John Francis wrote:
"Sounds pretty darn cheap to me! By the time you work out an hourly
rate (accounting for *all* the time you are there, waiting for kids
to be ready), and adding processing, preparation and book-keeping time,
you're probably working at below minimum wage, and with no allowance
towards the cost of your equipment."
William Robb wrote:
I think you are selling yourself WAY to cheaply.
You should be charging that much per hour, not per shoot.
Guys, my husband agrees with you all 110%, and so do I to an extent.
However,
there are many other factors that I must consider here. These include but
are NOT
limited to the following;
1. First and foremost, my lack of experience. Despite being given the gift
of an "eye"
for photography and generally for "what looks good", I still have a lot to
learn technically,
and as I said before, I still don't trust myself enough to be sure that I
will get ANY good
shots out of 3 rolls, albeit 10 good shots from one roll. Therefore, I feel
that I must offer
somebody who is willing to pay me at least 3 rolls to ensure that they get
enough shots
to fulfill their needs.
2. My lack of equipment. I cannot possibly expect people to pay me good
money when
I can't offer them the "best" technology and procedures around. (I mean, I
don't even have
a flash that works properly and I don't even have a hand held light meter
(and wouldn't know
how to use one if I did), I have to rely completely on TTL)
3. Lots of competition. Due to the fact that this is such a small town, my
competition is many
and varied. There are frequent travelling setups (like Pixifoto etc) who
come through town. In
fact there were two lots here just last week. There are also at least 4 or
5 local "pro" photographers
who have the experience and equipment that I don't, and most of who also
work in the few minilabs
in town so don't have to pay for ANY processing costs and very little for
film. One such guy that I
know quite well charges only $150 per session for a "studio" sitting (plain
grey backdrop, softbox/strobe
lighting), for about 1-2 rolls of film with all of the 4x6 prints given to
the customer. He has over 15
years experience (about 15 times what I have), all of the latest equipment
and still only charges this much.
He also manages the Kodak minilab and has no processing/film costs so puts
the 100 bucks straight into
his pocket. On average, he spends about half an hour with each "client" to
"achieve" the shots that they want.
I personally find his portrait work boring and uninspirational (he is an
incredibly talented landscape photographer though),
and feel that he charges too much (particularly because I know that it
doesn't cost him anything and he spends so
little time and energy with the people), but he still gets many "clients"
and his weekends are booked up for
months in advance. So, somehow, if I am to make a go of this, I need to
compete with people like this guy.
The only way I know how, (because I don't have the experience or the
equipment), is to try and offer
better "value for money" which in this case means, larger prints, more
prints, more time and energy spent
with the kids. The mother of the little fairy in the shots I posted earlier
said to me that the thing that really
"got" her about the shots I took was that they have so much "heart", and
that I went to great lengths to consider the
child's and the parents beliefs, personality etc and to cater specifically
to those things rather than just
saying "smile" and then "that's a wrap!".
4. Because I am only learning here, I consider that being paid "below
minimum wage" is not really an issue.
I am hoping that with this approach, "my time will come" one day, and I will
reap the rewards then by
having the experience to be able to charge top dollar for a service that I
consider to be first class. As I
said before, my husband disagrees strongly with this, particularly as I
spend alot of time while I am not
shooting preparing, designing and sewing, backdrops, costumes, props etc and
he feels that people don't
appreciate all of the effort that I put in. But, as I said, I believe that
"my time will come" and that alot of
effort put in now will result in hopefully, one day, me becoming somebody
whose talents are highly sought
after (not at all ambitious, am I?). And besides, how could I possibly
sleep at night knowing that I had
overcharged somebody when I know that there are others in town that could do
a "better" job than I can.
Bill D. Casselberry wrote:
"I had just read Tanya's original post and was about to say
the same. This sounds almost a give-away. Most destructive
to gainful employment is the double 6x8 prints. Not only are
they surely more expensive than 4x6 *PROOFS!* - they are most
likely sizable enough that enlargment orders will be the exception,
rather than the rule."
I understand this Bill, but I see it like this - it costs me au$14.95 for a
set of doubles of 4x6 prints from a
roll of 24. It costs me au$24.95 for 6x8s. If I were to take a neg in to
be reprinted individually up to a 6x8, it
costs me $5.95 PER PRINT. I just feel that this is the most cost effective
way of ensuring that the client gets
the best value for their money and as I am not printing them myself, I don't
feel that it is fair to charge a markup
on the printing costs (all I've had to do is go to the lab and pick them up,
no effort in that) and to profit on something
I haven't done myself. I know for a fact that some of the travelling
photogs. that are coming through lately charge only
$5 for the session and then between $100 and $200 for a "package" of prints
in various sizes. Some of them charge up
to $300 for one single framed 11x14 print! I think that is daylight
robbery! And besides, how can I expect people to
pay that sort of money for something that is amateur at best?
All I am hoping to do is to make enough money to perhaps pay for some new
equipment so that my poor hubby
doesn't have to keep paying for it. I really don't think that I have enough
knowledge/expertise/experience to be
making a profit from these people who are basically just "guinea pigs" as I
try to learn my craft. I also want to ensure
that money never becomes such an important issue that I lose sight of the
artist side of me or that I am unable to provide
everybody who approaches me with at least a little bit of what they
need/want.
Does this make me naive or gullible? Perhaps, but at least I won't be
compromising my morals or my creative input, I'll
be able to sleep at night (if my kids ever let me) and I may be able to
finance any future "enablements"....
Sorry for rambling, yet again, you'll get used to it though, it is yet
another of my "endearing" traits...hehe.
8-D
fairy.
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