How much should charge?

[evangelinabautista]

Moderator note: thread moved from Beginner Forum

 

I was chosen by a couple to take their pictures. They are aware that I am a beginner. I took pictures when they got married by the law which was held at a church then I took pictures of them only and with all their guests. Also I took pictures at their wedding from them getting ready in the morning, ceremony, going places to take pictures with their group, and reception. Where I also took pictures with all of the guests to. They want me to edit the pictures and all. They also want the original pictures and the edited ones on a flash drive. I'm not sure how much I should charge for all.

[Gary Naka]

And why did you not discuss this with the couple BEFORE they got married and you took the pictures.

At this point, it should be a negotiated price, not what YOU want to charge them.

[evangelinabautista]

And why did you not discuss this with the couple BEFORE they got married and you took the pictures.

At this point, it should be a negotiated price, not what YOU want to charge them.

I did they said when we get back tell us how much it will be for everything. I said I don't know, anything is fine and they said when you figure it out tell us.

[michaelchadwickphotography]

Wow. There's a lot here to discuss. Contracts. How to price your services. What expectations your couple should have for deliverables of your work. That's just the tip of the iceberg, too. These topics alone are several pages of text in a forum like this.

 

I recommend purchasing a course in photography business or purchasing a book of the same. You could also pay a local, established photographer to sit down with you and teach you the basics of running a photography business. Many of these and other business questions will be answered in photography business books, of which there are many. The books are not expensive and they are vital to running a photography business efficiently and effectively.

[Gary Naka]

The problem that you will have now is, expectation.

They may expect all that for a LOT less than you may be thinking of charging.

Friends and relatives can be the worst in this respect, because they may expect a BIG discount.

This is why it is important to get the pricing nailed down and agreed to BEFORE the shoot.

 

Then again, if they are WEALTHY they may not care how much you charge.

 

My only suggestion at this point is to record (date, hours, and task description) and add up the hours you spent on their wedding project. Then you can show them how much time was involved, that they as the couple do not see.

- As a beginner, some of the hours will have to be discounted, because you are not as efficient as a pro. It may take you 3 hours to do something a pro can do in 1 hour.

- As for rate, I have no idea what the rates are in your location, so can say nothing about that. Except that you cannot charge as much as a pro, since you did tell them that you are a beginner.

[William Michael]

I think Gary has made a good suggestion that you write down the hours you worked and what you did so you can show them the work involved.

 

I think you should not provide the 'original pictures' (unedited images). Part of the photographic process is to do the editing and that firstly means culling the images which do not make the benchmark - for example blurry; out of focus; no flash fired; the shutter mistakenly released etc the next part of the process is the "Post Production" - the digital editing and this is to enhance the image, for example to make colour correction; cropping and sharpening etc. This is then the Photographer's end product and what the Client receives, they do not normally receive the images "as shot in camera".

 

Michael Chadwick has written a book. I bought it. If you choose to embark on Wedding Photography, I think it would be useful for you to have a look at it. [Here is a link].

 

WW