Are my prices good oh this photography type portraits?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/45655785@N05/
my photos.
and prices for my service:
Pricing Chart
Under Age 3 Portrait:
With props $35.00
Without props $25.00
This service includes: 1.5 hour session, as many clothing changes that will fit in the time, as many pictures taken that will fit within the time, Indoor or outdoor, Your own poses.
(please allow an extra 30-45 minutes after the appointment to review photos quickly with me and pick which ones you would like edited and/ or developed. )Please see Development fees and packages!
Family Portraits:
With props $30.00
without props $25.00
This service includes: 1.5 hour session, As many poses and clothing changes you would like within the time, as many pictures taken that will fit with in the time, indoor or outdoor, Your own poses.
(please allow an extra 30-45 minutes after the appointment to review photos quickly with me and pick which ones you would like edited and/ or developed. )Please see Development fees and packages!
Fashion Portraits:
With or without props $35.00
This service includes: 2 hour session, as many poses and clothing changes you can fit within the time, as many pictures are taken that will fit with in the time, Indoor or Outdoor, Your own poses and guided poses.
(Please allow an extra 30 to 45 minutes after to review quickly with me and pick which photos you would like edited and/ or developed. )Please see Development fees and packages!
Basic portraits:
with props $25.00
Without props $20.00
This service includes: 1.5 hour session, as many poses and clothing changes you can fit within the time, as many pictures are taken that will fit with in the time, Indoor or Outdoor, Your own poses.
(Please allow an extra 30 to 45 minutes after to review quickly with me and pick which photos you would like edited and/ or developed. )Please see Development fees and packages!
Basic Extended portrait Package (includes one 8×10 that is Extreme edit $15.00 savings):
with props $30.00
without props $25.00
This service includes: 1.5 hour session, as many poses and clothing changes you can fit within the time, as many pictures are taken that will fit with in the time, Indoor or Outdoor, Your own poses. One person.
(Please allow an extra 30 to 45 minutes after to review quickly and decide which One photo you would like to develop as an 8×10 at no extra cost. )Please see Development fees and packages!
Pets:
1 hour
$20.00
(Please allow an extra 30 to 45 minutes after to review quickly with me and pick which photos you would like developed. )Please see Development fees and packages!
Musicians:
1 hour
35.00 no restrictions.
(Please allow an extra 30 to 45 minutes after to review quickly with me and pick which photos you would like developed. )Please see Development fees and packages!
Development price chart:
Most popular sizes listed below keep in mind there are hundreds of different sizes we can order for you.
Singles Photo Development:
One 8×10 – $15.00
One 5×7 – $7.00
One 4×6 – $3.00
One 3.5×5 – $2.00
One wallet sheet of 8 – $4.00
Additional sizes and prices can be discussed.
$50.00 Platinum Package development one photo:
This package includes the following
Two 8×10 , three 5×7, three 4×6, and three wallet sheets of 8 each.
$30.00 Premium Package development one photo:
This package includes the following
One 8×10, three 5×7, two wallet sheets of 8 each
$15.00 Basic Package Development One photo:
This package includes the following
One 8×10, one 5×7, one wallet sheets of 8
EXTRAS :
Slide show d.v.d. of All photos minimum editing plus menu : $5.00
Slide show d.v.d. of All photos Full Edit plus menu: $10.00
This is why i am getting different opinions from different people k.k. i have 3 months before i open my business and the last thing i want out of it is failure.
Thankseveryone for the insight. only problem is i dohave to start low one, i am amature two if i get a customer base i can easily raise prices to weed out the good and bad. another problem here is that theres one other photography business that offers 25.00 sessions no other prices except developement and they do pretty good work
1. please go out and research your own area properly. Coming on here with a list of prices is totally useless as it is a worldwide site and what would be expensive in Middleofnowhereville in the mid US is going to be dirt cheap in say London or Milan.
2. as to your pricing. You have too many variations. Why extra for props or no props? Why different times per package etc etc etc
If I saw that list I would immediately move on because it is just totally confusing and unnecessary.
3. At the prices I see there you will be out of business and bankrupt in about a month even if you were working in a third world country somewhere.
