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what to give people?
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Hi, so I have been approached by a lot of people now who have seen some shots i have done of other peoples kids so far. So far it has just been for people I know just to get some practice in and i have just printed them a few edited shots out on my home printer on cheapy tesco glossy paper and have also put all images onto a usb for them.
So now i have friends of those people asking would i be interested in photographing their kids. So what I want to know is before I agree to it, what should I give people in terms of prints/usb/disc?? Also where is good to get prints from or proper matt paper from so as I can give them a few prints myself. I dont know how to approach these people as in what I will give them at the end, what to charge (I do not yet want to charge as I am still only learning but obviously have to cover costs, and also as i am not insured or anything) , they say they will ”pay” me . All I would want is the cost of printing/paper/ink or cd/usb and petrol to whatever location.
Where do you all print your stuff? And what way did you charge when only starting out? Is there any insurance I should have whilst doing this? I know if i was to get into it a bit more and charge I would have to have insurance, is there anything else i need to know, do???
Thanks in advance
This might be a little like the blind leading the blind as I’m in a similar situation myself. But I’ll give you my own opinions anyway.
I’d be very reluctant to give any shots to anyone printed on cheap tesco paper as you said. At least do your images the honour of being reproduced professionally on decent quality paper. Any jobs I’ve done, I’ve had them printed by Right Brain (formerly IOPhotoworks) in Cork and was amazed at the difference they make to the end product. Expensive? Yes, but worth in in the long run. Imagine in 2 or 3 years time what the customer will be saying about your work when their darling childs portrait is faded beyond recognition due to being printed by a cheap printer with cheap ink on cheap paper.
Also, if you start doing jobs for free (more or less), you’ll find it hard to start introducing decent charges for your time/skill. If your shots are up to scratch, why should you give them away? Start as you mean to go on I suppose really. I appreciate you’re not pro so can’t, or at least shouldn’t charge accordingly but you have to put some value on your work.
There have been many posts on this subject in the past so maybe that’s why you’re not getting much response yourself. Do a search here and see what turns up as there has been plenty advice given by pros on how to do all this properly.
Best of luck :wink:
Mark.Personally i have issues with posts such as these & there has been a few quite recently.
I have no issue with charging anyone for a service but draw your own conclusions as
to what you should be charging. I think that it is unfair for a shall we say a non professional
to quote a price that a professional photographer would charge. I appreciate that in some
cases there would be little difference in quality of work but in these times I feel it’s a little crass
& I think that has been reflected in the replies.markclehane wrote:
This might be a little like the blind leading the blind as I’m in a similar situation myself. But I’ll give you my own opinions anyway.
I’d be very reluctant to give any shots to anyone printed on cheap tesco paper as you said. At least do your images the honour of being reproduced professionally on decent quality paper. Any jobs I’ve done, I’ve had them printed by Right Brain (formerly IOPhotoworks) in Cork and was amazed at the difference they make to the end product. Expensive? Yes, but worth in in the long run. Imagine in 2 or 3 years time what the customer will be saying about your work when their darling childs portrait is faded beyond recognition due to being printed by a cheap printer with cheap ink on cheap paper.
Also, if you start doing jobs for free (more or less), you’ll find it hard to start introducing decent charges for your time/skill. If your shots are up to scratch, why should you give them away? Start as you mean to go on I suppose really. I appreciate you’re not pro so can’t, or at least shouldn’t charge accordingly but you have to put some value on your work.
There have been many posts on this subject in the past so maybe that’s why you’re not getting much response yourself. Do a search here and see what turns up as there has been plenty advice given by pros on how to do all this properly.
Best of luck :wink:
Mark.thanks everybody for the replies. regarding the cheap paper, it’s all i had at the time, just printed a few out to see what they turned out like colour wise etc and gave them to the parents, I told the parents that it was just cheap paper and that it may fade, that’s why I also emailed and gave them usb with all pics on so as they can do what they want with them, I know this isnt common practice with photographers, but as I know them well I don’t mind.
