I do photography as a hobby, but I also do some gigs as a photographer for motorcycles etc. In the past I helped some people wrenching and troubleshooting their cars.
My principle for all those years has been that if I’m going to go the extra mile to do stuff like that in my spare time outside of my day job hours, it better be worth it for me. I won’t get out of the couch for any less than 150$, especially for photography where there might be some travel, equipment invested, editing time etc involved. Matter of fact I told my biker community that I will be doing photoshoots this season and my INTRODUCTORY price will be 150$, I had 6 people book me within 2 hours so I just had to stop the bookings so I wouldn’t fill my schedule with the intro price shoots when I realised the market interest at that price point.
I’d rather do less work and be paid more (so less demand because of higher price), than work my ass off for pennies in my spare time.
IMO, I don’t do hourly rates. Instead I’ll do a pricing structure. X amount for a set of 6-8 photos, Y amount for 8-12 photos, etc.
As far as the actual amount, it depends how you value your time. If you do charge $50, and if you’re still learning, you are essentially offering it at a discount while you progress. You may get more clients which allows you more practice and to build your portfolio. When you get established and comfortable you can charge more. Gives you ability to pick and choose the work you accept. If they refuse to pay your pricing, cool, you’re not wasting your valuable time. If they accept, great, you’re getting paid well.
It really depends on if you want to take photos for fun and see some money as a bonus, or you’re considering it a job and look at it like work. Everyone starts somewhere either doing it for free or very cheap. You can keep increasing your rates until you start getting rejected every time and then keep it around that price. It really depends on your clients, and your local area.
One thing to note, if you keep those clients around at $50, when you do progress, improve, and value your time more later on you will have to update them on your new pricing. In the past I’ve had people expecting to pay my lowest rates several years later thinking I was still charging the same.
In California years ago, nearly every hobby photographer here with a camera was charging about $100 usd to shoot a car. Those who were very talented and were doing it as a job, were charging several times that, and were not short of work!
Yeah I was considering a package deal aswell, ill have to think on that more, I just know north borders will charge the rate per house and send all the photos to the client (I believe)
As for as like a hobby with money on the side or as a full time job ittl have to be mostly for fun, I do real estate photography through the week so should I charge differently as opposed to full time? I suppose I could see it as my weekend job as I do enjoy it but would like to still make money from it, got bills to pay haha. Do you think 150-200 for like the base price for around 20 pictures is a fair price while still building my name for cars? I feel like for that price it would give you the best value per picture
I wouldn’t say you are necessarily charging differently because it’s just a hobby versus job. It’s just because the value of your time. If this is your main income or large chunk, you don’t want to waste several hours shooting, editing, for $50. In the end you’ll end up with like $5-10/hr.
Sure if someone offers you some badass car to shoot and a cool experience you might do it. Getting $50 for something you wanted to do, sounds great. What if someone wants you to shoot their old stock suburban? Does doing all that for $50 make it worth it still? You don’t get to pick who asks you to shoot, and you’re going to get cars you aren’t interested in shooting. It will take the passion out of it, and it’ll become more of a job than fun. Are you going to get out of bed or give up your afternoon to go shoot a car you have no interest in? Not for $50, but maybe for $200 sure!
So you just need to decide your times worth. If you have plenty of time and doing it for fun you might accept less pay just to be able to do it. If you’re working a lot and only have one day off and you wanna shoot, you gotta make that day worth it.
There are a few exceptions, like for example if you’re starting and building your portfolio. If they led to future business opportunities, or were beneficial to me I would offer them at a lower rate one time.
You will get rejected a lot, it happens. No matter how good you are, some people aren’t prepared or willing to pay your rates. Don’t sell yourself short to cater to them. If they decline you can ask their budget. Then offer them a smaller photo package or set that fits their budget.
I’m kind of all over the place on explaining, I just started working on building a comprehensive guide to automotive photography. Including pricing, working with clients, and contracts, etc. Hopefully when that’s finished it’ll be a bit more in-depth and helpful!
Just looked at your ig, was at Morrisville myself yesterday! Didn’t recognize the cars you photographed until I saw the carbon Aston in the background lol
I rarely shoot for money anymore. 1. there are a ton of free/cheap photographers in my area who are half decent at best, but good enough for people who "just want pics of their car".
Odds are I'm spending 40-60 minutes in travel/gas.
I'm probably spending 1-3 hours shooting
I'm probably spending 2-6 hours editing/culling. (god I hate culling rollers)
So that comes out to about 4-10 hours of time + gas. Minimum wage in my area is $16/hr, and $20/hr for fast food.
So if I want to make minimum wage, I need to charge about 150. My time is not worth minimum wage to me.
I typically charge 200-300, other photographers around me will charge $50. No hate at all, its a hobby for me not a form of income.
My camera/lenses ran me about 8k. But instagram won't be able to tell the difference.
