How much should a photographer charge for an on-location family portait? The family is composed of 5 members and the photographer is also required to do individual portaits of each family member. HELP!

this is an interesting question. i'd wanna know, too. ;)

Hmm.. I'd say, give them the ff:

1) Family - 3 layouts
2) Portraits - 2 or 3 layouts each member

Approximate time, including breaks between layout - 6 hours. I'd charge 10T. Good luck!

How much should a photographer charge for an on-location family portait? The family is composed of 5 members and the photographer is also required to do individual portaits of each family member. HELP!

i'd most likely consider it at the same rate as how much id shoot for a prenup (pre wedding) shoot. though it would probably not last 6 hours. hehe. probably three to four hours. starting from 3-4 pm (since outdoor) till after sunset (baka gusto nila mag sunset shoot din). usual rates would be around 5-8K (they provide transpo pag out of town).

but it depends din, level of experience, what kind of gear used. those sort of stuff.

cheers,
ems

Hmm.. I'd say, give them the ff:

1) Family - 3 layouts
2) Portraits - 2 or 3 layouts each member

Approximate time, including breaks between layout - 6 hours. I'd charge 10T. Good luck!

Question: What do you mean when you say layout?

Question: What do you mean when you say layout?

Layout = set up or orchestration :)

Layout = set up or orchestration :)

Oh ok, i see :) Thanks for clearing that up for me Earl! :)

@ Bryant

Have you discussed with the family on what type of portrait do they want? Will this be a formal or glamour type? Am not sure with my terminologies... I just happen to remember seeing a family portrait of Gov. Chavit Singson taken by Lito Sy during the WPPP Congress.

@ Earl

Referring to Gov. Chavit's family portrait... is that considered as layout?

@ Jerry T and Ems

Do you bring along your make-up artists or the family provides for this?

Also does the price include the editing and printing, or just a cd copy?

Thanks.

@Raymund

The family provides or they do it themselves na.

@ Jerry T and Ems

Do you bring along your make-up artists or the family provides for this?

Also does the price include the editing and printing, or just a cd copy?

Thanks.

usually its the client who provides the stylist and make up artist. and mine usually dont include editing, just the cd copy. as arrogant as it sounds, my pictures usually need little editing, as my mentor trained me to get it right the first time. and besides, if you hire an editor, it will be more expensive, i did some editing for another photographer in the list before, the range (cheapest) for just removing pimples and blemishes for grad pics would be 20-30 pesos per pic. imagine shooting 3-400 shots. kulang pa diba? :) cheers!

usually its the client who provides the stylist and make up artist. and mine usually dont include editing, just the cd copy. as arrogant as it sounds, my pictures usually need little editing, as my mentor trained me to get it right the first time. and besides, if you hire an editor, it will be more expensive, i did some editing for another photographer in the list before, the range (cheapest) for just removing pimples and blemishes for grad pics would be 20-30 pesos per pic. imagine shooting 3-400 shots. kulang pa diba? :) cheers!

Thanks Ems, that's exactly what I was thinking...

Hi Bryant,
I shoot mostly prenups and weddings but occasionally get assignments to shoot family portraits. Here is my usual charge:

Duration: 3 hours
Set-up: indoor/outdoor but arranged by client
Make-up: client supplied
Equipment: Broncolor Minicom 80, Backdrop, reflector, ambient/flash meter, battery packs
D200, D2x
Charge: Php15,000 for doing the shoot only
Output: Contact prints only and one 16x20 canvas (no frame); and separate charge for all recopies

In my case, I am not charging much on the actual shoot. The client is like paying labor and they will just choose the best family picture (16x20). Of course, I am praying that they will really like the shots and requests lots of recopies. More often than not, they do and there is where you will really earn.