I have been looking online trying to find a local printers that I can use, came across GMS, they are based in clondalkin, so I am waiting on them to send me some info on pricing and products etc and then I will order some prints for those parents and see the difference.I have a few shoots lined up now which I have said I will do free of charge but have told them I will have to charge for the printing. I will be glad to get the practice in. I had a lot more asking bt told them that I have everyone i need for my portfolio work but will start sessions in due course. I want to get insured etc, tax etc. I want to start it off right when I do start charging. Am meeting a pro photographer to ask all the questions of what I need etc to start off a business.
John17 wrote:
Personally i have issues with posts such as these & there has been a few quite recently.
I have no issue with charging anyone for a service but draw your own conclusions as
to what you should be charging. I think that it is unfair for a shall we say a non professional
to quote a price that a professional photographer would charge. I appreciate that in some
cases there would be little difference in quality of work but in these times I feel it’s a little crass
& I think that has been reflected in the replies.john17 i appreciate what you are saying, but this is why I asked the question in the first place. Everybody has to start out somewhere and build their way up. I wanted to know what way did everybody else charge when starting out, how many freebies did they do before they started charging a small charge, what did they supply clients with for that charge etc. I thought this was a place for asking questions and getting advice. I also stated in my question that I do not want to charge anything yet as i am not a professional yet, and never said I would charge what a professional charges. I will build my way up, as everybody has to!!
I know there probably is people out there that go straight in charging full whack & i agree that they shouldn’t when there is photographers out there that have years of exp behind them to charge the prices they do.The elephant in the room is the issue of competing with pros whose businesses are in trouble.
Here’s one fools opinion. No need to flame me. It’s just an opinion.
If your true intent is to start a real business, then you are a “starter-outer”. You have the same claim to business as any one. Charge based on the quality of your work and not on your senoirity. You have a fledling portfolio. Let it speak for itself. Tell folks that you are new in the business but your work is as good as any. It’s buyer beware if you don’t produce good results. In fact, if there are zero “keepers” from a session, say you had problems and back away. That will hurt you and other photographers less than grossly undercutting on price. Set your clients expectations before the shoot. Tell them there is a small possibility of zero good results and there will be no cost to them. That’s real and honest.
Take the advice of earlier posts and print as best you can and get paid for it. But don’t compromise your future earnings or those of established photographers.
If you are just trying to pay for your hobby, then leave hard pressed pros alone. Shoot for only your best friends and family and be happy that you make good images. Don’t shoot for anyone else. If you can’t afford to gift large prints then give them a 4×6 and tell them exactly how to get a great big one. Tell them the largest size that will print well. Shoot for yourself, your family, photo competitons and your photo club.
I’m a retired old fool and would like some income to help pay for my hobby. I’ve done enough family christianings and confirmations and the results are as good as most pros and semi-pros. But I stay away from competing with folks who support their families with their camera.
Here endth my opinion.
pelagic wrote:
The elephant in the room is the issue of competing with pros whose businesses are in trouble.
Here’s one fools opinion. No need to flame me. It’s just an opinion.
If your true intent is to start a real business, then you are a “starter-outer”. You have the same claim to business as any one. Charge based on the quality of your work and not on your senoirity. You have a fledling portfolio. Let it speak for itself. Tell folks that you are new in the business but your work is as good as any. It’s buyer beware if you don’t produce good results. In fact, if there are zero “keepers” from a session, say you had problems and back away. That will hurt you and other photographers less than grossly undercutting on price. Set your clients expectations before the shoot. Tell them there is a small possibility of zero good results and there will be no cost to them. That’s real and honest.
Take the advice of earlier posts and print as best you can and get paid for it. But don’t compromise your future earnings or those of established photographers.
If you are just trying to pay for your hobby, then leave hard pressed pros alone. Shoot for only your best friends and family and be happy that you make good images. Don’t shoot for anyone else. If you can’t afford to gift large prints then give them a 4×6 and tell them exactly how to get a great big one. Tell them the largest size that will print well. Shoot for yourself, your family, photo competitons and your photo club.
I’m a retired old fool and would like some income to help pay for my hobby. I’ve done enough family christianings and confirmations and the results are as good as most pros and semi-pros. But I stay away from competing with folks who support their families with their camera.
Here endth my opinion.
Possibly the best response I have ever read regarding this type of question, spot on Ted!!!!…………./Mikka
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