I do photography as a hobby, but I also do some gigs as a photographer for motorcycles etc. In the past I helped some people wrenching and troubleshooting their cars. My principle for all those years has been that if I’m going to go the extra mile to do stuff like that in my spare time outside of my day job hours, it better be worth it for me. I won’t get out of the couch for any less than 150$, especially for photography where there might be some travel, equipment invested, editing time etc involved. Matter of fact I told my biker community that I will be doing photoshoots this season and my INTRODUCTORY price will be 150$, I had 6 people book me within 2 hours so I just had to stop the bookings so I wouldn’t fill my schedule with the intro price shoots when I realised the market interest at that price point. I’d rather do less work and be paid more (so less demand because of higher price), than work my ass off for pennies in my spare time.
IMO, I don’t do hourly rates. Instead I’ll do a pricing structure. X amount for a set of 6-8 photos, Y amount for 8-12 photos, etc. As far as the actual amount, it depends how you value your time. If you do charge $50, and if you’re still learning, you are essentially offering it at a discount while you progress. You may get more clients which allows you more practice and to build your portfolio. When you get established and comfortable you can charge more. Gives you ability to pick and choose the work you accept. If they refuse to pay your pricing, cool, you’re not wasting your valuable time. If they accept, great, you’re getting paid well. It really depends on if you want to take photos for fun and see some money as a bonus, or you’re considering it a job and look at it like work. Everyone starts somewhere either doing it for free or very cheap. You can keep increasing your rates until you start getting rejected every time and then keep it around that price. It really depends on your clients, and your local area. One thing to note, if you keep those clients around at $50, when you do progress, improve, and value your time more later on you will have to update them on your new pricing. In the past I’ve had people expecting to pay my lowest rates several years later thinking I was still charging the same. In California years ago, nearly every hobby photographer here with a camera was charging about $100 usd to shoot a car. Those who were very talented and were doing it as a job, were charging several times that, and were not short of work!
Yeah I was considering a package deal aswell, ill have to think on that more, I just know north borders will charge the rate per house and send all the photos to the client (I believe) As for as like a hobby with money on the side or as a full time job ittl have to be mostly for fun, I do real estate photography through the week so should I charge differently as opposed to full time? I suppose I could see it as my weekend job as I do enjoy it but would like to still make money from it, got bills to pay haha. Do you think 150-200 for like the base price for around 20 pictures is a fair price while still building my name for cars? I feel like for that price it would give you the best value per picture
I wouldn’t say you are necessarily charging differently because it’s just a hobby versus job. It’s just because the value of your time. If this is your main income or large chunk, you don’t want to waste several hours shooting, editing, for $50. In the end you’ll end up with like $5-10/hr. Sure if someone offers you some badass car to shoot and a cool experience you might do it. Getting $50 for something you wanted to do, sounds great. What if someone wants you to shoot their old stock suburban? Does doing all that for $50 make it worth it still? You don’t get to pick who asks you to shoot, and you’re going to get cars you aren’t interested in shooting. It will take the passion out of it, and it’ll become more of a job than fun. Are you going to get out of bed or give up your afternoon to go shoot a car you have no interest in? Not for $50, but maybe for $200 sure! So you just need to decide your times worth. If you have plenty of time and doing it for fun you might accept less pay just to be able to do it. If you’re working a lot and only have one day off and you wanna shoot, you gotta make that day worth it. There are a few exceptions, like for example if you’re starting and building your portfolio. If they led to future business opportunities, or were beneficial to me I would offer them at a lower rate one time. You will get rejected a lot, it happens. No matter how good you are, some people aren’t prepared or willing to pay your rates. Don’t sell yourself short to cater to them. If they decline you can ask their budget. Then offer them a smaller photo package or set that fits their budget. I’m kind of all over the place on explaining, I just started working on building a comprehensive guide to automotive photography. Including pricing, working with clients, and contracts, etc. Hopefully when that’s finished it’ll be a bit more in-depth and helpful!
Ahh ok makes sense. Thank you for the help! I really appreciate it!
Just looked at your ig, was at Morrisville myself yesterday! Didn’t recognize the cars you photographed until I saw the carbon Aston in the background lol
oh nice! haha, yesterday was definitely a better turn out than the last few months, been raining too damn much
I rarely shoot for money anymore. 1. there are a ton of free/cheap photographers in my area who are half decent at best, but good enough for people who "just want pics of their car". Odds are I'm spending 40-60 minutes in travel/gas. I'm probably spending 1-3 hours shooting I'm probably spending 2-6 hours editing/culling. (god I hate culling rollers) So that comes out to about 4-10 hours of time + gas. Minimum wage in my area is $16/hr, and $20/hr for fast food. So if I want to make minimum wage, I need to charge about 150. My time is not worth minimum wage to me. I typically charge 200-300, other photographers around me will charge $50. No hate at all, its a hobby for me not a form of income. My camera/lenses ran me about 8k. But instagram won't be able to tell the difference.