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Pricing your Self

June 12, 2013

I have been asked lately from people starting to take on portrait photography as paid services. I have been a paid photographer since 2006. Many people are unclear how to price themselves as a photographer.

 

First, are you doing it as a full-time job or doing it part-time or just on your free time?

Full-time photographer:

you need to figure out are you going to work from home or run out of an office space/studio space.  Once that is figured out how, much is your rent, utilities, taxes, healthcare, advertising, website fees, and the list keeps going on and on for all the expense.

Now how much do you want to make to pay your personal bills, walk around money, savings and so on? I figured out your self would $100/hr and your business then needs to make some money. Once you figure out all your expenses it usually works out to be $200-$250/hr or shoot for around $1500 a week.

 

Part-time:

If you have a full-time job and looking to shoot some photos to make some money on the side. Take your regulars hourly wage and double or triple it depending on how good of a photographer you are. Then figure out what you can write off in your house register your business so you can benefit from have your own part-time business and figure out your city’s bruise sis licenses.  Don’t be cheap you are still doing people a professional service to do a professional job at a professional rate.

 

I no longer shoot photos full time. Have my Rates changed yes, are they undercutting studios? No. My new clients are now just hiring me and my gear. I don’t have a studio, I have slimed my gear down, and all my expense are less now due to I don’t do this full time. I still have taxes to pay on the money I make, I still have insurance and I still have to keep the gear I own in working order to do the job that I am hired to do. My Hourly rate is anywhere from $25/hr to $100/hr depending on the job and what I am all doing.

 

Don’t sell yourself short. Get paid for a service you are providing. If the person companies about your rate as them to do their job for a fraction of the price. We all need to get paid to live in this world So get paid what you are worth.