A new opportunity..pricing advice?

[Sonny]

As some of you may know I shoot youth sports as a part-time weekend business. A client contacted me by email. Her firm is looking for a photographer to take pictures of the attorneys, staff, offices, etc for their firm website. She was kinda enough to reccomend me to her firm.

I have not done anything like this before. Before I contact her, what questions should I ask and how do I give her a price?

Thanks,
Sonny

[Killeenguy]

i'll just pass it along to you that price is unofficially a delicate subject to bring up/answer.
but most photographers charge by the hour for comericial work. you just need to figure out what your worth, and whether or not your going to sell the images in full rights.

[Steelsun]

Also consider the costs of buying/renting a light setup & possibly backdrop to get a real pro appearance. You don't want to embarass your contact by taking less than stellar pictures.

[boxofrocks]

Sonny,

Ruben is right, but I would say that in Dallas, that the corporate work rate is about $150/hour (some more, some less). Factor in any post production work. If I bring studio lights (as opposed to on camera strobes), I usually add a little.

Figure out how they will be using them, and make sure your contract (have one!) stated this explicitly.

Setting prices is a personal thing, and you may want to start out a little on the low side until you have a protfolio of that type of work. The only thing I would add is charge fairly for what you feel you are worth based on experience. If you are too low, then you hurt yourself and other full time photographers trying to make a living.

Hope that makes sense.

[Clayton Wallace]

Sonny,

I do this type of stuff and your type of stuff...and pretty much all stuff. Pricing is a reflection of several factors: skill, time, expenses and market demand.

Your shots will likely require lighting and techniques not currently demonstrated on your gallery section. If you have those, super. If you don't, be very careful about getting in too deep too fast (I've done that before).

Rates for this type of photography are usually hourly (with a minimum) or 1/2 day or whole day. In Houston the hourly rate is somewhere between 100-200/hour depending on the factors mentioned above. But you'll have to factor your own costs etc to get your exact price. Of course, as in all fields, some photogs charge less and some more.