How much should i Charge?

I been doing photography for the last couple of years now...it started off as a hobby...now i am doing it more proffesional, i was wondering what you all thought about my prices...

Right now they are

$100 / for 1 hour and $200 for 3 hours...did this to give a discount and also not to rush the client...what do you all think? You can check out my PICTURE MONTAGE PORTFOLIO at my myspace page...click on the "PLAY" Button to see the images edited to music...

Thanks.

http://www.myspace.com/kleverpix

How much should i Charge?

This is a somewhat loaded question. Charge for what?

In photography, your time is only part of the issue, the usage of the images is quite another. Are you shooting model comps? Weddings? Senior portraits? Portraits? Commercial?

My point is that an hourly rate does not take into account the fact that what you produce has value as much as your time to produce it does.

Your rates sound fine, but for example, if you shoot in the commercial arena, you would charge for your time (creative fee) and then there is another fee for usage rights depending on what for, and how long the images will be used. They would be used to paying this and if you didn't ask for it, you'd be selling yourself short.

In the portrait or wedding industry, again, there is usually a fee for shooting and then additional fees for prints, albums, retouching, proofs, etc. If you go shoot a wedding (assuming you're competent) and you do it for $500 and give them the files, you're probably leaving several hundred dollars on the table.

About the only area where a straight hourly rate applies is when you're shooting model comps/portfolios and you say something like $150 an hour and 3 changes of clothes. Also, if you're shooting event coverage, like a concert, or convention, those shoots usually revolve around an hourly rate since the usage is normally internal or PR for the company you're working for.

It's also worth mentioning that you have to consider the market you're in, or that you're trying to position yourself to be in. Your price has to reflect the market you are in, and beyond that, the budget of the event you're covering. If you're hired to cover a $60,000 wedding and only charge $300 to shoot...you get my point? If you're hired to shoot a shot for a company who's going to turn around and use that shot in a $100,000 ad campaign and you only charged $150 to shoot it without any usage fees... Again, just think about who and what you're shooting.

How much should i Charge?

I think your prices are right on. There is a photographer here in Florida that I use that charges $300 to meet you at a location. She takes the pictures and then I run by her studio and I get all of the pictures on disk and all rolls of film. I love that deal. It allows me to print as many professional pictures that I want, at anytime.

How much should i Charge?

I really liked some of your work. Some of it I didn't think was worth $100 an hour though. I would do $90 1st hour, and $50 for every half hour after that.. or whatever price. Do a scale!

How much should i Charge?

i dont know about the prices, i had the same question im a fellow flickr, but i think your slides broken cause i only saw like 10 pix

How much should i Charge?

Decent professional photographers in Chicago charge at least $350 per half day and $650 per day for event photography. If you can find someone that still charges for an hour it is usally $150 and up. Often digital photogs will also charge a digital processing fee of $50 to $100 per shoot as well... the processing fee goes up if you need to do any extensive editing such as correcting glare in eye glasses, etc.

How much should i Charge?

Your prices are good- you also have to remember that if you set your prices too low then your clientale will look low. There are some things a photographer cannont make up for in a picture such as poor clothing choices, etc.

How much should i Charge?

There are some fantastic pics on there. BUT there are some rather bad ones too. Makes me wonder which ones you took and which were actually professional and whose copyrights are being infringed upon.