You have not taken into account any of your overall costs from the looks of your prices.
For instance 2 hour fashion $35.00. That means you are going to earn $17.5 for each hour. You then are going to be sorting and editing all shots taken in that session which will take at least a couple of hours which puts you down to $9 per hour.
You may well then sell 2 8×10s and 1 5×7 which will get you £37 so for the whole shoot you have taken $72 for what will end up being a total of around 8 hours work in total. That works out at $9 per hour.
Out of which you have to pay for materials, rent, equipment, tax, insurance, etc and still have some over to pay the mortgage and buy food.
Not going to work is it.
Going further down (the very confusing list of prices) DVD slide show $5.00!!!! even with a minimum of editing you have an hours work. That should be $50.00
Slide show with Full Edit ?? 2-4 hours work minimum. for $10.00????
Sorry, I could pick to pieces everything you have got there but I hope you get the general idea.
You will NOT make any money from your business with that sort of thing. You will end up potentially doing a lot of work and earning absolutely nothing when you take your time and all overheads into consideration.
You need to research your pricing properly. You need to simplify your packages and you need to fully research your market and the pricing of others in your area. If there is no-one offering similar services in the area then look at the pricing of other photographers on the www or in the nearest large town to you.
Sorry to be harsh but the business side of a photography business is as if not more important than being able to take pictures.
By all means start the business by offering "bargain" prices for a week, but ensure that all customers taking advantage of that know it is a one off opening offer.
Good fotos .. keep it up
Frankly you are simply not ready to charge clients any price for photography that is essentially over-manipulated snapshots. Why would they pay you for the same level photography they can probably do themselves? Your photos are not terrible for family snaps or practice shots from a beginner, but they do not look in any way professional as many of them have exposure, lighting or posing problems of one sort or another, some have all three. (And yes, you have a shot or two that are better than the others, but are you planning to shoot 1000 frames and hope you get a couple of good ones? A good photographer will have mostly keepers in any given set, despite the fact you may hear that the Nat Geo photographer shoots 5000 frames and only one gets used. That does not mean the other 4999 were no good!) Sorry if that sounds blunt, I am not saying it to be mean. You may not get the best critique from here on Y!A, as there are many "gushers", youngsters and teenagers and other people who do not know much about the craft. Take your portfolio to a teacher , established photographer, or photography club and ask for some real feedback. Then work on the areas that need improvement and attention.
As for the pricing structure, you won't be able to pay taxes and wages from what you are thinking of charging. It is not a viable and sustainable business plan. As a side note, why would using props change the price anyway? OTOH, it is difficult to see how you could charge any more than that at this point because your photography skill level is not there yet. Most new photography "businesses" fail within the first year. Lack of skill is one reason, but lack of a good business plan is as important. I would suggest taking classes or seminars on basic photography, particularly portrait photography and lighting, doing some more practicing and honing of your craft and also some research on starting a real business before jumping into this unprepared.
Best wishes in your future.
Angie> Have you some kind of mental problem?. Do you suffer from any kind of confusion or delusion?.
You asked this question a few hours ago, and for the benefit of others I'll provide a link.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;…
(sorry to start out on a mean note, but I am getting a little annoyed).
Those prices (for a professional) are ridiculously low, you have not thought this through whatsoever. For the quality of work YOU produce I would not pay a penny. I am getting sick and tired of people such as yourself thinking they can run any kind of photography business with very poor work, inadequate equipment and no business sense whatsoever. And do not try and deny this because the evidence for all of this is right in front of my eyes.
I see a Flickr photostream of images that are all friends and family members. Just because your mother says she likes the photo of herself it does not mean you are a professional photographer!. Praise from family and friends does NOT count!. I have seen hundreds of people on this site ask about starting a photography business and you are one of the most clueless I have ever seen. How on Earth are you going to open this business in three months?, I see years of work needed!. You have very obviously received a DSLR and 18-55mm kit lens for a present, your mum has said they look good, and you now think you can start a business. You do not even own a portrait lens or lighting for crying out loud!. I can see from the EXIF data of the images that you are using an 18-55mm lens, you even used an 18mm focal length for this image..
http://www.flickr.com/photos/45655785@N0…
How on Earth can you think that using a focal length like that for portraits is correct?.
