jake_reinbold

Thanks for all of your replies.

I know that the editing seems like a lot. But I began editing the images in Lightroom, which I am pretty familiar with, but still have things to learn. Then, about 2 weeks in, I acquired Photoshop CS3, in which I edited all remaining photos, and re-edited all previous photos. And because I had just acquired Photoshop, I wasn't a pro at using it yet, and still am not. So that's where all of the editing time comes in.

However, I did speak to the assistant minister, and he said that my price is fine, and he sees the value that he is getting, and how much more it could be. He has no problem with the price, but what he said, is that if this is going to be the rate, then they just won't have me take pictures every single week. Which is understandable, because he said that he has plenty of photos to work with for a long time, and he wasn't going to have me come back every week before he saw the invoice, so he says.

So, now I can do what a number of you said, and just bite the bullet, and do it all for free. This way, I will still get shooting opportunities for sure. Or, I can go ahead and get paid, and hope I still get opportunities later on. I just don't know what to do now, because he says that I will still have opportunities in the near future, but how do I know that for sure? Yet, if I do tear up the invoice, I would be much more reassured to have opportunities later on.

I guess I did just hop on the chance of making some income on my first job, and didn't really think about getting my foot in the door, and making the church appreciate me that much more. Had I thought about this before billing with the invoice, I think I would have done it at a much cheaper rate, if at all. Thanks for you guys input. I really appreciate it.

Hi all. I have been a long time reader/browser, but this is my first post. It is regarding the rate I am charging

for my first photography job.

Well, about a month ago, I was approached by the assistant minister at my church. He asked me if I would

photograph a church worship night, so that the church would have some photos to put in brochures, ads, posters

etc. I found out some more information about the night, what types of pictures they wanted, etc, and I agreed to

it. There was no money or hourly rates or anything discussed, I was just told to keep track of my hours, shooting

and editing, and we will square up when the job is finished. I agreed to this, only because I am a member of this

church, trust the man who came to me, and because I simply didn't know of a rate I would charge, because this was

my first job taking photographs for anyone but myself.

So, the worship night comes, I take pictures for the full service, about an hour and a half, and get a bout 300

images. The assistant minister then tells me that they are in no rush to get the pictures, and would like for me

to come back for the next couple of weeks, and continue to take photos. He reassured me to still keep track of my

hours, and just to begin editing the photos, and when I turn in the photos, I will get paid. I then continue to

take pictures over the next 2 weeks, and am told that they now are ready for the photos. So I import and edit the

pictures that I have accumulated over the past 3 weeks, which turns out to be almost 800 images. I spend a lot of

time editing, and accumulate 24 hours of editing time. So, it comes time to write up my hours and invoice, and I

come up with 4.5 hours of shooting time, and 24 hours of editing. 28.5 hours total.

Now, I try to come up with the amount I should charge. I had been doing some research, and talking to some other

photographers I know, and come to conclude that a professional photographer typically charges between $50-$150 an

hour. (is this correct?) Being as though that I am by no means a "professional" I think that because this is my

first photography job, I should charge considerably less than what a professional would charge. I also realize

that I am wearing out my camera, using my memory cards, my CD's, my time, my software, and my computer. So I take

this into consideration. The amounts that I come up with to charge are $25.00 per session shooting (about $17.00

an hour), and $30.00 per hour editing. My total bill comes up to $795.00 ($75.00 for shooting for 4.5 hours,

$720.00 for editing for 24 hours). Yesterday, I turned it into the assistant minister while he wasn't at this

office, and told him that this invoice was negotiable if he thought there were changes that might need to be made.

Later today get a call telling me that we will sit down and discuss this invoice sometime next week, and that he

doesn't need me to take pictures this coming week. Now this has me kind of nervous, thinking that I might have

made a mistake, and charged too much, and that now, he isn't going to want to use me again, because I ask way too

much for the job. But, I also feel like the ball was put in my court from the get go, because there was no

initial cost/rate discussed prior to the job being done.

So what I am asking is, did I charge too much? Does this rate look reasonable? What would you charge?

Thank you for reading this. I know it is long, but I am just looking for some help. Hopefully, I will get an

answer that will help me out in this situation. Thanks again.

Jake