Isn't that what we should really ask? I would love to give you a price sheet listing $50 session fees and $20 8x10's, but when you end up spending $500 on photos because you get carried away with all the beautiful images, we are both going to feel bad at some point.
So, I want to hear how much you want to spend, or maybe rather, how much can you spend on your session?
Are you expecting digital images? Or are you just going to order prints? There is much debate in the photography world about the 'value' of a CD of photos from a professional photographer. Photographers make money on selling their time, talent and prints. And if they hand over the digital negatives, then the corner drugstore will be printing those photos. And that opens the next debate over quality. I only use a professional lab to print my images, and they only use quality Kodak professional papers. And yes, paper and ink can make a HUGE difference in the quality of a photograph. These two reasons are big reasons why many photographers will NOT sell the digital negatives of your photo session, and if they do, it only comes with the $$$$ packages.
I am on the fence on this topic. I agree, professional photos NEED to be printed on quality paper with quality ink - NOT at the local drugstore. And I don't want my photos to be viewed on low-quality paper and therefore seen in a lesser light or less professional than I am. And yes, I am doing this for extra income for my family. But, as a consumer, I would want the digital images. I would want to e-mail them to friends, post them on FaceBook, maybe add them to a digital photo album.
So I am offering options at different pricing levels. Those who only want printed pictures, those who want to add digital files just for e-mailing and FaceBook (lower resolution, smaller files) and those who want to buy just digital images and then print their own images (high resolution, full-size photos).
Where are we doing your photo shoot? Bradford, Union and parts of Clay counties have no travel fees for on-location shoots, but beyond those areas, we will need to figure in some travel time and costs.
How many photos do you want at the end of the day? A session can be an hour or two of fun - I love to click the camera away! But then I come home, download the images and usually sigh at the 200+ images staring back at me. All of which need SOME editing before you will ever see them. And editing will take HOURS - anywhere from 10 or 15 minutes to sometimes an hour per photo. So if we can start out with a common goal, that helps the budget conversation greatly! Are you looking for 4 or 5 really amazing photos of your little ones or family? Do you want 10-15 images for a small photo album? Are these your engagement photos and you really want to have 10 images for each of your special hand-picked outfits so you can have a 50-page engagement album to showcase at your wedding? These are each VERY different pricing ranges.
Think about these things before we talk about your session and pricing and let's work with a budget and develop a package just for you.
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Tuesday, July 6, 2010 at 11:54PM