Help me not undercut other photogs - avg day rate in Southern California (San Diego)?

[vicky2]

<p>I've had trouble finding local day rates to help me get my prices into the right range. Does anyone have advice on average day rates in the San Diego, CA area?<br>

Also, if the shoot will only take two hours, is near my home, and will require almost no post-processing, should I charge half a day rate, a third of a day rate?</p>

<p>Thanks so much for your help.</p>

 

[rod_melotte]

<p>Interesting no one is commenting. I can't help (Wisconsin) but I would not worry about undercutting others. You will undercut some and some you won't. Unless you are VERY well known and taking everybody else's jobs it won't matter. take what you feel comfortable with and then as you get more and more experience you will start to get a feel of what YOUR price should be. Taking photos is the easy part, pricing and being a business is the hard part.</p>

[park_street]

<p>Day rate for what? Different areas of photography have different pricing. Pet photographers do not price the same as top advertising photographers do.</p>

[jtk]

<p>Say hello to your peers in SDO. Ask them what they're doing. They will probably be fairly honest if your own work is interesting to them (show them your work, you've found them through theirs). On the other hand, it's unlikely that your competition for day-rate-type commercial photography comes from SDO instead of Irvine etc. <br>

It won't be entirely regional in any case. <br>

As it has been for decades, here's a solid starting point <a href="http://asmp.org/links/32">http://asmp.org/links/32</a></p>

[glenn_cratty]

<p>Park Street is right: day rates can vary wildly due to a number of factors. I'd be happy to toss a figure your way by way of a short-term solution, but need to know specifics, like what kind of assignment are you talking about and at what level are you performing that assignment?</p>

[vicky2]

<p>Apologies to those who responded months ago - I didn't get an email notification and didn't think to check, just reviewing my profile today and noticed your replies :(<br>

Glenn (or anyone else!), if you're still open to giving advice, the specifics are:<br>

- Client: http://www.oopsydaisy.com/ (that image on the home page is from my last shoot for them, although it looks like their graphic designer did some add'l editing on it to make it darker)<br>

- Time shooting - 2 hrs<br>

- Travel time - 1 hr<br>

- Editing time - 3 hrs<br>

- Rights - unlimited usage<br>

- There was no setup or scouting time really, they knew exactly what they wanted, where etc.<br>

- I hired an assistant just in case it was sunny to hold a diffuser</p>

<p>In regards to the level that I was performing the assignment at... This is my one "commercial" client, and for the most part I shoot natural light child/family portraits, and I also do some weddings. No lighting equipment was involved, and as I mentioned above, very little setup.</p>

<p>I will probably have requests for similar shoots for this client in the future, and would absolutely love some advice on pricing a job like this. It would be interesting to compare your suggestions to what I ended up charging for this assignment!</p>

[vicky2]

<p>Also, here are the photos from the shoot, in case it helps: http://vephoto.smugmug.com/Children/Oopsy-Daisy-Mission-Bay/10521383_WzhLW<br>

password: vickyeydelberg</p>

[vicky2]

<p>Sorry, had to add one last note... I don't mean to ignore the post linking to ASMP, and currently am working on a plan to really figure out and document my cost of doing business and the minimum hourly rate that I can afford to charge. I've been doing photography on the side for a while, and finally getting ready to do it full time, which is why I'm just now working out all the financials. So I guess this question should be rephrased... I'm not necessarily looking for advice on how I should price my work because I know that will need to be based on my own cost of doing business, but I'm just interested in a competitive analysis of local rates and general pricing strategies (day rate vs. half day rate vs. hourly, ... usage rights, etc.) for this level of client. I know that someone in Kansas will charge less than someone in LA, even if their operating costs are somehow the same. So I'm just looking for some ideas on ranges in the San Diego area.</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>