NSBR: photography help

[hollyxann]

Recently I started doing my photography as a side job. Well I was approached by a friend to do a business headshot for her. She got her realtors license and needs a headshot.

What should I charge?
I'm going to do the pics in her home, edit them and then put them on a disk or flashdrive/sd card, whatever she prefers, for her with a release form. I figure 5 shots for her to choose from.

[Megan Turnidge]

What is your pricing like for "regular" sessions?

[hollyxann]

Well they go from 275 to 125. I include printing in the packages. And I figured that since I'm just starting out, and specifically natural light, on location then I didn't want to price too high just yet.

[Megan Turnidge]

Well, generally the digitals should be priced at a premium - particularly if the client will be using it in a commercial setting like this. I was planning on going into business and came up with pricing, but I think it's very different from yours. I first calculated my COSTS of doing the shoot (gas & travel, paying a babysitter, some $ to cover licenses & insurance, some $ to save toward new photography equipment). Then I estimated how much time I'd spend on the shoot. How long will you spend TOTAL on this job? 30 mins drive time, 30 mins prep, 1 hour (?) at her home, 2 hours editing, etc... Then decide how much you want to make per hour for that work. Want to make $20/hr? Then 4x$20 = $80 and then ADD on your costs into that number. That would be one way to do it. Then if you want to charge an extra fee for commercial use and a release of the photos, then you'd have to decide what the photos are worth.