Random Thoughts... [Photographic Edition]

So, someone is asking me for prints again. Last time this happened, I came up with a price that I thought was pretty reasonable, everyone I discussed it online with thought it was low and the interested buyer was shocked that it was such a "high" price.

Is $10 for a 5 x 7 and $25 for an 8 x 10 too much? Or is everyone around here just cheap because they think prints are only worth the 25 cents they cost to print at the drug store?

[/sort of rant]
 
Don't cheapen yourself, most people will expect things for almost nothing. So long as the prints are nice they will see that what they got was actually pretty good value.
 
People usually think photographers should sell they work for peanuts.
I overheard someone outraged because a studio photographers wanted to charge 600 bucks for 300 pictures...<_<
 
Depends. For ordinary folks, 10-20 $ feels like a lot for what is just a piece of paper (in their eyes, at least), just like they think it's outragous that a mechanic charges for labour, not just for parts. It's a mindset.

I recently did a job for an onshore logistics company with a contract with British Petroleum. I won't say how much I charged, but I'll say that it's silly money for what was just a couple of hours of work. It's equal too 4-6 days of working for printed media, to put it another way.

Angle your price to your market. Ordinary folks expect you to charge a reasonable price, they won't look kindly at being charged ten percent of their montly vages for a photo. A newspaper won't like you if you start charging big sums, cause they got a very limited budget for freelance work. Big companies think you're better if you charge more.

What's a good price? Hard to tell, I don't know how the Canadian market for photographic work works, but perhaps you could take 5 % of the price of your camera gear, plus the material cost and add 10 % of that sum to the total price?

IE:

Camera gear: 1000 * 5 % = 50
Price of prints: 10
= 60
+ 60 * 10 %
= 66

Just a thought experiment, might be high, might be low, I just don't know the Canadian market.
 
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Depends. For ordinary folks, 10-20 $ feels like a lot for what is just a piece of paper (in their eyes, at least), just like they think it's outragous that a mechanic charges for labour, not just for parts. It's a mindset.
Good analogy.
 
Not really, but I think what we as photographers need to understand is that most ordinary folks don't understand why they have to pay for more than the cost of the print itself, a better analogy would be music CD's, "why should I pay for more than the cost of printing the CD?", if you know what I mean. They probably keep a printer at home, and know how much it would cost them to print the photo at home.

When you buy a photo, you're buying a combination of a) camera equipment, b) material costs, c) time spent and d) competance.

Your charging for your competance. It's no different than a computer programmer charging for his competance, when you buy a hand made chair, you're not asking why you're paying more than it would cost you in material costs to make it, do you? If you want cheap photos, go to a photo boot, that'll cost you next to nothing, but there's not talent in it.

Once I shot a documentary about the local police force, a policewoman asked me what I charged for a professional portrait, and when I answered she asked me "why do we need professional photographers when you're so expensive?". I answered that "How much do you get paid a year? I'd love to enforce the law with a basebal bat, I'd do it for half what you're charing for it".

:p
 
Friend just sold a pretty average landscape for $300. I either give my stuff away or sell in the $150 range for 12x18". Have had friends sell portraits (single prints) for $3000. Really, the market is all over the place. Play to the market...
 
A professional cover shoot in the US for a big mag might very well end up in the terretory of 5-8k.
 
Being in Canada and selling track photos, my sales are on a sliding scale. 8x10 prints are $25 for one and gets less for 2 then 3. I've had big orders where I've been reasonable and gone for $15/shot. But it's my time photoshopping, time sending to the printer, gas to pick them up, time to get them. every order comes in an envelope with cardboard to prevent bending and I usually accomodate people by meeting them anywhere to give them the photos. if they order 3 or more, they get the digitals, etc. I also sell just the digitals for $15 each and if they want to print them, no problem.

I based my stuff on a similar business in the US and their prices adjusted.
 
The photos are in question are some pictures I took of her puppy. She ordered to 5 x 7's at the afforementioned prices.
 
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NH0aEp1oDOI[/youtube]

For thoese of you who don't like "doctoring" photos.. welcome to HELL.

The movie is a definitely a photoshop.
 
Which frame came out fine? If it was just the first one, it may be that the film wasn't being pulled through properly, are the negatives themselves damaged? Also, is there any chance that in loading or removing the film you accidentally exposed it? That could fog part or all of a roll.
 
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Did you shoot the film all at once, or at different times. I think the particular body you use has a dark slide, if the dark slide was removed for the first shot buy accidentally put back in for all of the others this could lead to exactly the problem you mention.
 
Can you give us more details? What's the camera? What it that a photo of? (I mean, is it partially recognisable?)
Did the shots get progressively better, or worse, or was one shot perfect and the rest messed up?
Could you take a pic of the film? Specifically, are the edges of the frame clear, or are they fogged?
 
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