I will show you a sample of our latest shoot. Thanks

fol

Here is one of the solo pictures we took last Sunday. thanks

http://static.flickr.com/107/302528286_9f98a959dd.jpg

Hi Bryant,
Here is my usual charge:

Duration: 3 hours
Set-up: indoor/outdoor but arranged by client
Make-up: client supplied
Equipment: Broncolor Minicom 80, Backdrop, reflector, ambient/flash meter, battery packs
D200, D2x
Charge: Php15,000 for doing the shoot only
Output: Contact prints only and one 16x20 canvas (no frame); and separate charge for all recopies

fol

This is a sample of a good cost estimate because it indicates what is included and what is not included, including time allotted for the shoot. You may also choose to indicate location of shoot, and to charge extra for travel time, if to be done outside Metro Manila. Specify the number of contact prints (or CDs) that you will submit. You may also wish to indicate how much extra they would pay for additional shooting time, prints, set ups so that they are agreeing in advance to these extras, if incurred. This would be better than having to negotiate after the work has been done.

For those who think only of their fees (which actually include use of equipment, transportation to and from location, services of your assistant, meals), you may want to have a confidential breakdown (for you or your staff) that would list down all possible expenses. Then, experiment and see which of those expenses you have shouldered in the past that you can charge additional for.

WARNING- MY TWO CENTS WORTH IS REALLY LONG..

recently did a fund-raiser shoot for an institution. i'll do several per year. shot about 350 families in two weeks.how did the portraits turn out? ok, i guess - not as spectacular as some of the examples that i see here. my cost per package? P346. my per family sales average? P2,016. do the math. but not the end of the story.

several families approached me for separate in-home sessions several families i approached for in-home sessions. why would they request for a separate session when their portraits (notice i said portraits not pictures) turned out ok? more on that below.

here's a typical in home session for me:

i knock on the door wearing a pair of well-pressed dress pants a long sleeved shirt and a tie. the door opens and i say "hi pepe" ( notice i said pepe, not sir) if you want your customer to have confidence in you, you have to do business on an equal footing. he welcomes and motions you in and you say hang on a second, i have to put on my overshoes. what are overshoes? you wear them over your regular pair of shoes. the soles are made of thick but soft felt. you're showing your concern for their carpet, newly waxed floor etc. in other words, RESPECT! YOU'RE SHOWING THEM RESPECT! when you put on corporate attire, you also show them RESPECT not to mention them willing to pay you corporate prices. you put on blue jeans-they pay you blue jean prices! when i sold them their portrait at the fund-raiser, i sold them myself too. that's why i'm here.

you come in-engaged him in small chit-chat (how's business, the weather, politics, other subjects that you have command of). you talk to the wife- nice house, nice garden. talk to the kids-school, friends, hobbies, others. play with the dog (you have to learn to love pets) make sure you have a repertoire of clean jokes for every age level. master the punch lines!

then you ask permission to to take photos of the living room walls and other walls in the house where portraits could hang. upload the photos to your laptop. you ask which way you could bring in your equipment- through main entrance, kitchen door, backdoor. always ask. THAT'S RESPECT! set up your equipment carefully lifting furnitures not pushing or dragging them.

now comes the crunch-posing. you do your first pose. a perfect diamond composition because you didn't forget to bring at least 15 pieces of the all important polyethelene.your camera is on a tripod with a 15 foot trip cord. how else can you interact with the subjects if your face is behind your camera.? you frame and focus (manual focus please because you're much faster reacting with a prefocused lens than one in autofocus. you see a perfect portrait and you see the magic moment and...... you ... DON'T PUSH THE TRIP BUTTON!!! you stall and stop and go fix daddy's tie. is daddy's tie crooked? HECK NO! daddy's tie is perfectly straight. YOU FAKE IT! you are fixing an already perfectly straight necktie. it's all SUBLIMINAL PRE-SELLING ! THIS IS AN IMAGE BUSINESS - YOU HAVE TO DO A LOT OF FAKING. you are bombarding your customers' brain how meticulous and what a stickler for details you are. simply put, you're saying to them that YOU'RE GOOD!! BE LOUD BUT NOT OVERLY LOUD! COMMENT ON EACH EXPOSURE THAT YOU MAKE. OH MAGNIFICENT! THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL PORTRAIT! WOW! PULL DAD FROM HIS POSE AND DRAG HIM TOWARDS THE CAMERA SHOW HIM THAT LAST PHOTO THAT YOU JUST DID ON THE MONITOR.- INVOLVE THEM IN THE PROCESS AND YES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE POSE!!

