Product Photography, how to charge?

[JackJack]

Got offer to shoot product, joss stick, candle, hell note, gold paper, silver paper, those for chinese praying kind of thing.

Total number of item not sure yet, but it will be more than 600 of those items.

No need print out, just soft copy.

how much shud I charge for this job?

They said I can either go there shoot or take back the item slow slow shoot.

[ckchowov]

You try ask sifu Wasabi...he is expert.

[leslie]

Got offer to shoot product, joss stick, candle, hell note, gold paper, silver paper, those for chinese praying kind of thing.

Total number of item not sure yet, but it will be more than 600 of those items.

No need print out, just soft copy.

how much shud I charge for this job?

They said I can either go there shoot or take back the item slow slow shoot.


600 items ??? how many days u plan to finish this...then u agak agak how long u need to sort it out within the number of days u benchmark yourself.then u know wat u can charge..

But dont be hero...600 items can settle within one day..otherwise u work 24 hours :D

[andythology]

if.. simply setup. careful compose each shot, one day can kautim geh..
i shoot for a boutique, 18hours for >1000pieces of clothes.
disclaimer: just SHOOT. no setup..

[stockie]

Ask sifu Wasabi. PM him. He's THE ONE in this area.

[JackJack]

i think i go to see all the thing tat im going to shoot first, then only decide how to shoot and how much to charge

[ShaolinTiger]

See how much it should take for each item, maybe can do in 2 days, is still pretty fast moving.

Plan out your time first, then can calculate from there.

[JackJack]

finalize from client, only 200 item after filter out those not so nice to shoot, one picture for each item.

only joss stick and some other small item.

I'll take back the item to shoot and give them the soft-copy within one week.

If i charge RM2 per item, is it reasonable?

[jetfynn]

If you think RM2 is reasonable, then charge RM2. If you think it's not reasonable then charge higher.

Then look back at quality that you are going to provide. Ask yourself this question. Is it worth it?

Also, what is the purpose for? Catalogues, brochures, etc..... have to be taken into consideration too.

[leslie]

finalize from client, only 200 item after filter out those not so nice to shoot, one picture for each item.

only joss stick and some other small item.

I'll take back the item to shoot and give them the soft-copy within one week.

If i charge RM2 per item, is it reasonable?

IMHO, Jack Jack,i think you ought to work out everything in proper before even putting a cap on yourself first..this is the mistake in most businesses...they do not do a full detailed study on what they are offering and based on all their formulations and decisions on a price.Then it becomes a price war.


Justify yourself on what you want to offer to your clients and vice versa, make it an agreement and an understanding. Perhaps you might wanna do some test shots in front of them and give them a feel of what they are expecting.

Set an expectation from the very beginning of what you can offer and what is expected from them. Then you can leverage and come out with a conclusion as well as a agreement on the end product and finally price.

Earning on your own without noone's help is not easy, but if you do everything right from the start it can be very rewarding.
Dont bother abt competition or others or what other people say.. care the less abt them. Remember *Competition is irrelevant*

[noruazumi]

i'm gonna do this like Loctor Mayat style.
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close your eyes and said "RM15 per shot including printing & editing".



:D:partyon:

[andretong]

If i charge RM2 per item, is it reasonable?
add another zero at the back. then i would say yes. :D

[JackJack]

hmmm....because I nv shoot for money b4, i totally have no idea how to charge.

If i charge too much, ppl will say I'm very expensive, and lose the job.
If i charge too cheap, price war sure will start by other competitor.

What I want to offer or what client want?
- Good looking picture of the product, from me for client

What is the process of delivering a good looking picture?
- set up light box, arrange the item properly, control lighting, shoot, process RAW, burn into CD.

I think those process you all also know, right?

All i want to know is the standard price for this kind of job, or normally how ppl charge for that, so that I can have a guide and charge accordingly, fair for me and fair for my client

coming job, got ppl ask me to shoot machine for company profile. I think I'm losing the joss stick job, I dun wanna to lose this job as well...:(

If u want to know how good I can shoot? Here is some sample I did last nite to show the client
http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/4246/img1615qr2.jpg

http://img452.imageshack.us/img452/7897/img1637jz8.jpg

[noruazumi]

i think these are very good shots.
well, if u r not feeling good about it,then charge RM2 lor.
RM2 x 200 unit = RM400.
your price is ok to me.

[jetfynn]

Again & again, personally with the quality that you just showed, RM20 more like it but you decide.

[noruazumi]

Again & again, personally with the quality that you just showed, RM20 more like it but you decide.

i seconded that suggestion by jetfynn.
or perhaps RM10 if you are comfortable with the suggested price.
seriously, your shots are worth the price.

[andretong]

i think these are very good shots.
well, if u r not feeling good about it,then charge RM2 lor.
RM2 x 200 unit = RM400.
your price is ok to me.

RM400 is rugi lar.
Petrol and car maintainance.
Shutter life. flash life, batteries life, electricity bill (home).
So your true income is less than RM400.

Not including the time to shoot and process...shooting 200 items and process them, will take quite a long time. assuming 5 minutes per items for both shoot and process. total time required is about 16hours plus.
so are you really sure it is worth it to work 16hours plus and get paid RM400 (before deduct all the cost) ?

maybe best is to work out roughly how long it gonna take you to finish the jobs and charge them hourly rate.
base on example above, 16 hours.
1 hours RM50. So minimum charge is RM800.
but refer to your photos quality. i would charge RM1000 minimum.

[noruazumi]

RM400 is rugi lar.
Petrol and car maintainance.
Shutter life. flash life, batteries life, electricity bill (home).
So your true income is less than RM400.

Not including the time to shoot and process...shooting 200 items and process them, will take quite a long time. assuming 5 minutes per items for both shoot and process. total time required is about 16hours plus.
so are you really sure it is worth it to work 16hours plus and get paid RM400 (before deduct all the cost) ?

maybe best is to work out roughly how long it gonna take you to finish the jobs and charge them hourly rate.
base on example above, 16 hours.
1 hours RM50. So minimum charge is RM800.
but refer to your photos quality. i would charge RM1000 minimum.

hehe. i know. :D
but jackjack so insisted on charging RM2 per shot which i think way cheap compared to the quality of his shots..
c'mon jackjack, close your eyes & say "RM10 per shot".

[ShaolinTiger]

Looking at the quality of the test shot you've provided here I would think RM1000-1500 should be ok, including conversion from RAW/PP and provision of all images on in high res on DVD.

[andythology]

you can charge, easily RM1500, judge based on your photos showed. ;-)

you are good.