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Portrait prices
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i meet a friend last
he was telling me that his wife booked in their two sons with a local photographer for a couple of portraits
oh thats nice, i said..thinkin why i was’nt asked :(
how much do you reckon. he asked
dunno a hundred. i said, guessing he means two 8×10’s or 10×12’s and the sitting
e85, bloody rip off, sure it only costs a few quid for the printing, he said
i spent a few minutes explaining the costs of running a studio, the price of cameras, etc, etc
and the fact that their getting a professional service and two pictures that will last a lifetimei could give more examples of photographers being seen as rip off merchants,
but all here on this site knows the craicwoke up with a fire in my belly, so i thought i’d start a thread :)
any thoughts folksDon’t forget the time involved processing the pics, the proofing etc.
The thing to do is to have an hourly rate in your head, work out approx. how
much time you expect to spend on the job, and quote your price accordingly.Its not just with portraits that you get this reaction, its the same with weddings.
When I do a wedding, I can spend up to 6/7 days (avg 8 hours a day) working on it.
Theres the initial visit to the client to discuss (and try to sell) your services. Usually then
there is a pre-wedding meeting to run through the day and any specific shots they want.
The actual day of the wedding, time involved processing up to 150-160 shots and weeding
out the “bad” ones. The proofing of the shots with the couple and finally the last minute adjustments
before printing. Then the time involved in putting the album together and the final visit to the clients to
hand over the album and arrange the final payment. Add on to this the travel costs, insurance, cost of
the album & printing etc. etc….. (and the overhads of actually running a business) People think its easy money :shock:I don’t want to get into the digital vs film debate, but as a lot of people now have quite hi-spec cameras
there seems to be a perception that its just a matter of turning up and printing direct from the camera.To add insult to injury, I have been the recipient, when I handed over some finished portraits, of the
classic “you must have a great camera” :twisted:Its just a case of getting used to it and ensuring that the final quality speaks for itself.
Having said that, I’m sure there are a few rip-off merchants out there, but in general, most photographers
charge fair prices for a lot of hard work and pressure. Its juat a shame that a lot of customers don’t realise
the background work that goes into it.Rgds
Kevin
KPM wrote:
“you must have a great camera” :twisted:
yep, guaranteed to make your blood boil !
I can relate to that for sure. We (some business associates and myself) also find that certain customers are “tight” when it comes to money such as teachers, accountants, solicitors, bank officials and gardai. (Sorry to anyone here who “fall” into these professions …. its just the way it seems to be).
3 things that I heard on a business course many years ago from Peter Kent and Ronnie Coll went like this;
(1) “The bitter taste of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of cheap prices has worn off”.
(2) “When you are putting your schedule of charges in place, remember that your competition next door is not
charging ?100 so that you can do it for ?95 and put him out of business. Be careful when costing, there may
be something your omitting”(3) “What employee approaches their employer and asks to have their hourly rate cut by half and then proceed
to work twice as many hours in the week in order to earn the same amount as before. Silly you would say!
Well ……… surprise, surprise …………. many business people do that without knowing it !”Worth keeping in mind.
Kevin,
You’ve summed it up nicely there, even down to the “easy money” and “great camera” comments. To be honest, it’s one of the main reasons I haven’t gone pro before now. But as you know, I’m currently revisiting this whole issue.
The problem with photography is that consumers really don’t appreciate all the work that goes on both before and after a shot is taken. In fact the same is true with models that don’t appreciate the value of TFP shoots.
Even down to the simple sitting fee – the same people who moan about this have no problem calling out a plumber or electrician if they need to. If the tradesman fixes the problem with a flick of a switch (because the customer was too dumb to realise what they were doing) then they still get their money. But if a photographer is efficient and good enough to get a single portrait shot done in say 15 minutes, then the customer moans about the fact that they could have gotten their friend down the road with their all singing all dancing digital compact camera to do that for the price of a ?5.00 print from the local mini-lab!
I think at the end of the day it boils down to educating the customer about the value of what they are getting. I also think that, meaningless as they are to you and me, having letters after your name such a LIPPA or LSWPP, gives the customer a better comfort factor. So does having a BIG camera – after all you really must know what you are doing if you have a big expensive camera :!: :lol: Of course we know that’s not true, but at the end of the day, it’s all about the clients perception.
Well put Kevin/Thorston. I cant help feeling that we (photographers) have failed in educating the public. I will also say that its something my own assosiation need to do something about. They can be great when it comes to educating photographers
but fall down in the promotion of the Professional Photographer Image to the general public. Other associations and bodies also fail in this field.
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