by this time, you have owned the family and you could suggest different poses to your heart's content and they will oblige. mom with son, dad with daughter, kids by themselves, parents by themselves, girl with dog, boy with dog, dog by himself etc etc.

now the comes the real crunch time- SALES! you bring up the photos of the walls you just took ON YOUR LAPTOP and drop the family portraits showing the family how a 30 x 40 and other large wall portraits will look on their actual living room. suggest framing-make money on it. suggest lamination-make money on it. suggest copies for lolo, aunties ,uncles, lola christmas cards CREATE A NEED!!

my last sortie went like this. the missus gave me a free reign redecorating their home and this is what i came up with:

4 30x40
2 20x24
6 16x20
2 11x14
30 5x7
12 8x10

no problemo she says!

this business is 20% photography 80% PR. chances are, if they like you, they will like the portraits- even if they're "crappy". kidding!

i truly believe this can work because i've done it many times. i am my own rate card, i don't worry about what the other photographers are doing and i am a happy camper!

my studio 358 RUE GLAMOUR is soon to open- you are all invited. although "THE RUE" is intended to be a high profile upscale mall based (don't bash mall photographers- rent is impossible but they're still there ergo, they're doing good) portrait studio, it will form probably just 10 % of my intended portrait business. many people ignore the fact that malls are a phenomenon that are capable of attracting a wild number of people everyday. you get 500,000 and more footsteps on an ordinary day at zero customer acquisition cost-try beat that!!

i truly believe this can work because i've done it many times. i am my own rate card, i don't worry about what the other photographers are doing and i am happy.

Congratulations. That is important - that you are happy.:)

Congratulations. That is important - that you are happy.:)
thanks harvey!

Hmm.. I'd say, give them the ff:

1) Family - 3 layouts
2) Portraits - 2 or 3 layouts each member

Approximate time, including breaks between layout - 6 hours. I'd charge 10T. Good luck!
hey jerry,

just want to get up to speed with the local photo jargon-what's a layout?

this a sample of layout by randall
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/randalldagooc/04-1.jpg

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/randalldagooc/12.jpg

you do wedding layouts too oliver?

the sample layouts are from randall.

here is simple layout i made for a friend which is my gift to her graduation. Printed http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p119/hewgoba/models/tagayunyahoocom3.jpgin 24x16

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p119/hewgoba/models/tagayunyahoocom2.jpg

you do wedding layouts too oliver?
yes i do any layouts

OT yata ako sorry sa tread starter.

this a sample of layout by randall
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/randalldagooc/04-1.jpg

If that is a layout, then count two set ups for the photography requirements (based on the sample). Photographers should count set ups, rather than layouts, as there could be any number of photo set ups in one layout of an invitation, print ad etc.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/randalldagooc/12.jpg

I would read this as one set up with three simple variations.

basil how i wish i could have taken up photography when i was still fti and you were there too.

i have retired recently and will probably try to improve on my skills in picture taking or rather putting memories into print. possibly earn somthing on the side.WARNING- MY TWO CENTS WORTH IS REALLY LONG..

recently did a fund-raiser shoot for an institution. i'll do several per year. shot about 350 families in two weeks.how did the portraits turn out? ok, i guess - not as spectacular as some of the examples that i see here. my cost per package? P346. my per family sales average? P2,016. do the math. but not the end of the story.

