Good day, Senseis,

How much do you charge for product shots? I've just been contacted recently to do a product shoot but all product shots I have done so far were free so I really have no clue how much to charge... Hope anybody can help me out. thanks in advance...

:):Grin::Shock::)

Good day, Senseis,

How much do you charge for product shots? I've just been contacted recently to do a product shoot but all product shots I have done so far were free so I really have no clue how much to charge... Hope anybody can help me out. thanks in advance...

:):Grin::Shock::)

What are the products? what are the set ups? what are the shots for? who usually does photography for them? who is the client? will you work with an art director? have you been shown some pegs? is this a high-end or low end requirement? will you need to rent equipment and a studio? will you need special backgrounds? how many product shots will you do in one session (a session being defined as an 8 to 10 hour day? how much digital editing will you do on the product? there are more questions. ;) :)

What are the products? what are the set ups? what are the shots for? who usually does photography for them? who is the client? will you work with an art director? have you been shown some pegs? is this a high-end or low end requirement? will you need to rent equipment and a studio? will you need special backgrounds? how many product shots will you do in one session (a session being defined as an 8 to 10 hour day? how much digital editing will you do on the product? there are more questions. ;) :)


Question Ma'am Harvey, does one charge per number of items or based on the number of hours? For example, lighting fixtures... =D Say for example that the pictures are going to be used for catalogs, brochures and online. Editing will be done by the client's artist. All they need are pictures of the items.

Thanks =D

have a check list & the most important is the agreement between the client & your service. ex: equipment you are using, the set-ups, layout per set-ups, & the additions. Digital is not "unlimited" that clients taking advantage for having an extra!

make a letter of let say "memorandum of agreement" & ask for a sign.

Question Ma'am Harvey, does one charge per number of items or based on the number of hours? For example, lighting fixtures... =D Say for example that the pictures are going to be used for catalogs, brochures and online. Editing will be done by the client's artist. All they need are pictures of the items.

Thanks =D

It's actually both, and more. I remember a prospective client called us and asked how much we charged for product shots. I asked what their products were, and what they needed the photos for. I also asked how many products - will they be photographed individually or in a group. The prospective client told me in Tagalog "You ask too many questions. How come I called a studio in a mall and they told me P500 each without asking me what my products are or any of your other questions."

From our experience, the first set up takes a longer time than succeeding set ups, and if the products are similar in materials and size, succeeding set ups can be a breeze. Therefore, we may compute on a higher price for the first set up, and lower for the succeeding set ups. If there are many items - as when we shoot for catalogs- the total price could go up but the per item price could go down very considerably.

Let us say, they have 20 items. In situation A, the 20 items will be photographed individually. In situation B, the client only needs one set up of 20 items together. Depending on what these items are - it might take as much time to do 20 individual set ups as doing one set up of 20 items. So we need to consider time for set up.

There was a time we did a group shot of all the products (cans, bottles, boxes) of a food company (pastas, mayonnaise etc.). It took us the whole day just to arrange the products. I decided that the only way I could price this project reasonably was to plan to have the photographer only towards the end of the day. We got him another assignment while the design studio people arranged the items. But of course, that particular studio was used/occupied the whole day.

To be continued...need to meet our web designer. :)

This is a good read. Up the thread :Grin:

Waiting for Ma'am Harvey's continuation :)

Will wait for the response of harvey. And about his web designer...

I think we need to wait for Emmanuel's answers first...