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How much for a photograph
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I was in my local the other night for a quick football special and I was putting
up a few framed prints into the cafe part.Now a guy at the bar asked me how much for
a certain size and I gave a price and he laughed saying that it only cost a few pence to
get printed.I then asked him why did he sell the last house he build for 250k which
only cost 80k to build,to which he said thats not the point.
So what I am asking is do people take into factor fuel costs,camera deprecation,time etc
when pricing there workCathald,
You’ll always get one or 2 like that. And my opinion is, F*%k them. If that’s their opinion then they’re not that interested in the first place, probably just thought he was being clever and wanted to look big.
While I don’t take exact calculations into account for fuel/cameras etc, I obviously don’t just charge for paper and ink if someone wants a print. I have discussed this with quite a few people, including one person I’m dealing with lately who runs an art/antique shop with his father, and he thinks my prices are more than reasonable. Of course I’m willing to haggle, but I wouldn’t wear that kind of attitude.
Jody
Fuel prices, camera depreciation etc are certainly factors but small ones.
What price do we put on talent, originality and image capture?
Cathal, I have met a small number of people over the years who,
just like your bar-stool chap have asked me to ‘print-off’ a few copies of this or that.
Some people don’t put much value on photography but yet they would still ‘love to have a print’.
I never sell prints to such people, unless they are willing to respect my price.
Seoirse wrote:
What price do we put on talent, originality and image capture?
Name a famous painter…now assess what his material costs are -v- the finished product price.
To be honest my perceptions prior to taking up the hobby were similar – it only costs a few pence for a photograph of something that was there for anyone to view anyway (landscape, event, etc). Anyone can take a photograph now but not paint a masterpiece so they all think they can do it. My thoughts have changed when I started looking at what skill was needed.
Alan.
I recently done a first communion where I was asked by a lot of people to take there family shots
After doing small copies for them and charged accordingly a few of the families wanted bigger prints so
I phoned all the folk and asked if they wanted bigger prints.One family said that the shots they got on there own
cameras would be good enough and they did not need mine as I was too expensive,then two weeks later they came to my door
asking for bigger prints as theirs were not good enough to which I replied that I had deleted there images as they didn’t want them
I might have lost a sale but what the hell.I don’t even go there… selling prints or doing gigs… I’ve been offered both… but I don’t have the time or interest to do either to the best of my ability… so I just don’t bother… because I’ve no interest in doing anything unless it were to be done right. I either lie about my availability (as it’s usually friends or friends of friends for christenings and the lark) or just don’t answer the phone as I did recently for a guy who was p*ssing me off about Greyhound photos.
I wouldn’t be one for managing other people’s expectations… so my philosphy is fook ’em.
I had a guy recently ask me to do a print for him of a bird photo I had taken. I didn’t exactly think it was a great shot anyway, but when I told him the price, just like your other guy, He laughed and said “You must be mad, I will go out and take a photo myself. I told him he was welcome to do that. My reasoning for my price was that if I sat in the p***ing rain for four or five hours, I was entitled to charge what I wanted and he could take it or leave it. Loads of those guys out there.
As I only am a amateur, I won’t charge anyone for a print apart of the cost of the print itself. They can frame it as they like.
To me its a honour if somebody like it so much that they want to have it. I do it for myself and if there is something that I like (once a year or so) I frame it.
I think that the big money is for the proffesionals. A friend of my charges about 1500 for a print, but he studied and is for about 25 years in the job. And he doesn’t do gigs like weddings an stuff. If you see how much he spends on equipment and how much time he spends on processing and traveling you can justify it. Its also a matter of what a customer is prepared to spend on it. Although you have to set a price for yourself.I dont think everyone appreciates/understands photography. I think we can see this when people come onto this site looking for cheap even FREE work for tis and that, it’s best to let these people float on by
cathald wrote:
So what I am asking is do people take into factor fuel costs, camera deprecation, time etc
when pricing there workYes.
Price guidelines & the BUR system.
You could also question why he’s paid £4.50 for essentially a pint of water….
dont think everyone appreciates/understands photography. I think we can see this when people come onto this site looking for cheap even FREE work for tis and that, it’s best to let these people float on by
This response from damiend sums it up for me. It’s so easy to get your hands on a camera these days and even when you consider that most mobiles even throw in a 5 mega pixel camera in the handset it’s easy to see why people think that this photography lark is money for old rope. I personally have little or no interest in social photography in any shape or form and am constantly turning down requests to shoot parties and functions. If I do agree to do a shoot I charge a fee. That is the fee I charge to get me out the door. It provides me with what I expect for a days pay. I get it before the gig or I don’t show up. I also give the client a list of prices for whatever they want. It’s like a menu and they can pick whatever they want from it. It has the benefit of letting people know how much it will cost them. Everybody has there own way of doing things. I set my prices and let people decide what they want to do. I shoot a lot of landscape and wildlife and I consider myself an artist, and a pretty good one at that so I have no intention of setting low prices to pander to the public. I’m not Ikea!!
I’m not Ikea!!
LOL.
I think I will tattoo that on my forehead.
No, wait, maybe a hat with it on it.
What I find strange is the manner is which people get a bit uppity here when someone comes along looking for someone to do a photo job on the cheap.
Yet… if you wanted a few blocks laid, a damaged partition wall plastered, a leaky pipe fixed you’d have no problem asking a professional blocker layer/plasterer/plumber to do a nixer.
Amazes me how the ‘arty farty’ bit of photography can lead some egos astray.
Or… maybe photography levitates itself beyond such menial jobs such a block laying, plastering & plumbing and ranks up there with Brain Surgery, Rocket Science & Nuclear Physics… in which case a nixer might be out of the question?
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