HI Moms,
I was curious what you would be willing to pay for a photo mini session. I have a photography business and I am trying to figure out a good starting point for pricing a mini session. (The mini-session would be 30 minutes and would have the session images on a CD from the shoot and come with a photo release form ( I typically take about 50 to 100 pics in 30 minutes) The images would also all be hand edited and given in color, black and white and sepia tone. Lastly the photo shoot can be at either my studio or a outdoor location in a specific area. Thank you for your input! I love this site and all the time everyone takes to help each other out with advice.
Sincerely,
C.~
Thanks for all your input ladies. I am a pro photographer and have been doing this for 8 years. I just wanted to get some insight on what other thought a mini session is worth.
. I do feel there is a lot of costs in this business for photographers that many are not aware of unless your in the business. I have rent and utility to pay monthly for my studio, new backdrops to get to keep up with trends, props etc. (camera equipment insurance, liability insurance, cost of repairs. Good quality camera equipment is very expensive. For instance, my main camera body is 5k and 2 zoom lenses 4k, photo shop $900.00. Plus there's the time it take to edit photos to an art. I spend hours editing just one shoot. So as much as I would love to bring cost down, there's no way I could stay afloat charging $50.00 a session. I appreciate everyone's input and got a good feel for some people's expectations.
Sincerely,
C~
How about start at $65 for the first 50 - 100 customers. Then for every customer they refer to you give them a discount for the next photo session they book with you.Word of mouth is the best advertisment . By the way are you in Austin? If so I would'nt mind being customer if the price is right
I am a pro photographer and just did mini's this morning. If you are giving away the rights to the photo (which I would never ever do) then you need to charge a lot. My sessions (mini, not regular) are $100 and they include an 8X10, 3X5's of all the photo's (no more than 15), 8 wallets and a low res. CD with my logo on it. People will pay for good quality. Take pride in your work and get paid what your worth!
ETA: You OWN the rights to the photo's and can use the photo's any way you like for advertising. UNLESS you sign that away to your customer, then you can't do anything with them because then THEY own the photo's. Really, most people don't realize how much work we put into these photo's. It's not just session time and travel, we have equipment, tax, gas, time, props, bills to pay, website and hosting, and your time on editing to pay for. Don't sell yourself short. You need to set your prices and compare with other photographers in your area. People on here don't know what the cost of living is or the going rate for your area.
BTW, my cost if they would like a CD WITH my logo is an extra $100 on top of my $200 session fee. I do not sell CD's with out a logo. Prints are where you will make your money and if you just give away the CD with their rights to print their own, then you won't make anything off of it
I think $50 would be good. My friend does this and charges $25-50, depending on the minutes and and amt of pics she puts on the cd with option to purchase the remaining cd. She took the 20 best from our shoot and did her magic on them and then I picked 3-for $25-but loved them all so I purchased the remaining cd for $75. Hope this helps.
Ok, does this mean you are only taking 10 shots or the 10 best will be on the CD? Are the 10 best at YOUR discression, is this a colaboration or MY choice? Put it this way, I would be willing to pay 45 for a 30 min session - $1/min of your time, 15 for the CD, labor/cd cost/lable etc. However, I would want imput on the 10 shots or to be able to pay an extra 5 for ALL shots. I am assuming a release stating I can have these photos printed at my discression is included and I would be willing to agree you can use my child's photo for advertisement purposes (however I would expect a small discount for that). If you travel to the site then I would have a travel fee based on miles (a fee for 5miles, 10mi, 15 etc.) this would encourage ME to come to you. I would also scope out areas near you that are good settings and take photos of them for people to see, include distances (mi fees). Basically, if I were to contact you, choose from YOUR seleced locations (5 miles away, beautiful park location) I would expect to spend somewhere between 50-60 for the following:
Full CD of pictures (all taken during the shoot) 45
Signed waiver saying I can print them at my discression $3
Singed waiver saying YOU can use them at your discression (professionally) Full CD for singing this
Small fee for travel (your end) $5
That is what I would be willing to pay - however, If all I am getting is 10 shots, 30 min of your time and you choose the shots, I would probably pass on your service all together.
My minis I've had done are $50 and you get a disc with five prints of your choosing, or the whole disc for and extra $150. Someone else I know charges a similar rate and is completely booked when she does them!
My friend is a photographer and has always done our family photos. Just recently she was offering a Valentines package for $30. It included 30 min. photo session, 10 valentines cards w/ envelopes, 5 digital images on cd w/ copyright release. She took 17 images and I loved them all, so I paid an extra $40 for all images too. Her regular price for a cd of 50-75 images is around $150.
HTH,
A.
Hi C.!
You are the only person who knows your costs, and your market, and of course, your client. What type of client do you want to cater to? When you figure that out, then YOU set your prices. Don't ask people who have no idea what you should be charging, what you should charge. It's up to you, you know how hard you work and what those images are worth! I am a CPP, and I will tell you, I would never go to my hair stylist and say, "today I am only going to pay you $10, and you are going to wash, cut, blow dry, and then you are going to also include that $25 dollar bottle of shampoo AND conditioner." My hairstylist has to stand on her feet all day, replace her equipment, purchase supplies, pay for her rent and utilities, pay for her taxes, etc, etc... then she actually has to make a profit so she can feed her family! Same as you and I.
Good luck, and if you need help with any business or photography questions, look up the Austin Professional Photographers Association (austinppa.com), they have monthly meetings and speakers, and the best part is networking, and mentoring. They will be able to help you greatly, Maria Bernal is the President, she is passionate about this exact thing you are asking, and will be happy to help you. I am a member of our local guild and love it! Also, pm me anytime if you want, I am happy to help, too.
All the best to you and your family,
D.
I am cheap. I would rather pay a little more for the photos, than for the shoot itself. But, if I were just getting the photos to print on my own, then that is a different story.
$50 for a half hour seems reasonable for me. It would depend on the subject, though. For couples without kids, that are easier to work with should be cheaper. Kids that are rambunctious and don't cooperate should be more.
My friend does mini sessions exactly like you explained and she charges $65.
Your in the Texas area and two of my friends recently started out. Offering the same things. The sessions were 60 - 80 dollars (more for weddings) http://tbateman.webs.com/portraits.htm Please include the cd in the package for free. Also another photographer that has built her business and does really well..booked almost every weekend for weddings http://www.olgathomas.com/prices.html please dont put your name huge across the photos. if you must put them on the photos place it very small in the corner. Best if you dont thought. I find it very tacky when the photographer splashes there name across the photos. Know what your doing with placement. Dont lay a fat lady on the floor , if there hair is in there face tell them, if there clothes are sticking out funny fix it. If you have an eye for attention to detail it really helps build your business. Dont ask your customers to dress alike its weird and looks odd in photos. Generly ppl dont do that in real life either. Good luck. I hope you do well and stand out from the crowd of photographers!!!
