think that is such a great idea now.

[dzeanah]

<i>You are the one that was hired to take the wedding photos, some other photographer shoots behind you, and then gives their pictures to the bride and groom. How many of you think that is such a great idea now.</i><p>I don't know. Do I have a 'sole photographer' clause in my contract? Am I charging enough up front that I'm not planning on dealing with orders after the shoot and am just handing over negatives? Is my work such that someone without a real understanding of wedding photography can produce work that rivals my own?<p>

 

Not being a pain in the butt here, just trying to point out that we don't really know enough to react appropriately. Personally? If the bride's cousin shows up at a wedding with a Canon Digirebel or whatever I'm <i>not</i> going to get ugly about it. I might not let them shoot over my shoulder for the formals, but if they can stay out of my way during the rest of the wedding I'm not sure I care a lot.

[david_schilling___chicago_]

Dave T.... I am a pro and I do make a living at it. I wouldn't mind if he gave the B/G a CD with his images on it at all. In fact that's happened to me a number of times.

 

I would be upset if he had taken several hundred images and posted them on a pro website, selling images at cost to family, friends, & guests. But so far, that hasn't happened to me....yet.

[dave_thielen]

David S

 

But that is exactly what Bryan is asking - how much to charge for his work, which he shot behind the contracted photographer. If you were the contracted photographer he would be taking bread from your mouth.

[david_schilling___chicago_]

No....he is not a pro photographer who was "working" the wedding. He was the bride's cousin taking photos with a nice camera.

 

Now, If there were a pro photographer there that was working over my shoulder, that would be a different situation and I would have delt with that at the wedding. My bussiness plan and reprint sales allow for the use of guests/families using nice P&S and prosumer cameras so it's really not a threat. What is rare is running into someone who has the pro knowledge to use light and effectively postprocess their images.....but that day may not be too far off :-)

[schmuy]

I want to make it clear (and i think its understood) that I do not want to go behind the photographer's back and steal his business. As a side note the hired "pro" photographer didn't know what he was doing, his pictures turned out lousy; but he was a an easy going guy about me shooting as well.

 

I would gift them to my cousin and maybe thats what i'll do with the dvd (include it for free). However she had said that she would be interested in buying some prints. This is where I am looking for a fair price. I don't know if she'll order 5 or 100 of my pictures. I am not looking for a profit just to cover cost and a little bit for editing time. I would give a print "package" as a gift but as a person who has been out of school for only a year (spent all my money on camera/computer) I frankly can't afford to give away prints.

[david_schilling___chicago_]

Bryan, I think your best bet is just give her the files on a DVD and point her to a decent lab. If your photography was a wedding present, then I would suggest that you give her 4x6 prints of everything in addition to the DVD. If you brought your girl friend to the wedding and she didn't give them a gift, then I would add a really nice mounted 16x20 print on top of the 4x6 prints and the DVD. Course if you already gave her a wedding present that was worth a couple of hundred bucks...then just give her the DVD. Since her pro did such a lousy job, this'll give you a chance to shine and be a family hero.

[pulpmojo]

I'll be in the same boat come June 16th and this is my plan: stay out of the pro's way (he might just be doing the formals anyway, not sure yet), get the prints printed at my pro lab and send the best ones to my cousin (along with a leather album if I can afford it) all completely free of charge. Being that you're in a tough spot financially though, I would just give her the name of a good pro lab and insist she go print them herself.

[codyj1286]

I've been in this situation before, and I'll tell you what I did.

 

It was my cousin's wedding, and the entire family was there. I have mixed feelings about doing Weddings for my Family, because I want to enjoy the Wedding, and not be on the "job". However, if you're a good photographer, and you're in the Family, you usually produce images that are more heartfelt by the B&G because you know who the non-Bridal party is, and the ins and outs of the family....more intimate portraits are created.

 

In my situation I told my Cousin that I would be bringing all of my photo equipment, would be staying out of the way of the Pro, and try to grab some nice photos. It was digital, for family, and I enjoyed the wedding, I handed over all my photos on a CD after the wedding. I made an 8x10 out of an amazing picture, matted it for her for fun....and she paid me $100, because she wanted to.

 

I also tried not to get a bloated ego when she told me that the pics I took were hands above the hired Pro (who she paid an exorbant amount of money). The Pro is hired not just to get good photos, but to work through the entire wedding...and to not really "have fun", or socialize with the people. If you can, its far easier to just give your cousin a copy of the images, that way they can make their own reprints at their own cost.

 

Because I shoot digital, I also do this for my paid event photography. I get customers that are very happy as a result.

[gretchen_steele]

"quit your dayjob and wait.... you'll know what to charge.!!!..:) How much do you need to make ? how many can you sell ?? Maybe for example you want a SB800 ($400) and think you can sell 100 prints .... $4 is the price you need ... the next wedding you shoot with the new flash is so good you can sell 200 prints at $4 and afford a fast lens.... NeXT THING YOU KNOW you're financing 2 bodies, 4 lenses, a mean computer, 2 cars and an average house on a half acre.... "

 

While that may not have been the best approach ...that's what worked for me!

[gegjr]

I don't understand the issue. You either want to give the images or you don't. If you want to be reimbursed for your time and the cost of what ever product you provide then just charge upfront for the cost of the prints and whatever you think your time is worth in post processing. For example, what do you make on your current job per hour? If you make a salary then figure out what the hourly rate would be and use that as your post processing rate. Your time is worth at least that much don't you think. So for example if you spend 5 hours on post processing and you make $25/hr on your current job than charge her $125 for labor plus whatever the prints and a dvd of viewable, copyrighted images will cost you to produce. I say copyrighted because at least then your cousin can't take them to a local lab and get 3x5s printed and if your cousin shows them around you will get credit as the photographer. Then if someone else wants prints you can a make profit from them. In my opinion since you were a guest at the wedding and reception you can't really charge for the time spent taking the images because I presume your cousin didn't ask you to the wedding as a backup photographer. Or forget everything and just give it all to your cousin as a gift.