What should I charge?

I think $150—$200 is about what professionals charge for an hour or so, at least when getting senior pictures… But since you’re starting out, you may want to knock it down a bit, to make sure they’re satisfied. Proffessional is kind of a state of mind too, since the grass is always greener.

Also, you definitely want to have a flat charge for the time and have them pay for the prints at cost, or slightly above if you’re going to edit and print the pictures for them.

$100?

I paid $50 for a sitting fee at the photographer’s location, and then paid by the print. The shoot took about an hour. This was a “friends and family” discount. If you go to where they are, I would charge $75, and then charge by the print. I thought this was really reasonable, and I could control the costs. I ended up spending about $400.

Since you are starting out I would suggest pricing lower then what you probably want (Cost + Minimum wage + 20%)

I would use this as an opportunity to build up a portfolio. Just make sure you have the clients sign something that allows you to use their photos to show to future clients or display them on a website.

I worked for beer money making websites so I could beef up my portfolio. Eventually people started calling from referrals and I slowly started raising my prices. Working for cheap is better than not working.

Yes, always charge the prints separate from the shoot. That way people can order exactly the number of prints they want and you don’t get taken advantage of (such as a person requesting 100 photos). You could always make a package deal: the shoot and an array of photos (one 8×10, 2 5×7s, etc etc) for $Price, otherwise $OtherPrice for the shoot and $PriceList for the photos. It’s really whatever you want to charge it as.

I would look at types of shoots you’re being asked to do, and price the sittings accordingly. Figure out how much retouching you’re willing to do on shots, and then figure out what you need to charge for your time over and above. Also, you’ll need some sort of release form if you intend to use the images on a web site or in your portfolio.

I agree that when you are starting out, you often have to charge less than if you were a professional, but with photography, there is a danger to starting out too low, in that your referral business will also expect a low rate.

The printing part is really the pain in the butt part, and if you want to keep it fast and manageable, you could charge for the shoot, and then charge a CD fee and only deliver the images on disk. That way, people would be responsible for printing on their own and that would save you a lot of time. Professionally printed photos can be expensive, both in time and paper.

$25—$50 for student headshots, shot in the school studio against a paper background or canvas, or outside on campus would be a great deal. Glamor shots would require props, a better setting, more time. Going to someone’s house and taking pictures of the whole family should be more. Photographing kids should be more BTW, if you ever shoot kids, and they lay down on the ground, reschedule the shoot. You will never get a decent picture of the child.

I am in the same boat – I am a student and other students would ask me to take senior portraits and such. I charged $100 for an hour and a half session on location (generally doing two or three looks), which included all images from that session on a disc. I don’t have a relationship with a lab yet, so I don’t make prints (I also don’t really shoot people on film unless it’s a special arrangement), so that cost isn’t factored in. When I worked with a professional portrait photographer, he stressed the importance of not undercharging and told me not to “sell myself short”. Even $100 is significantly less than a good professional’s sitting fee (he charged upwards of $200), so it’s a good deal for them, and you’re building a portfolio. Also: groups are harder to work with, harder to photograph, so it would not be uncalled for to charge more. It also makes sense to charge per look (each time there is a wardrobe or location change), about $50—$75. Since the studio seems to be sub-par, try shooting on location, especially for senior portraits. If your client really wants to be shot inside, find cool locations inside instead of just crappy studio space, or shoot on seamless (just make sure it’s clean). The best way to make things look professional is to pay careful attention to your lighting. Having lights that are way too hot or having way too much contrasty shadow stuff can make things look amateur. And go for YOUR STYLE; don’t just try to replicate what the other senior portraits look like. That’s what will get people to come to you.

If you’re also considering doing event photography and selling those images, when I did that, I charged a small, flat fee (for my time) and added to that the cost of the CD the images were on and charged different amounts for different numbers of images.

Something else you should consider: at some point in your workflow, when you’re processing these images, be sure to include metadata and copyright your work. The last thing you need is for your images to be stolen – ESPECIALLY if they are going on the internet. It’s a good habit to get into, particularly if you’re thinking about doing this professionally.

@john is wise. Get a model release on each client for now. You can Google them up.

SmugMug and other web-based photo “albums” are a great asset for the beginning pro. For a nominal fee, you can set up a very professional website. These sites are a great way to not only show off your work but to also handle proofing. They can even order prints right from SmugMug – you set the prices.

Alfreda says “I agree that when you are starting out, you often have to charge less than if you were a professional, but with photography, there is a danger to starting out too low, in that your referral business will also expect a low rate.”
But there’s a good reason for a low rate right now – you’re using the slightly scummy shared lab at school.
I think that if you take all the good advice here and put up a website, you can advertise on it that people are getting a good deal, the pre-professional rate. Say upfront that at X date, after you graduate (and somehow set up a good lab), your rates will rise, and so Now Is A Good Time To Take Advantage Of Our Low! Low! Introductory Offer.

These days, shooting digital, labs are print service based. The school lab is only a factor if you’re providing prints. There is no processing for digital, and I would assume that if you’re at a school with a decent photography program, you have access to state-of-the art computer and software to manipulate images at no cost. The prints are where the lab becomes a factor—quality of printer, paper, archival ink, etc. daughter was a photojournalism major, I have almost 30 years in advertising and marketing

don’t sell yourself too short, dont charge as much as a professional, but dont do anything crazy like 50bucks or something, id say 125 or 150 would be okay. try 150 first and you can always go down from there.

The general principle that I follow is to choose a number like this…

It’s got to be a number that I know I can stand behind the value I’ll provide at that price. But it’s still a number that makes my breath catch a bit with awe that someone would pay me that much for my services.

And like Trumi said, “professional” is a state of mind. You can consider yourself a student, or a budding professional. I’d suggest the latter, especially if you’re wanting to make some money. You’re already in demand!