Senior Portraits Fees

[bwilke]

My daughter has a friend that is a Senior and they asked me if I would take her Senior Portraits for her. I already take pictures of the softball team they play on and charge reasonalbe prices for them and donate a percentage of profit after cost to the team.
I took my daughters Senior Portraits and they turned out really good but I have never taken anyone elses. I take my pictures outdoors in a beautiful green/garden area that is about 30 miles from my house.
My question is what do I charge for on location fees along with pricing structure for proofs, etc. I have used instaproofs in the past for action sport shots, but was thinking to do old fashion way for this parent with proofs in a book and a sheet with prices.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

[chuckdee]

My best advice would be for you to do some research and find out what other local photographers are charging. If you're going to be shooting at the location, 30 miles from your home, I'd charge a travel fee around $35.

[JETA]

I am far from a marketing genius (so I've been told) but this is what I've finally done.

I used to charge a 150.00 sitting fee. A sitting fee was 1 - 1 1/2 hours of shooting time, local location changes and clothing changes. I'd edit approx 25 photos and the client would proof and buy online. What happens is people have the best of intentions and never pull the trigger. So I've changed it.

I now offer the same hours, clothing changes etc for $500.00. Instead of proofs you get all digital copies delivered via email in a zip. The pics also go up on my website for viewing.

From there I offer one more package. Six produced photos, up to 30 minutes of shoot time, no location or clothing changes. This is 200.00 and again, the client gets ownership of all digital copies.

Most of my business is portraits for sports teams and event photography which is handled in a completely different manner. This is what works for me with Senior portraits. I get paid, do my job and pics are delivered. The parents love the fact they own all the photos. Also I have a Costco in my area that does incredible prints. I calibrate per their specs and all my clients print there. I totally bypass my pro printers. I have nothing but happy clients and I am happy to work and then be done. I'm just not into the whole sales things which is probably a downfall of mine.

[TomHarmon]

Market research is a great way to come up with pricing. Get prices from other local photographers with your same skill level and let it help make your pricing.