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Hi

I am starting to do horse protraits for local people at stables and am going to charge £35 for the sitting Fee.

In this I will give the client 5 7x5 on Strut mounts.

Now do I supply Them with a CD of images (that way possibly losing out on further sales)

or

Not supply them with a CD, Put the photos into an online Gallery.

And then let them order photos,

7x5 £5
8x6 £6.50
10x8 £8.50 (all on strutmounts)

then after all the orders provide them with a CD.

Any other ideas.

Mark
 
tooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cheap

stick with your sttin fee and double the prices of the photos

dont do a cd
 
I want to get clients first, be known for good quality at reasonable prices then up prices once demand starts.

or is it too cheap
 
How much would you say for a CD then, with say all (good edited) images from the shoot on.
 
Well its all how much you'd pay for your time...
How long would it take you to edit the images - say if you had 50 images? What software are you using?

If you're charging £5 for a 7x5 and the customer pays £35 for a "sitting" and gets 5 7x5 images, your not actually making any money are you? And how much is it going to cost to get them printed etc?
 
Good point. I guess it is roughly 50p per 7x5 With mount to get it printed.

so that is only costing me £3.

Hopefully they will order at least another 5 or bigger prints and make money from that.

or am i being too cheap.
 
I personally think your being too cheap.
And you say its roughly 50p per 7x5 with mount.
Who is this using? Have you actually looked into the pricing?
What are other people pricing?
If your too cheap - then what are you saying to other people "I'm cheap, therefore I dont value myself?"
 
50p is using photobox and i have been very happy with the prints and so have customers (different business area)

Looking at some of the PRO horse photographers they are charging £100+ (1 hour work) sitting fee and then prints starting from £25.

However as i want to get in to the business i do not want to over price myself.

To get a greater portfolio to show customers i have a few friends who i will do the shoot for free and then charge them if they want any prints done (prices above) is this fair?

then hopefully through word of mouth i will get more business.

Thanks

Mark
 
visualisetheworld said:
I want to get clients first, be known for good quality at reasonable prices then up prices once demand starts.

or is it too cheap
Click to expand...


You'll be known as the cheap man.

Then when you get clients, you put your prices up, you're then known to be "the man who put his prices up".

Let your images sell themselves.
 
Yeah I know where you're coming from. Unfortunately I have had prints from photobox, and I wouldnt touch them with a bargepole - and a lot of amateurs use photobox even just "i ordered my holiday snaps from Photobox cos they're cheap" you have to be careful of who you use/what type of name your making for youself - thats all.
 
Also - PRO togs charging £100 per hour? Where you getting that from?!

I've been pro-togging equine for a couple of years and don't charge anywhere near that. Half in fact, and I provide the surfaces for them whilst we do private shoots.

Luckily means I dont need to travel out.

But my prints start from £50.00, and I don't do small items unless large items are purchased on my private sittings.
 
LeeP said:
You'll be known as the cheap man.

Then when you get clients, you put your prices up, you're then known to be "the man who put his prices up".

Let your images sell themselves.
Click to expand...

Pritty much what I was going to say.
 
thanks for the advice.

What do you think i should charge then? relistically without going OTT, so what do you think for reasonable fee for

sitting Fee,

and then

7x5
8x6
10x8
18x12
canvas ETC (lee if this pays off you may be getting a lot of business)
 
Sorry the £100 sitting was 2 hours i think so yep £50 an hour.
 
visualisetheworld said:
thanks for the advice.

What do you think i should charge then? relistically without going OTT, so what do you think for reasonable fee for

sitting Fee,

and then10x8
18x12
canvas ETC (lee if this pays off you may be getting a lot of business)

7x5
8x6
Click to expand...


What do you think your time is worth? What do you think your images are worth?
Sell yourself short if you want to mate, but we cant tell you what you should be charging.
 
visualisetheworld said:
thanks for the advice.