So you have a Canon XSI and kit lens?. And that's it?. Anything else?.
The "last thing you want out of this business is failure"??.. Well stop running headfirst into it, slow the hell down, and learn 1) how to take good photos 2) How to actually make a profit from it!!. If you try and open in three months you will fail.. miserably.
It seems to me that you are a very ignorant woman who will not listen to advice from experienced people. I've tried to warn you, I've tried to advise you, now I could not care less. It's like talking to a brick wall. But do one thing for me would you please?.. Stop posting on this site and wasting peoples time.
Edit: It gets worse…
"What are the best light bulbs to use for photography?"
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;…
"Are my pro style photos acceptable"
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;…
(No they are not Angie)
"What should I do because obviously I'm nuts"
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;…
Well there is my answer to the question I asked at the start.. You really are nuts, and you spelled 'business' wrong several times in your questions. If you can not even spell 'business', you certainly can not run one (rule of thumb).
.
How many times are you going to ask this?
Angie, plain and simple you are NOT ready to run a business in photography yet. If you have to ask such BASIC questions like these in a forum such as this you need to step away from this endeavor before someone screws you over royally.
And I don't get why using props is an additional charge. Seems a bit ridiculous to me. You're seriously undercutting yourself AND other photographers by charging this low. But, if you want cheap Wal-Mart clientele this is what you will get and you will slowly (or quickly) go out of business trying to handle the overhead costs with prices this low.
EDIT:
THREE MONTHS?! To set up a photography business with the minimal equipment you have? Oh, that's rich.
You know, I may get lucky and be able to do a few small gigs on my cute Canon Rebel XT but here's the thing: I know my limits. If someone calls me and says they want a high end shoot of their wedding I cannot and will not accept the gig. Why? I have NO idea what I am doing. I am in no way prepared for such endeavors. Hell, my ancient external flash died in the past month and guess what? I am NOT doing gigs for anyone because even without my flash I feel I am not serving anyone properly.
Until I can add another 2-3 GOOD lenses, some basic studio lighting, a better camera body, and solid learning experience from pros I network with, I am in no way ready for a business and neither are you. It takes a lot more than three months to start ANY business I can assure you of that. I wrote business plans for a small firm and let me tell you, from beginning to end there was a lot going into that business plan from concept, to equipment, to location, to market and demographics, to PROFIT and LOSS sheets. It was hard work even for me.
I will say that while there is nothing wrong with doing a few simples gigs for friends or family on a Canon Rebel line, anything more and you're in over your head. Clearly you refuse to listen to wise advice and that will lead to trouble.
Get the education, network with pros, work with the pros, and then ask about starting a business.
ok, so you laid out all your charges… which is fine, but what are your costs? its a balance sheet, and were only seeing one half of it.
your obviously american, (im in england) so as for your pricing structure, it seems a bit cheap… but oyu know your market, i dont.
however; certain things are constant.. printing costs. get a deal with one lab… and sooner rather than later, buy a proper printer. (mine cost me almost 500 quid) its a cannon ix5000… its money well spent. an A3 print, in vibrant light fast colour cost me around 2 quid. ( i buy my paper in germany, ang my inks 5 miles up the road from me in coventry)
and i work from home. on a PC i built, with a 22 inch monitor… i have no real costs… i just pay my taxes.. and live off work, which generates itself… but, then ive been doing this for almost 40 years. and i know a lot of people. which is where the work comes from… and just taking the picture is a small part of what we do. remember that. without customers generating income, we go bust.
30 yrs ago id do a wedding for 50 quid… it was a weeks wages… these days its 500 quid, which is still a weeks wage… a full days shoot is 800 quid. (which also includes post processing and printing)
dont sell yourself cheap to get the work, youll starve and be homeless inside a year.
create a cost list. include rent, rates, taxes, everything which you have to pay out… and that inlcudes your time charged at X per hour.
then calculate the actual income generated per hour…