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As a good business practice you should base you selling price on the cost of goods. I currently mark up my products base upon a 30% cost of sale. To do this total up all the cost that go into the album (prints, cover, base pages, mats and don't forget your shipping cost) then multiply the total by 3.3. So if your total cost was 200 you would multiply it by 3.3 and your price would be $660. But that is not truely reflective of the cost. To this you would add any labor cost of meeting with the client, designing the album, retouching images (unless you have your lab do it, then it is a cost of goods), ordering and assembly. You may want to add a multipler to that also, just like service firms mark up labor cost to cover benefits, insurance and the like.

This should show you what the real cost of the album would be. There reason for using a 30% cost of sale is to cover overhead cost of operating the business, money for capital expenditures (camera, equipment, computers, software and the like) and of course providing yourself with a salary.

Now I would also compare your prices to other professional photographers that are running a full time business. If the quality of your images are comparable to theirs and you are delivering the same brand and quality of product, then it will provide a good comparison. If your images are of less quality then you should lower you cost somewhat. What you don't want to do is undercut the fulltime professional because that will only depress the market and no one wins in a price war.

I hope this has been of some help to you. There are some excellent books on how to price you work the one that comes to mind is "The Business of Wedding Photography" written by An Monteith. On a side note she was President of the Professional Photographers of America last year.

Oh one little thing I noticed when I clicked on your personal home page link did not work and it appears your website is down.

Here is something to think about. If you are seriously going into business you should consider a complete idenity package. This would consist of business cards, letterhead, envelopes and website. This is the bare minimum. When you write any type of letter, invoice, estimate, or contract, they all need to be tied in together otherwise you look like a rank amature. If you want to be taken seriously in this business you have to look like it.

Your business card should have several things on it: Your logo, your name, telephone no., website, email address and either your business address or at least a PO box. Try to come up with a logo that will that will stand the test of time, you will have as long as you are in business. It will be used on everything that you produce and that people will see.

As for portrait (vertical) or landscape (horizontal) style. I have been using a portrait for the last 12 years with out a single complaint. Also it hepls you to stand out from the crowd.

Best wishes

Charlie Laumann

I would like to hear what other full time professional photographers have to say

about our industry. I would like to hear your views on where is it going? Is it

getting better or worse? Is it harder or easier to turn a profit with the

current state of digital photography or if you are a film shooter with film? Who

do you see as your competition? And it you don't mind sharing what you are doing

to place yourself in a better position, both in the eyes of your potential

clients and financially? Any marketing changes? Changes in product lines or even

changing the direction of your studio?

If you are a part time professional photographer please do not take offense at

my request. At one time I was a part time photographer until I took the leap of

faith and made the commitment. When you make the change you will then understand

why I made the request for full time professionals, your life will change, trust

me I know.

For those wondering what my views are, I will share them in about a week. I

don't want to share them at this time because I don't want to poision the well,

so to speak, by projecting my views. I am not looking to sucker anyone in and

then jump on their case. I would really appreciate it if we could start an

honest dialog based on what each of us is seeing our own corner of the world and

specialty. I don't want this to become a flaming session. Hopefully we can all

learn something from each other and become more enlightened professionals.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post and responding. I know we all have

busy schedules and it is difficult to take time out for something like this.

Respectfully,

Charlie Laumann

From a local professional photographers view.

I am a professional local photographer in Orange County, CA. and I would like to provide some infomation on the situation that may be missing from the news articles. Little Corona is a small beach, we are not talking miles of open sand. Most of the photographers shooting on this beach are not your local pros, most of the ones found on the weekends are not full time photographers. They are not memebers of professional organizations, they are not experienced shooters, they low-ball everybody prices. They are guys with cameras and your local soccer moms who don't even know what a lightmeter is much less how to use one. These are some of the people who make the profession look bad. They are rude to the beach goers who are there to enjoy the beach with their family. The kids can't play in the water without someone yelling "get out of my shot".

I have not shot on this beach in over 10 years because of the crowds down there, both beach goers and photographers. On a recent visit to Little Corona on Saturday evening I saw 12 photographers trying to stake out their little part of sand. In the past fights have broken out between photographers as well as between the photographers and the beach goers. In short things have gotten completely out of control.

Now in terms requiring permits I fully support it. The permit process requires that photographers have the appropriate liability insurance and business license. The liability insurance protects both the photographer and the public agency that owns and manages the property in case there is an accident. Why should the public bare the cost of a lawsuit caused by a photographer, his staff, or his clients. As for the business license it helps to protect the public from fradulent practices.

I also fully support charging fees for shooting on public property and here's why. Public land it not intended to be used for commercial gain but instead for the public good. Photographers add an increased use to the property and as a result it requires more maintenance. When shooting on public property security and public safety is necessary to protect both the public, the photographer and the clients. This is an additional cost to the public agency. Why should you or I have to pay for this, the cost should be born by the photographer and his clients. When I am shooting I don't want to have to deal with some asshole who say's this is his public area and can get in my shot any time he wants to.

With out laws and regulations it becomes the old wild west and the person with the biggest and fastest guns wins.

Charles Laumann

www.bluemoonphotography.com

Corri,

My question to you is do you really want to be a professional photographer and why? If you answer is yes because it is a way to make some money then I suggest that you find another line of work. Continuing to pursue it will be frustrating for you and a great disservice to your clients. But if it is because you have a deep passion for photography then you have some work ahead of you.

Professional photography is not about snapping the shutter at just the right moment and hoping that you get a saleable image. It is about visualizing the image and then using the proper tools to create it. If you don't have the knowledge of the tools then you can't create the image. I really suggest that if you have the passion you will dig into the vast amounts of information out there.

You mentioned in your bio that you were going back to college and get a degree in photography. This may be a good place start, with out knowing what the expertise of the instructors are and what is included in the curriculum. I suggest that you get involved with the professional organizations, Professional Photographers of America (PPA), Wedding and Portrait Photographers International (WPPI), the state and local affiliates of the PPA. All of these organizations have wonderful educational programs. Yes it can get expensive but this is your profession how much is it worth to you?

Professional photography is not a cheap profession. You will never buy the equipment just one time. You will be replacing cameras on a regular basis as they wearout and break. Also I'm willing to bet that a Canon 1DS Mark II is not in your budget. What about outfitting your studio? How many lights do you have? Backgrounds, are you a one background shooter? Props, formal portraits need them, a couple hundred dollars for a nice formal chair. Now let's get into the expensive stuff your computer system. You will need a high end computer for your digital imaging with a monitor that can be color calibrated. I just replace my color monitor for a cost of $2500! It was the cheapest one I could find that can really be color calibrated. Now add another $1800 for a good computer system and don't forget the equipment and software to backup your files every day. Your clients would be very upset if their images were lost.

I have been in the business for 12 years. Ten of those years were part time while I worked sometimes 2 jobs so that I could buy the equipment that I needed to be successful. You will find that the industry has it's ups and downs. Clients will be expecting more every day as they see new movies coming out of Hollywood. Trends spread around the world in a flash due to the internet. Right now there is very big competition for disposable income. The rising cost of gas and energy, dining out are all competing for the dollars you want your client to spend at your studio.

Corri this industry it a tough one. I hope that you have the desire, will power, and financial resources to make a real go of it. Most businesses fail within the first 3 years. If you want to find out why check the SBA's website, I think they still have that information there.

Charlie Laumann,

Certified Professional Photographer