What do you think i should charge then? relistically without going OTT, so what do you think for reasonable fee for

sitting Fee

and then

7x5
8x6
10x8
18x12
canvas ETC (lee if this pays off you may be getting a lot of business)
Click to expand...

sitting Fee £35 - £50 depending on time involved. I would suspect 40mins to 60mins. Anything more, you're taking too long in my experience.

and then

7x5 £25.00
8x6 £28.00
10x8 £35.00
18x12 (bit of a weird size!) 16x12 would be better, £45.00

Also offer framing - 'cos it really finishes it off well. Much more pro than mounts.
 
I do not want to sell myself short but it is catch 22.

£35-£50 sitting fee ( up to 1 hour shoot)

then prints at 7x5 mounted £8
8x6 £10

10x8 £15

etc, what type of margin should be included on prints?
 
How much for framing? a 7x5,

would type of frame would you recommend Leep?

thanks

Mark
 
2 hours sitting fee?! If you can keep a horse going for that long, it's on 'roids!!

You've got between 30 and 40 mins tops really. A lot can be done in that time!!

Remember, you'll at least double your time in processing too.

Your money on prints isn't all profit, 'cos you have your processing time and printing fees.
 
visualisetheworld said:
How much for framing? a 7x5,

would type of frame would you recommend Leep?

thanks

Mark
Click to expand...

Well a 7x5 framed with me (trade) is £6.80 + postage.

That's a 9" x 7" frame, with a bevelled cut mount at 7" x 5" aperture.
 
very true, i edited the 2 hour down to 1 hour, allowing

Portraiture type of shots of horse (10-15mins)
Horse Jumping (15-20mins)
Horse in stables, With owner (not in stables :lol:) (5-10 mins)
 
postage being?

Is it worth offering choice?

or not

as in Framed or mounted £25 or £10
 
Always offer choice. However, showing an example will always sell the better option.

Postage is £3.20 for one, or you can get up to 10 frames in a box for £11.00 postage. You could then add your prints in at a later date etc

:)
 
Are there pictures of your frames on your website?
 
Not yet :thinking:

I'll send you an email tomorrow with them, the football is about to start :D:D

Doing some development on our site at the moment.
 
ok thanks,

any other ideas advice about prices etc anyone
 
double at least the prices of your prints, and say it is an introductory offer.

then they know the prices will go up in time..

when you feel you have a good portfolio and client base then double them again.

and keep your sitting fee to 35 -50 pound
 
Thanks, so it seems the sitting fee sounds good.

Should i include any prints in that?
 
no prints in the sitting fee.

and it is non returnable if they dont like any of the prints.

also have you thought about a small contract nothing major just a few guidelines
 
What such as what happens if it rains, length of shoot. etc?
 
£100 an hour would be great, i was looking at a website earlier and some CEO'S of companies are getting £112 a minute!!!
 
Lets put it this way, I am doing some pictures for a little fun yard show where few people can afford much so pro level prices are out hence it being me doing the pics :lol: anything they do make will go to a charity, so to help things along and to let them have (hopefully ;)) some nice pics I am going to charge about the same as you for prints and donate any profit on the printing to the charity fund so I am not worried about my time. Horses are one thing I am ok at getting pics of, and I do know how to make the horse look its best even if my processing is pretty well non existant at the moment!!

If I was good enough to be looking at charging people on a proper basis I would be looking at upping the prices from those you quoted, and if I was looking to pay someone to get pics of mine I would want to see work that they had done for others before I would consider using them.
You do need to know when to catch the horse to make it look good - as an example someone I know who does super studio work and makes a fair bit from stock photography could not get a quite elegant horse and rider that I was teaching to look good as he caught the horses legs at the wrong point in its stride, or the rider out of the saddle when the horse was in the right place!! Which reminds me he owes me a processing lesson :lol:

If I were you I would get to some shows near you (riding diary web site lists quite a few by area) and practice getting pics of all sorts of different types and colours of horses, in hand and under saddle, on the flat and jumping then pop the ones that are not so good on here and ask LeeP, Hacker and the other equestrian togs to let you know how you could have improved them so that you build up a portfolio that you can show people, that way you will be seen as a professional from the start and word will quickly spread that you are a good photographer instead of a cheap one. Good luck with it :D
 
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