How much should I ask for?

[3dPhoto]

Hi all,

I am relatively new to this forum and I hope you could help me with some advice and share any similar experiences on the situation I am in.

I am an ameteur photographer who is thinking about going pro. I have recently been contacted to work in a small studio taking baby/ family portraits. In the brief discussion on the phone the owner said he wants to meet with me tomorrow (saturday) to discuss things further, including what my "going rate" is.

Here lies my problem, I have no idea what the going rate is. I was thinking of saying about £17/hr but really any advice would be gratefully recieved.

Thanks very much

Graham

[GeoffWessex]

Difficult for us to say - there's nothing in your gallery and no link to anything elsewhere, so we don't know how capable you might be.Are you going to turn up with a quality camera and some know-how or with a point and shoot and flash away?
Never underestimate or undercharge for your services, but you need a yardstick to compare yourself with.... several groups on Flickr specialise in baby/family portraits (you'll need to search groups), so take a look at them - for some ideas and also to see if you can cut it.
I'd guess that anybody's time in the UK is worth at least 10 quid an hour - so make sure they know that, however long you're there taking pictures, you could be just as long in processing them.

[Cathus]

If you're going to produce reasonable quality work then I'd suggest £17 is way too low & you should look to double it at least.

Every hour you shoot will mean probably 1-2 additional hours of post production unless you're just sending the shots straight out of the camera, so the £17 an hour becomes £5.60 an hour, not a lot more than a minimum wage for a service which he'll charge much more than £17 to the clients for.

You should be able to factor in your time, equipment travel.

Don't sell yourself short.

[3dPhoto]

Thanks for the advice. I haven't got round to posting any photos yet but here is my website:

www.ghphotography.co.uk

[KeithT]

Originally Posted by 3dPhoto

Hi all,

I am relatively new to this forum and I hope you could help me with some advice and share any similar experiences on the situation I am in.

I am an ameteur photographer who is thinking about going pro. I have recently been contacted to work in a small studio taking baby/ family portraits. In the brief discussion on the phone the owner said he wants to meet with me tomorrow (saturday) to discuss things further, including what my "going rate" is.

Here lies my problem, I have no idea what the going rate is. I was thinking of saying about £17/hr but really any advice would be gratefully recieved.

Thanks very much

Graham

I personally think you need to consider the other guy's overheads, so 17 or 20 quid is reasonable over a 35 hour week. Anything less might not be worthwhile to you.

[Stormsong]

It's a bit of a catch-22 situation, because you have not made a name for yourself as a pro, and doing the studio work will help get your name out to a wider audience.
@3dPhoto - you don't mention whether the stint at the studio is on a fulltime basis or an ad hoc one (ie taking portraits when there is a demand). Also, you have to consider things like whether the studio will regard you as an employee and whether they will be paying your tax and national insurance (I presume you are in the UK) or whether you will be employed as a freelancer/contractor in which case you will have to pay your own tax/NI. Also, will you need to take out insurance for breakage, theft etc if you are using your own gear? All these things add up and I would say that £17 per hour is very little!

Regards
Denise

[Stormsong]

PS: I have had a look at your website and your offering. You also have to consider that for every hour working in the other studio, you lose your own studio time . . . if that makes sense

[thefonz78]

Why not just charge for prints. Min of 2 prints £40 each. They have a free photoshoot which is only gonna take an hour you get £80 2 prints will only cost you £5.