How much should I charge my customer? (Automotive Photoshoot)

[JapaDog]

Hi everyone,

I know this seems like a very stupid question to ask but I've never been in the photography business at all. The whole photography thing all started out as a hobby about a year and a half ago; just recently a few local automotive modification shops start taking my pictures seriously and ask for a photoshoot.

As I said, I have no business name, company, or even a business card. Quite frankly, in a business point of view, I am a complete newbie to this.

I was thinking along the line like a package:

5 pictures deal: ($150)
2 x Rolling Shots
2 x Still Shots
1 x Interior Shot

What do you guys think of this? would it be too expensive?

Here is some of my work so far:



















Please let me know what you think, I am very open to all opinions~!!

[davidhtam]

dude.. for the quality of your photos, i'd be charging way more.

Think of the time and effort that goes into a shoot... you're not just taking 5 snaps. From what i can tell by looking at your photos, you've got a rig set up and also some off camera lighting. It takes time for you to set up your equipment, take the photos, edit, etc etc.

$150 is selling yourself short. I would charge at least $500 if not more. Remember, your photos are your product.. charging such a small amount would mean you have no confidence in the product that you're selling.

Also, these are businesses that are hiring you to take these photos to promote their work as well.

[lowside67]

But the flip side to that argument is there are a lot of talented photographers who do what you do for free just as a hobby and having a "cool" car to shoot is payment enough for them. I think the number of people that are going to pay $500 for some photos of their personal car is pretty small, not 0, but pretty small. Consider your niche (target group) and how you are going to promote yourself...

Mark

[davidhtam]

I don't disagree with what you said about people willing to pay, but he said that these are businesses, "car modifying companies", that are asking him to take the photos for him.

and plus.. i think when you pay someone to do something, they're going to do a better job... 90% of the time

[moky]

And not only that, but you would also need to take into account the gear you are using and your gears' shelf life. You know how people would say this camera only has XXXXXX actuations shutter life etc. Your strobes would also have a number of outputs they can fire.

But then again, shooting a cool car and getting 'practice' is often payment enough. If this is something you are considering as a full time business then maybe you should be charging a little bit more. If this is something you want to do as a hobby, learning how to shoot, compose and process better, on the side as a means of justifying what you've spent so far, then what you are askng seems fair.

You also might want to clarify what 5pictures mean. Are you handing them 5 images and they can be free to do what they want with it? Or are you printing out 5 shots for them and that's it?

[Hehe]

If you are giving up the full right, I'll charge no less than 200/pic considering the quality of your shots.

[JapaDog]

Yes the picture will be deliver with full right.

What this basically mean is that I will be delivering the file in a folder containing the photoshoped file + Jpeg output.

[J____]

You guys are totally right about the quality vs price point. However keep in mind especially in photography it's not always the quality that counts but the reputation and also how much a client wants your service, aka your marketing ability. If you take the best pictures in the world but have 0 past clients, you're not going to be able to charge a fortune the first job you get. It takes time to build reputation and demand.

In all honesty I think $200 would be a good rate for this situation. If you can get more, great, if not then consider yourself lucky to be able to get that price when you're just starting out.

At this point be more focused on building your reputation and clients than squeezing a few hundred bucks out of your first 'client'. When you have 10 clients lined up begging you to shoot their cars for $200, then you can look into increasing your rate.

I just don't see a local private car mod company spending $500 on 5 images when often times their whole marketing plan is by word of mouth, and your reputation at this point is not enough to be worth their $500 for bragging rights of "So and So photographed our cars".

edit: If you're serious about this I would look into building a personal site to showcase your work rather than a Flickr account. If I was a client I wouldn't pay someone money to photograph for me if they only had a flickr account because it shows that they are not serious about their work, therefore they're not a professional. You know what I mean?

edit2: btw you should never give your photoshop file. Only the FULLY RETOUCHED jpeg or a flattened Tiff file. If your clients knew how you achieved your results, they'd have no reason to hire you for future jobs.

[JapaDog]

thanks for all the great advice guys~!!

It now all makes sense to me that $200 should be a good starting point. I was thinking along the line at around $200 to start out and say in the future, if my name does start getting out, then it still won't be too late to increase my price.

It just reconfirmed my idea that reputation probably is one of the most influenctial factor in reflecting the price of your photography, and hearing this from someone else is very helpful to me~

[1exotic]

if it's only a private shoot for some guy and his car $150 is fine... especially if you are doing rigs/lighting etc... I was paid that for a few shoots just for still shots..
for a business $200 starting price for the 5 or so images is more than fair, don't go any lower.


and pretty much what everyone else said.

[Mananetwork]

Agree with the price, build up a good portfolio, spread the word before you start charging more.

With your work though, I'd already start higher because the quality is there!