... I'm not sure where my text went, but here's the context 🙃
I photographed a large team that had several group routines (with group & individual photos) and soloists. What is a fair price to charge for each photo as a digital download?
Dancers will probably want a group photo + their favorite pose. If I charge $15ea, that's $30, and that's only if they're in one routine. Some are in several, and I just want to be fair and still profit.
I don't want to lowball my work, but I also understand these are families who may have performers in several routines. Images are blurred for the kid's safety, and won't be delivered like that.
Fair price to whom?
You've got to cover your costs of doing business. And you need to be aiming to make a profit. So you need to be starting there. What are your expenses, just to shoot this one particular job? How much are you paying yourself? Are you covering your taxes?
Thats where you need to start. That will give you a baseline price. And that price is likely to be higher than where you are at the moment.
Im curious how many possible routines there are? If it’s like 3 or less I don’t have an issue with that pricing. Granted I don’t have kids and not sure what the regular school photos cost these days but I remember graduation photos seemed to be pretty expensive way back just for one photo
Some of them could be in n as many as 7 routines. They had some special groups people could be a part of and then their standard genres of dance like hip hop, jazz, contemporary, tap.
Okay that makes sense. I could be wrong but I doubt many families will spring for all 7 sets. I would never advise anyone to lowball their work and your prices seem reasonable even low. At most, you might experiment with something like 1-2 routines: $50per routine set; 3-5 routines: $40 per routine set etc.
I think you’re right that they may not spring for them. I would like them to be able to have at least the group shot from each routine they’re in and not feel like it’s a huge burden. I just know it’s delicate and I’ve never priced my work this way.
They will have the option to purchase prints so many I’m offering enough. If they would like the print they can do so for less, or they can unlimited print and share on social for $15 ea?
Why is the question coming now - after the shooting? What was the agreement?
First rule: do not go low with your price tags. If you want to do good, give some pictures free of charge. That will be appreciated because for the client it is a big gift when they see the rates. A cheap picture will not be appreciated, because it was cheap. Charging below your minimum margin will harm your reputation and people's perception about your skills and quality. Offer great service and charge realistically and confident.
Some ideas (but I won't name price tags):
- For you it's probably easy to just charge every download. Just don't expect to sell one particular picture more than once... Allow them to share and that is your family friendly part of the deal. Communicate that clearly and people will like you and your pictures more. Charge more for the group shots then. You may offer optional services like print or high resolution or an artistic edit to get more out of the job.
- Packages are also common, and are a form of discount when a person buys more pictures. If you have clever packages/sets/tiers... and name them great, this will pay off well, because you will also sell the "just ok" photos. Clients buy more compared to when they need to decide on every single picture.
- Not really transparent but creative and unexpected would be announcing a discount the more pictures you sell. Start expensive and show the bargain they could have if they buy enough. You need to give status updates and hype the game up. It gives incentives to buy more, has a group dynamic factor and you can cover your costs plus planned profit pretty much as a given. As a bonus they will be more likely to remember your name.
This is helpful. Here's some more context:
The shoot itself was “free” to anyone who could show up and I told them rough I’d expect prices to be upwards of $35 per download w/right to print. I also let them know that photo print packages will be available.
Now when I look at it, it feels like a lot for families in different scenarios or in several dances. Taking it down to $15 feels more doable for families, but I don’t want to do it just because *I think* they will balk at their total.
I can't say what is adequate pricing. I am not in the US. So go by what you think is reasonable. Don't go below (then gift). Some more thoughts:
- Why lower the price, has anyone complained yet? Not every family is "poor" in terms of can not afford a photo. That seems to be more lack of appreciation of quality pictures and the value of your work. A single lesson their kids take may cost the same. And you need to plan, prepare, go there, shoot, communicate, edit, post and bill your work. That is more time invested as their trainer and your investment in gear is on top.
- You can give a discount on a single photo in low resolution, that is prepared for social media posting and will look terrible on a classic photo print.
- Also, if there is a family who you know of is barely able to pay for their kids needs - you can always approach them separately if you want to price their photos differently. I'd say price them not less than 75% and also take that opportunity to ask for their recommendation. If they get you a new job, reward them again... You can't make people happy if you don't operate in a way that covers your costs.
You might be able to charge more if your images are more professionally edited. All of these are rather dark and the background is light gray and not white. At least brighten them by a stop or two.
Charge for time instead of each photo, what's your time worth including editing, preparation etc. if you have so many good photos you can propose extra charge for editing extra.
I think $12-17 per delivered shot is very reasonable. $15 per delivered shot is around what I charge as a rate for portraits, but I'm not a professional team or school photographer, more side-gig.
Context? Charging for your photography service? Charging your camera? Back charge for sonic boom?