several families approached me for separate in-home sessions several families i approached for in-home sessions. why would they request for a separate session when their portraits (notice i said portraits not pictures) turned out ok? more on that below.

here's a typical in home session for me:

i knock on the door wearing a pair of well-pressed dress pants a long sleeved shirt and a tie. the door opens and i say "hi pepe" ( notice i said pepe, not sir) if you want your customer to have confidence in you, you have to do business on an equal footing. he welcomes and motions you in and you say hang on a second, i have to put on my overshoes. what are overshoes? you wear them over your regular pair of shoes. the soles are made of thick but soft felt. you're showing your concern for their carpet, newly waxed floor etc. in other words, RESPECT! YOU'RE SHOWING THEM RESPECT! when you put on corporate attire, you also show them RESPECT not to mention them willing to pay you corporate prices. you put on blue jeans-they pay you blue jean prices! when i sold them their portrait at the fund-raiser, i sold them myself too. that's why i'm here.

you come in-engaged him in small chit-chat (how's business, the weather, politics, other subjects that you have command of). you talk to the wife- nice house, nice garden. talk to the kids-school, friends, hobbies, others. play with the dog (you have to learn to love pets) make sure you have a repertoire of clean jokes for every age level. master the punch lines!

then you ask permission to to take photos of the living room walls and other walls in the house where portraits could hang. upload the photos to your laptop. you ask which way you could bring in your equipment- through main entrance, kitchen door, backdoor. always ask. THAT'S RESPECT! set up your equipment carefully lifting furnitures not pushing or dragging them.

now comes the crunch-posing. you do your first pose. a perfect diamond composition because you didn't forget to bring at least 15 pieces of the all important polyethelene.your camera is on a tripod with a 15 foot trip cord. how else can you interact with the subjects if your face is behind your camera.? you frame and focus (manual focus please because you're much faster reacting with a prefocused lens than one in autofocus. you see a perfect portrait and you see the magic moment and...... you ... DON'T PUSH THE TRIP BUTTON!!! you stall and stop and go fix daddy's tie. is daddy's tie crooked? HECK NO! daddy's tie is perfectly straight. YOU FAKE IT! you are fixing an already perfectly straight necktie. it's all SUBLIMINAL PRE-SELLING ! THIS IS AN IMAGE BUSINESS - YOU HAVE TO DO A LOT OF FAKING. you are bombarding your customers' brain how meticulous and what a stickler for details you are. simply put, you're saying to them that YOU'RE GOOD!! BE LOUD BUT NOT OVERLY LOUD! COMMENT ON EACH EXPOSURE THAT YOU MAKE. OH MAGNIFICENT! THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL PORTRAIT! WOW! PULL DAD FROM HIS POSE AND DRAG HIM TOWARDS THE CAMERA SHOW HIM THAT LAST PHOTO THAT YOU JUST DID ON THE MONITOR.- INVOLVE THEM IN THE PROCESS AND YES IN THE MIDDLE OF THE POSE!!

by this time, you have owned the family and you could suggest different poses to your heart's content and they will oblige. mom with son, dad with daughter, kids by themselves, parents by themselves, girl with dog, boy with dog, dog by himself etc etc.

now the comes the real crunch time- SALES! you bring up the photos of the walls you just took ON YOUR LAPTOP and drop the family portraits showing the family how a 30 x 40 and other large wall portraits will look on their actual living room. suggest framing-make money on it. suggest lamination-make money on it. suggest copies for lolo, aunties ,uncles, lola christmas cards CREATE A NEED!!

my last sortie went like this. the missus gave me a free reign redecorating their home and this is what i came up with:

4 30x40
2 20x24
6 16x20
2 11x14
30 5x7
12 8x10

no problemo she says!

this business is 20% photography 80% PR. chances are, if they like you, they will like the portraits- even if they're "crappy". kidding!

i truly believe this can work because i've done it many times. i am my own rate card, i don't worry about what the other photographers are doing and i am a happy camper!