What to charge?

[jorgemonkey]

A little bit of background for ya. Recently at my work we had an open house and my boss advertised that people could bring their dogs in and get their dog's pictures taken with bunny ears and whatever else they want, and that we'd be offering prints/gifts at cost. We will be doing another one this summer, but this time we'll be charging for prints at a normal cost with part of the proceeds going to a local animal charity.

I think the pictures came out great, you can view them here.

Now, the business question I have is, a few of the people have asked if they can buy a CD of images (I only have about 8-10 of each dog) that they can use to make their own prints when they want or use them online, whichever they feel like, and I am unsure of what to price them at! Selling photos is something I haven't done yet but I need to start figuring out packages & pricing for them.

Edit: I forgot to add... Right now I am a photography major at a local Jr college, so right now I won't be making a full living off of these, but I'm moving this direction for the extra cash.

Thanks!

[readingr]

What was the agreement with the pet owners about taking the photo's in the first place? Who own's the photo's?

If you own all rights to the photo's then the cost has to include the physical assets, the cost of time to create the CD + phtoto's, and any costs that you wan't for potential licensing of the photo's for eternity if you are giving them complete rights to the photo.

There are books available on this but don't know what they cover.

Try looking on some web sites to see what you can glean from them.

Roger

[Flight]

Edit: I forgot to add... Right now I am a photography major at a local Jr college, so right now I won't be making a full living off of these, but I'm moving this direction for the extra cash.

Thanks!

You're like me. I've done that. I charged simply enough to cover media (the CD) and maybe enough more to get McDonald's or something. Or put a little gas in my tank. Tell them if they know anyone who wants something like that done to tell them about you. Just get your name out there. and people will come to you and after awhile you can start charging more.

[payn817]

I could be wrong, but if you did this on company time as an assignment, then the images belong to your employer. I recently did a similar thing at Wal-Mart, and cannot show any photos (except the one I were I was off the clock and playing with my aunt in viewfinder) ANYWAY, the company owns all rights to those photos. Since that was the case, I used their equipment and was paid at my normal rate.

People asked me bout doing portraits or giving them more than the "one per customer" shot, but I had to tell them to come back when I am on lunch and we could discuss it (can't discuss personal business on company time).

It is a shame too. We started with around 100 shots, and sold (estimated) about 500 copies. With their 8x10 going for around $3, that's $1500. Talk to your employer and know your rights.

[Ronnoco]

I could be wrong, but if you did this on company time as an assignment, then the images belong to your employer. I recently did a similar thing at Wal-Mart, and cannot show any photos (except the one I were I was off the clock and playing with my aunt in viewfinder) ANYWAY, the company owns all rights to those photos. Since that was the case, I used their equipment and was paid at my normal rate.

People asked me bout doing portraits or giving them more than the "one per customer" shot, but I had to tell them to come back when I am on lunch and we could discuss it (can't discuss personal business on company time).

It is a shame too. We started with around 100 shots, and sold (estimated) about 500 copies. With their 8x10 going for around $3, that's $1500. Talk to your employer and know your rights.

Payn, the images only belong to your employer, if you have been hired as a photographer.
It does not matter whether you took photos on company time or not, unless you are specifically paid for the photos or extra for the time involved in taking them, then you retain the photos and the rights to use them as you see fit. That is the law.

Ronnoco

[payn817]

Hmmm, perhaps I misunderstood. If I had known that was the case, I would have brought proper gear to the shoot. I was stuck with a 2MP Kodak for most of the day, and it was a true p&s, no manual settings at all, no zoom either. The light was horrid.

I'll do some more research and next time bring proper kit. Could you tell me where to find this info so I can print it?

[Ronnoco]

I'll do some more research and next time bring proper kit. Could you tell me where to find this info so I can print it?

It is in the act under the subheading: Ownership Of Copyright. It was once Section 12, but there have been a number of revisions to the overall act. Nevertheless the section should still be there but not necessarily with the same section number.

The wording is slightly obscure in that it says that if the work was created in the course of employment or under a contract of service than the employer owns the copyright. However it goes on to quote examples such as photojournalism for newspapers and magazines. It is clear from the interpretations I have read that the act is distinguishing between freelance journalists or photographers who retain copyright and staff journalists or photographers whose job it is to produce columns or photography for the company. In that case the company owns the rights.

However the act is talking about people employed directly and specifically to create copyrighted works such as journalists, staff photographers, television camera operaters, staff production crews, etc. It is not talking about all general employees who happen to take photos during the course of a job that does not relate to being hired to take photos etc.

The concept of 'staff person' where the job is to create "works", was never meant in the copyright act to cover ALL employees, no matter what their job and indeed it doesn't. All the books on copyright law use the term "staff person" to mean someone specifically hired or paid to create copyrighted works, only.

Ronnoco

[jorgemonkey]

Well the company I work for is a small company (All three employees, boss imcluded). We had an open house at my work where we allowed people to come in and shop since we are an internet based business. As part of the open house my boss advertised that we were going to have dog portraits dont with bunny ears if they wanted since it was close to easter. My boss and me decided that we would put the images up on my site and let people order pritns & gifts at cost.

We plan on doing another open house this summer, but this time she has said that we'll probably charge a sitting fee, part of which will probably go to an animal shelter. The sitting fee will probably include a free 5x7 or something like that, and my boss has told me that all the other prints or gifts will be sold at a normal market price, with the profits from that going to me. Which of course I have no problem with

I'm a pretty big newbie when it comes to pricing my work. I've done some research on how much to charge for different sized prints (I'm thinking $4 for 4x6, $8 for 5x7, and $15 for 8x10).

If you guys have any advice on books about pricing/marketing yourself as a photographer I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

[payn817]

Those prices are pretty much what most around here charge for that type of work. The only time I charge more than $15 for 8X10 is if it is something that took alot of investment from my side.

However, a new client of mine said that she paid $150 for 2 8X10 portraits from another photog. :O

[JSPhoto]

Whew, I gotta check prices more often! I just saw a friends site today and was shocked to see the prices in this area. $25 for an 8x10 and he gets an employee discount at the the camera shop for prints! He shoots both film & digital. So guess what I'll be doing this week.... re-pricing everything!

JS