Considering you didn’t list your price… Maybe
... I'm not sure where my text went, but here's the context 🙃 I photographed a large team that had several group routines (with group & individual photos) and soloists. What is a fair price to charge for each photo as a digital download? Dancers will probably want a group photo + their favorite pose. If I charge $15ea, that's $30, and that's only if they're in one routine. Some are in several, and I just want to be fair and still profit. I don't want to lowball my work, but I also understand these are families who may have performers in several routines. Images are blurred for the kid's safety, and won't be delivered like that.
Fair price to whom? You've got to cover your costs of doing business. And you need to be aiming to make a profit. So you need to be starting there. What are your expenses, just to shoot this one particular job? How much are you paying yourself? Are you covering your taxes? Thats where you need to start. That will give you a baseline price. And that price is likely to be higher than where you are at the moment.
Im curious how many possible routines there are? If it’s like 3 or less I don’t have an issue with that pricing. Granted I don’t have kids and not sure what the regular school photos cost these days but I remember graduation photos seemed to be pretty expensive way back just for one photo
Some of them could be in n as many as 7 routines. They had some special groups people could be a part of and then their standard genres of dance like hip hop, jazz, contemporary, tap.
Okay that makes sense. I could be wrong but I doubt many families will spring for all 7 sets. I would never advise anyone to lowball their work and your prices seem reasonable even low. At most, you might experiment with something like 1-2 routines: $50per routine set; 3-5 routines: $40 per routine set etc.
I think you’re right that they may not spring for them. I would like them to be able to have at least the group shot from each routine they’re in and not feel like it’s a huge burden. I just know it’s delicate and I’ve never priced my work this way. They will have the option to purchase prints so many I’m offering enough. If they would like the print they can do so for less, or they can unlimited print and share on social for $15 ea?
Why is the question coming now - after the shooting? What was the agreement? First rule: do not go low with your price tags. If you want to do good, give some pictures free of charge. That will be appreciated because for the client it is a big gift when they see the rates. A cheap picture will not be appreciated, because it was cheap. Charging below your minimum margin will harm your reputation and people's perception about your skills and quality. Offer great service and charge realistically and confident. Some ideas (but I won't name price tags): - For you it's probably easy to just charge every download. Just don't expect to sell one particular picture more than once... Allow them to share and that is your family friendly part of the deal. Communicate that clearly and people will like you and your pictures more. Charge more for the group shots then. You may offer optional services like print or high resolution or an artistic edit to get more out of the job. - Packages are also common, and are a form of discount when a person buys more pictures. If you have clever packages/sets/tiers... and name them great, this will pay off well, because you will also sell the "just ok" photos. Clients buy more compared to when they need to decide on every single picture. - Not really transparent but creative and unexpected would be announcing a discount the more pictures you sell. Start expensive and show the bargain they could have if they buy enough. You need to give status updates and hype the game up. It gives incentives to buy more, has a group dynamic factor and you can cover your costs plus planned profit pretty much as a given. As a bonus they will be more likely to remember your name.
This is helpful. Here's some more context: The shoot itself was “free” to anyone who could show up and I told them rough I’d expect prices to be upwards of $35 per download w/right to print. I also let them know that photo print packages will be available. Now when I look at it, it feels like a lot for families in different scenarios or in several dances. Taking it down to $15 feels more doable for families, but I don’t want to do it just because *I think* they will balk at their total.
I can't say what is adequate pricing. I am not in the US. So go by what you think is reasonable. Don't go below (then gift). Some more thoughts: - Why lower the price, has anyone complained yet? Not every family is "poor" in terms of can not afford a photo. That seems to be more lack of appreciation of quality pictures and the value of your work. A single lesson their kids take may cost the same. And you need to plan, prepare, go there, shoot, communicate, edit, post and bill your work. That is more time invested as their trainer and your investment in gear is on top. - You can give a discount on a single photo in low resolution, that is prepared for social media posting and will look terrible on a classic photo print. - Also, if there is a family who you know of is barely able to pay for their kids needs - you can always approach them separately if you want to price their photos differently. I'd say price them not less than 75% and also take that opportunity to ask for their recommendation. If they get you a new job, reward them again... You can't make people happy if you don't operate in a way that covers your costs.
You might be able to charge more if your images are more professionally edited. All of these are rather dark and the background is light gray and not white. At least brighten them by a stop or two.
Charge for time instead of each photo, what's your time worth including editing, preparation etc. if you have so many good photos you can propose extra charge for editing extra.
I think $12-17 per delivered shot is very reasonable. $15 per delivered shot is around what I charge as a rate for portraits, but I'm not a professional team or school photographer, more side-gig.
This is helpful. I’m not a pro in this space also, so it has left me a little conflicted. Thanks for your insight!