How much to charge for family engagement shoot? (sample pics included)

[Aharami]

I've been a photography hobbyist for a while now, and although I've never done this professionally, I've been getting some inquiries lately on doing engagement and maternity shoots. Also I just shot a wedding as the primary photographer (usually, I'd take pictures as a guest, and some people have commented that they like my pictures more than the pro pictures)

Since I dont have an actual business, a website, or a portfolio, I am not sure how to price myself. Are people asking me to shoot them thinking that I'd do it for dirt cheap? I'm sure that's the case, but I'd want to make this worth my time. But also I'd like to retain these inquiries as clients and build up my portfolio.

Here are some sample pics I have taken in the past. Based on these pictures, what do you think my skill is worth? I was thinking of pricing myself at $200 for 2 hrs or $350 for the whole day (which would include 2 shoots with a wardrobe change) for a recent family/engagement shoot inquiry (shoot would be in nyc)

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/297338_10150268780941841_2750517_n.jpg
https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/1026253_10151407061766841_761473861_o.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/300390_10150268782031841_7512849_n.jpg
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/297455_10150268784146841_1593548_n.jpg
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/300617_10150268784396841_1463699_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/295751_10150268781951841_1901738_n.jpg
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/883782_10151292605396841_1639796823_o.jpg

All above were shot either as wedding guests or for free for friends and family. This following picture is from the wedding I just shot recently as the main photog. Since this was a small low budget wedding, and the couple is a friend of mine, I didn't charge them for it. But I don't think I'd want to do events for free anymore. I was drained by the end of the night.

 

[CuriousMike]

#7 ( man kissing womans belly ) has a crazy amount of purple fringing.

Some of the photos look pretty good.

 

[blastingcap]

#7 ( man kissing womans belly ) has a crazy amount of purple fringing.

Correctable in post-processing.

 

[Aharami]

#7 ( man kissing womans belly ) has a crazy amount of purple fringing.

Some of the photos look pretty good.

Thanks. Which ones did you think were pretty good? And which ones did you think weren't all that great?
That photo in question was taken with the Canon 85mm f/1.8. I notice it more now that you pointed it out. Can Canon fix that issue if I ship my lens in?

And, any thoughts on the pricing question? Would you say my skill is worth what I am thinking of charging?

 

[iGas]

IMHO, you may want to do it for free because you are responsible once you except money.

Are the pictures/poses above are you idea and setup, or was it setup by the primary photographers in the past?

And, half of your pictures are under exposed and/or have colour shift in the rest of your example.

 

[iGas]

Thanks. Which ones did you think were pretty good? And which ones did you think weren't all that great?
That photo in question was taken with the Canon 85mm f/1.8. I notice it more now that you pointed it out. Can Canon fix that issue if I ship my lens in?

And, any thoughts on the pricing question? Would you say my skill is worth what I am thinking of charging?

Many lens have CA issue, and the Canon 85 f1.8 is one of them. Software such as Lightroom and the alike can rectify it quickly.

 

[Aharami]

IMHO, you may want to do it for free because you are responsible once you except money.

Are the pictures/poses above are you idea and setup, or was it setup by the primary photographers in the past?

And, half of your pictures are under exposed and/or have colour shift in the rest of your example.

The ones that are posed were my idea. None of these were setup by pro photogs. Some were taken candidly.

would help if you point out which ones you think are underexposed. They all look fine on my color calibrated monitor. Are others seeing these all as underexposed also? I might have to recalibrate my monitor then.
As for color shift, are you taking about the 2nd and 5th photos? If so, the warm color tone was done intentionally.

 

[notposting]

Look at the prices in your area, and set your rates accordingly -- by which I mean, if you are doing this as gifted-amateur-who-the-family-knows-somehow, make your rate half or third. That way they know what they are getting into, but you still get a worthwhile bit of cash for a long day.

And don't forget the followup work (whether it's all the raw files, or some cleaned up ones, etc). That can be some work too and where things often end up bad.

 

[fralexandr]

I like most of the pictures except
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/295751_10150268781951841_1901738_n.jpg
the framing of the shot and the lines don't work too well for me.
I think it might be better if either some of the lines converged on the person, or the person's eyes and legs were used with the rule of thirds.

the only picture I felt could be underexposed might be the 1st one, since the faces are a bit too dark. I like how the picture looks anyway though.

picture number 2 seems a bit out of focus, which wouldn't be too bad per say, but I think the males face is sharper than the females, which is kind of distracting to me. It can be hard to notice when shooting if the focus is spot on or not though, since the LCDs on DSLRs aren't great.

picture number 6: the night/sparkler scene is a bit fuzzy, but that probably can't be helped (except by moving to a larger sensor and even faster glass :S).

other than that, I like what you did with the pictures, probably better than I could do anyway .
-----
purple fringing can be reduced somewhat by shooting more stopped down, but if you needed that thin of dof for the bokeh, it's best just to fix it in post processing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_fringing

 

[iGas]

1, 2, 7, and the last one to me are under exposed.

1. Can't see people faces, and white are not white, and black is not black (low contrast).

2. Subjects is the most important, hence I would blow the background and expose for the human faces, perhaps +1/2 to +2/3 more exposure or fill flash. And, IMHO the dress should be more white perhaps no more than +1/2 exposure or increase white area, or dodge .

7. I would do a bit of fill flash and perhaps dodge the woman face a bit more and blow the background. The image as is looked like someone trying to do a poor job of exposing the image, hence the colour look wash out and is being push to recover from an under exposed image.

Last image is an in between silhouette. Either expose for the sky and close down the aperture to get a sharp image (perhaps f8 or f5.6) for silhouette, or slightly under expose the sky and fill flash to bring the subject back with some dodging.

