Photography Questions

Do you have a degree or professional training in photography? I ask because people ask me all the time to do pictures for them, but I am not a professional. I have a great camera that gets great pictures...but I would never charge people for it.

The photographers that we use outside of studio's all have degrees in them and are constantly taking classes improving their skils. They charge between $150-500 per shoot that lasts 1-2 hours. The one that charges $150 requires a minimum purchase of $300 as well. We are using the one that charges $500 in the next few weeks (won a free session!!) and I do not think she has a buy requirement - but wow on her talent!

So if you are just good with a camera and editing software, I'd say keep it cheap to start. $50 and give them a CD with all of the pictures. Once you build a clientel and take training, then charge more.

If you have a degree or training, you can probably charge more, but you have to start out cheap.

We pay our photographer a $200 sitting fee or 2 hours of her time. I order prints from her as you get different quality paper than if you just print them off yourself.

I am a professional photographer and have been doing this for 7 years. I have done both where I give a CD and also where I only do prints. I found that most want a CD. This year I have been doing CD's with a print release. I do not ever give out a copyright. I charge $250 and might be going up to $300 next year but I'm not sure yet. I always get a deposit before when they book a session so I don't have to worry about no shows and I have a contract that I have everyone sign. Good luck!

I like to pay around $150-200 for session plus cd. I know depending on your experience, etc this can be on the low end for many photographers. Wedding I would assume more, but for family pictures this is about what I would want to pay unless the photographer is amazing.

So many photographers don't even do pictures anymore. It's too easy to find one that will just bill you $35 for a half hour and hand you a CD that is yours to do with what you want. I like this because you get tons of pictures and can do different clothes, different settings, and you can have numerous people in them.

Photo's are changing and I believe this is the new way and it's the best way.

I just started my own photography business last year. I give my customer's a flash drive and a copyright release so that they can print their photographs wherever, and so far my clients seem to like that approach.

Because I am still so "new", I do not charge very much at all ($25 for portraits plus a travel fee to cover the cost of my gas). So I suggest that you start off with low prices for a year, and then once you have built a decent portfolio you can raise your prices.

I love getting a CD.

If you are just starting out, I'd be willing to pay 100-125 for a 1.5 hour destination sitting with the CD. If you are good, I may pay up to 200. But I wouldn't pay more because I'd rather do 2-3 sessions a year than one really expensive one :-)