Commercial Photography Pricing

[PictureMeBeautfiul]

I'm a fairly new photographer and have usually done only family portraits and I have someone who just opened up an online clothing store. She wants me to photograph the models wearing the clothes (pictures from all angles and even close ups showing the detail of the fabric) she's selling and also jewelry. I'm going to be photographing the jewelry using a light box.

Is it typical to charge per dress change and jewelry? If so, how much? Or do I charge her what I charge for family portraits ($350 for a minimum of 2 hours, client gets CD with 20-30 pictures).

I need some guidence here!

[brian.austin]

Figure out your hourly rate and go from there.

If you're charging $350 for 2 hours, it's $175/hr not including processing time. I typically include processing time in my charges and usually quote 1 hour of processing time for every 1 hour of shooting. That covers other time like organizing equipment, planning, etc..

If you include processing time with that formula, your hourly charge is $87.50.

Then figure out how long it's going to take you to shoot and process.

You should REALLY get deeper than this, of course, but if you're the typical "what should I charge?" poster (search the forum; you're not the first), you're probably not interested in how to fully develop a complete pricing plan that includes costs like insurance, equipment depreciation, etc..

[KmH]

Originally Posted by PictureMeBeautfiul

I'm a fairly new photographer and have usually done only family portraits and I have someone who just opened up an online clothing store. She wants me to photograph the models wearing the clothes (pictures from all angles and even close ups showing the detail of the fabric) she's selling and also jewelry. I'm going to be photographing the jewelry using a light box.

Is it typical to charge per dress change and jewelry? If so, how much? Or do I charge her what I charge for family portraits ($350 for a minimum of 2 hours, client gets CD with 20-30 pictures).

I need some guidence here!

Welcome to the Photo Camel. Please don't hesitate being an active member and contributing in which ever forum sections suit your fancy.

Brian alluded to the fact that pricing a commercial job such as yours is much more involved than he illustrated. Commercial photography uses a business model vastly different then the retail photography business model (portraiture).

I highly recommend you visit the web site of the American Society of Media Photoraphers web site and look over their "Pricing Guides" with special emphisis on the "ASMP Licensing Guide", "Calculate Your Cost of Doing Business" (CODB), and "Pricing Software: fotoQuote". Pricing Guides | American Society of Media Photographers

They also publish an inexpensive book: Professional Business Practices in Photography . ASMP Professional Business Practices in Photography | American Society of Media Photographers

I also highly recommend the book: Best Business Practices For Photographers by John Harrington. www.johnharrington.com

Amazon.com: Best Business Practices for Photographers, Second Edition (9781435454293): John Harrington : Books

Amazon.com: Best Business Practices for Photographers, Second Edition (9781435454293): John Harrington : Books