Amateur Photography Costs

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Suarez85

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Hi,

Iv done a little research online but wanting to get more of an idea from here.

How much do people charge for amateur photography shoots.

Im currently offering on location shoots that last about 30mins with 12-15 hi-res images for £20 as an introduction, any idea what I should be charging for this? I dont want to price myself too low that people wont consider me, nor too high, for the same reason.

Wondering what amateurs would charge for the following;

Portraits
On location shoots
Events (not weddings, im not ready to do that yet)

Thanks in advance
 
IMGP8612.jpg This is the quality im working towards at the moment, incase people were wondering
 
Suarez85 said:
Hi,

Iv done a little research online but wanting to get more of an idea from here.

How much do people charge for amateur photography shoots.

Im currently offering on location shoots that last about 30mins with 12-15 hi-res images for £20 as an introduction, any idea what I should be charging for this? I dont want to price myself too low that people wont consider me, nor too high, for the same reason.

Wondering what amateurs would charge for the following;

Portraits
On location shoots
Events (not weddings, im not ready to do that yet)

Thanks in advance
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Surely, as soon as you start charging you are no longer an amateur!
 
no offence but if you've only got two months experience you've got no business charging anything ... first learn to use your camera and build your portfolio then start charging
 
Then you might get advice in the "business and professional" section of the forum.
 
big soft moose said:
no offence but if you've only got two months experience you've got no business charging anything ... first learn to use your camera and build your portfolio then start charging
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However, if people have seen my work and ask how much I charge, surely the time Iv been doing photography is irrelevant. Iv seen alot worse photo's produced by photographers who have been shooting longer than I have. Did you check my example image?
 
Bobsyeruncle said:
Do you mean you've only been charging for 2 months?
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Yes, Sorry, I probably wasnt clear with my wording.

Iv self taught myself photography for the past 4 years mostly with a point and shoot, but only since the turn of this year have I thought about taking my hobby a little more seriously.

I got myself a DSLR around October last year.
 
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Suarez85 said:
However, if people have seen my work and ask how much I charge, surely the time Iv been doing photography is irrelevant. Iv seen alot worse photo's produced by photographers who have been shooting longer than I have. Did you check my example image?
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I think there are a number of things wrong with your example image; cropped too tight at the top, the black jumper blends into the interior of the car as there is not enough light and I suspect there is a door light bleeding into the image at the bottom of the picture.
 
skiking said:
I think there are a number of things wrong with your example image; cropped too tight at the top, the black jumper blends into the interior of the car as there is not enough light and I suspect there is a door light bleeding into the image at the bottom of the picture.
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:LOL:
 
That's either the brightest door light I've ever seen, or it's a flash.

Back on topic, based on one rather awkward photo, I wouldn't say you could convince many people to pay for your services.

If you want to charge a bit on the side for doing some personal shoots, what other people charge doesn't really matter. Just figure out how much you're happy doing it for, and what people are willing to pay you.
 
It's a very subjective question, what to charge. I've charged orders of magnitude more than that for corporate portrait sessions which entailed between 4-6 hours shooting, travel time/setup time then some minimal post processing afterwards. Likewise when I was just starting out and was an "amateur with aptitude" (ignoring any semantic arguments) I would charge considerably less and depending on the clients, sometimes did it for free.

Giving an absolute value is hard to do. I can tell you I'd charge more than £20 unless you were seeing a string of people in the same location in one sitting - then £20 per person maybe be feasible depending on the post-production effort needed.

Make sure you factor in -

Time & cost to get to the location
Value of your time spent shooting - could you be shooting something else more profitable perhaps?
Determine a ballpark per hour rate for your processing time, then estimate how many shots you can process per hour

And you will arrive at a general number. This is where it gets personal, if you're happy asking for that then you're sorted otherwise you may need to see how low you can comfortably go. At some stage it simply will not be worth your time.

Although "absolute" numbers are meaningless without context, I was charging a minimum of £50 for portrait shoots less than 5 mins walk from my house with three different portrait images given to the client. I'd now be charging a fair amount more than that.

I always, always find going in with example portraits first showing what people get for their money and outlining what you need to do to achieve that, giving ideas how you'd make your specific client look good then coming to a happy, fair price is better than having a hard and fast cash value - of course, you need to have a lower minimum in the back of your mind :)

Hope this helps
 
Just to let the facts sink in.
How do you know all those 'professionals' that are selling their services and producing work you think is crap don't also believe they're 'amateurs'? It's probably reasonable in their heads that they don't have to be brilliant, because they're not really pro and they don't charge a fortune.

Back to what you're worth? It's the most difficult question there is. It's whatever the market dictates.

And if you're hanging out the for hire sign, you're going to have to put on your big boy trousers. There's fair critique of your image above. I'd have gone further and said you've clearly put in more effort in post than you did before taking that picture.

Now you might think this is 'old fashioned' but relying on PP is an unsustainable business model. If you want to 'make a profit'then charging £50 for a one hour shoot looks great, but if you add in the days PP it's poverty wages.
 
In any trade, if you can get people to pay for what you do, regardless of quality, you have a potential business.

Just start charging whatever you think is reasonable. If it's too expensive, you won't get any business. If it's too cheap, you will have a queque of people at your door.


Steve.
 
Suarez85 said:
This is the quality im working towards at the moment, incase people were wondering
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Well, that image is under exposed and not very sharp either, is it one of yours???