 

[iGas]

I like most of the pictures except
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/295751_10150268781951841_1901738_n.jpg
the framing of the shot and the lines don't work too well for me.
I think it might be better if either some of the lines converged on the person, or the person's eyes and legs were used with the rule of thirds.

the only picture I felt could be underexposed might be the 1st one, since the faces are a bit too dark. I like how the picture looks anyway though.

picture number 2 seems a bit out of focus, which wouldn't be too bad per say, but I think the males face is sharper than the females, which is kind of distracting to me. It can be hard to notice when shooting if the focus is spot on or not though, since the LCDs on DSLRs aren't great.

picture number 6: the night/sparkler scene is a bit fuzzy, but that probably can't be helped (except by moving to a larger sensor and even faster glass :S).

other than that, I like what you did with the pictures, probably better than I could do anyway .
-----
purple fringing can be reduced somewhat by shooting more stopped down, but if you needed that thin of dof for the bokeh, it's best just to fix it in post processing.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_fringing

It seems as if the photographer can't chose between the person or planter as subject.

1/3, or 2/5 rule of thumb for people or animal is the eye/eyes that is in focus intersect the horizontal and vertical plane in the frame as focal point.

PS. Portrait paper format work well with 1x1 & 4x5 dimensions.

 

[randomrogue]

Those prices are low. Keep in mind that you have transportation time, cost of hardware, post processing time, etc. Your two hours shooting might be 4 hours post processing and that's say 7 hours with travel time. $28/hr and that's not including insurance which you should have but I know many skimp on. America is sue happy so keep that in mind.

Make sure you agree on what is and is not included ahead of time.

As far as your photos I like your composition and eye. Post processing is subjective. This is an art after all. I often make my images warmer than they really were or silhouette things so I have no problem with anything up above. I think it's good.

 

[Aharami]

Thanks for the feedback. Much appreciated.

 

[randomrogue]

One thing that might be nice to point out to customers who balk at the cost is that you have to show up with expensive gear, two of everything in case something goes wrong, and the time to take the pictures is a fraction of what the total time spent is. I think far too many people think that you just show up, take some pictures, and send them to them. They also think that anyone can do it. They can't. If they were to just go rent the gear they couldn't get the images they want and it would cost them more than you're probably going to charge them.

 

[Aharami]

IMHO, you may want to do it for free because you are responsible once you except money.

I'd rather not do it for free since it is quite a bit of work. Or are you politely trying to say that I'm overcharging based on the sample pics?

 

[Aharami]

Those prices are low. Keep in mind that you have transportation time, cost of hardware, post processing time, etc. Your two hours shooting might be 4 hours post processing and that's say 7 hours with travel time. $28/hr and that's not including insurance which you should have but I know many skimp on. America is sue happy so keep that in mind.

Make sure you agree on what is and is not included ahead of time.

As far as your photos I like your composition and eye. Post processing is subjective. This is an art after all. I often make my images warmer than they really were or silhouette things so I have no problem with anything up above. I think it's good.

One thing that might be nice to point out to customers who balk at the cost is that you have to show up with expensive gear, two of everything in case something goes wrong, and the time to take the pictures is a fraction of what the total time spent is. I think far too many people think that you just show up, take some pictures, and send them to them. They also think that anyone can do it. They can't. If they were to just go rent the gear they couldn't get the images they want and it would cost them more than you're probably going to charge them.

from what im seeing, nyc family photography prices are anywhere from $300 - $500 for 2-3 hrs work. That comes with limited number of digital files (usually 20-30). There are some in the $200-300 range. Out of those, there was one that I'd consider good. I'm confident enough in my abilities to say that I can take better pictures than the rest of the $200-300 range photogs. Mind you these are just family photography pics. This potential client wants me to shoot the family and want to use the pics as their engagement pics (they have a toddler, getting married soon). Engagement prices are higher in the nyc metro area - $500-1000 range.

you make some good points randomrogue. Yea i realize Im lower than market prices, but I feel like i have to be until I can call myself a professional. Since I'm shooting just friends and family right now, I haven't looked into insurance, but will look into it if this starts gaining momentum. What would insurance protect me against, anyways?

 

[SecurityTheatre]

I'd rather not do it for free since it is quite a bit of work. Or are you politely trying to say that I'm overcharging based on the sample pics?

I'm going to take EXCEPTion to his use of the word ACCEPT, and point out that nobody should EXPECT you to work for free if you are providing professional results.

Your shots aren't bad. Not world class, but way better than some of those "professionals" I see advertised around.

 

[Spoooon]

I'd rather not do it for free since it is quite a bit of work. Or are you politely trying to say that I'm overcharging based on the sample pics?

I took it more as a "be careful once money becomes involved" kind of thing.

A friend of mine asked if I would take pictures at her book signing. I told her I would do it for free as long as she understood what free gets her.

I didn't want any money or responsibility.

OP: I thought your pictures were nice (aside from the CA that was pointed out).

 

[gevorg]

My non-pro comments, take it with a grain of salt:

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/457572_10150991811126841_864718149_o.jpg

- Difficult shot to master, especially for a Canon, the faces are underexposed while the window background is overexposed. Could been easier by composing with a different background.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/469974_10150786541986841_500923597_o.jpg

- DOF is too small, no clear focus point

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/412589_10150786543941841_49151441_o.jpg

- great!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/297338_10150268780941841_2750517_n.jpg

- needs a crop

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/300617_10150268784396841_1463699_n.jpg

- underexposed faces/skin

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/883782_10151292605396841_1639796823_o.jpg

- OOF, focus should be on the face/eyes in the given composition. If you want to focus on bengali lights or whatever is in her hands, have her point it at you or some direction that will allow you create a nice bokeh.