Les
 
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To be fair, I've seen plenty of photographers who've called themselves professional for years who should be embarrassed to charge for their results.
I wish the OP luck.
 
Suarez85 said:
Ok, assume im a 'professional' with 2 months experience
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Let's see some images to see what they're worth? Then we can tell you how much to charge :)
 
Suarez85 said:
View attachment 59489 This is the quality im working towards at the moment, incase people were wondering
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Is this yours? The only reason I ask is you've stated this is "what you're working towards". Which would suggest you're not there yet?
 
I find it amazing that people who offer this advice...

viv1969 said:
To be fair, I've seen plenty of photographers who've called themselves professional for years who should be embarrassed to charge for their results.
I wish the OP luck.
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Can't see that it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Of course there are plenty of crap photographers selling their services, because people keep telling them it's a good idea :thinking:
 
Back to the OP:

If someone asks what you charge, say £100, if they say, wow that's cheap, say 'that's just the sitting, prints are extra'. If they say 'you must be kidding' then try a lower price next time, till you find the price that fits. :naughty: :naughty:

Like I said, it's the market that decides what you're worth, not some stranger on the interwebs.
 
Welcome to the friendliest forum...

Realistically you price according to what people will pay, then if possible just a little bit more :D, but realistically it depends on your costs. Do you have/need insurance, travel costs even silly things like cost of batteries for the flash.
 
Suarez85 said:
. Did you check my example image?
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yes - it wasnt very good (the others have already covered the reasons why)

End of the day if someone looks at your work and asks how much you charge , by all means charge them - but if you've only been using a DSLR since october and arent consistently producing images a lot better than the example you gave then you arent ready to start selling your services proactively

theres also small matters like insurance, back up kit, tax etc to consider

ETA on thelighting thread when phil pointed out that buying a camera to going pro in two months was a tad fast , you said

Suarez85 said:
Not at all a pro in the making, far from it :) .
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which is pretty much my point - if you are far from a pro in the making, you have no business charging for your work - simples
 
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Byker28i said:
Welcome to the friendliest forum...

Realistically you price according to what people will pay, then if possible just a little bit more :D, but realistically it depends on your costs. Do you have/need insurance, travel costs even silly things like cost of batteries for the flash.
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Iv quoted £30 and people are surprised at how cheap it is. I suppose that in all business it is what the client is prepared to pay and what I need to earn, at the moment, Im quite happy charging
£30 and people have been paying it, and I would like to ideally reach 4 shoots a day. That would do me. Iv seen people charge more for worse quality. Im not saying im the best, hell, iv got a long way to go.
 
Phil V said:
I find it amazing that people who offer this advice...



Can't see that it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Of course there are plenty of crap photographers selling their services, because people keep telling them it's a good idea :thinking:
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My post didn't offer any advice Phil.
 
Suarez85 said:
Iv quoted £30 and people are surprised at how cheap it is. I suppose that in all business it is what the client is prepared to pay and what I need to earn, at the moment, Im quite happy charging
£30 and people have been paying it, and I would like to ideally reach 4 shoots a day. That would do me. Iv seen people charge more for worse quality. Im not saying im the best, hell, iv got a long way to go.
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I'll wait for somebody to show you the maths as to how bad this is price wise if you do this as your sole income and pay relevant expenses.

People ask me how much I charge (I don't). I wouldn't bother for 30 quid. My time is worth more than that. Talent may be a different issue though [emoji13][emoji13][emoji13]
 
Suarez85 said:
Iv quoted £30 and people are surprised at how cheap it is. I suppose that in all business it is what the client is prepared to pay and what I need to earn, at the moment, Im quite happy charging
£30 and people have been paying it, and I would like to ideally reach 4 shoots a day. That would do me. Iv seen people charge more for worse quality. Im not saying im the best, hell, iv got a long way to go.
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Will the £30 be enough after paying all your business costs and the tax man :)
 
Phil V said:
Will the £30 be enough after paying all your business costs and the tax man :)
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For the time being it will cover what I need to. I dont wanna be ripping people off either. I think £30-£40 per shoot for someone of my skill level is fair, and indeed my pirces will rise as I get more competent.
 
big soft moose said:
...

ETA on thelighting thread when phil pointed out that buying a camera to going pro in two months was a tad fast , you said



which is pretty much my point - if you are far from a pro in the making, you have no business charging for your work - simples
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It was @DG Phototraining who said it (I'd never be so cruel) ;)

OK maybe I agreed.
 
Suarez85 said:
For the time being it will cover what I need to. I dont wanna be ripping people off either. I think £30-£40 per shoot for someone of my skill level is fair, and indeed my pirces will rise as I get more competent.
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That didn't exactly answer my question.

You can't build a business shooting cheap and ignoring the taxman just because that's what you think your skills are wortho_O. Some decent kit upgrades will cost you a couple of grand at least in your first year (and every year thereafter), Add in your PP time, and pay your tax and that £30 is less than minimum wage.
 
Phil V said:
Will the £30 be enough after paying all your business costs and the tax man :)
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to be fair assuming its his only income its going to take a long time to top 10k and start paying tax, even if its on top of a PAYE job it wil take a while for income from the photography to exceed his expenses (especially given he can claim 100% of the cost of the camera in year 1, since the changes to the depreciation rules)

I strongly doubt that there are sufficient freinds of freinds who want pictures of their kids to even cover that cost - so at this stage he isnt really building a business merely covering some of the costs of his hobby
 
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