Charing for amateur portraits?

Do you know why it is "expensive" for a professional's services? It is to cover the costs of doing business while still making a profit to feed their families. Costs include wear and tear on vehicle/equipment, fuel, liability insurance, legally required licenses to conduct business, taxes, marketing, rent/utilities if they have a studio, prints, etc. They also have spent YEARS perfecting their craft and learning what is involved in running a business. It is sad that marketing by the camera manufacturers has made people think that it is all in the camera and simply pressing a button (it isn't) and we will find more people competing for the limited jobs available because they can't make their own living.

What you do between you and your friends is between you guys. If they are happy with the work from someone who has just started out, then fine, maybe they will give you a donation or something. Just know that once you begin selling your services (even on the side), you will be held legally liable if you are not paying taxes on your income (and if your state expects you to be licensed first) and if your friends are unhappy and sue you (seen this before, even on this forum). Remember, ignorance of the law is NOT a defense in the court room.

This is not to put you down, but to really make you realize the realities of what you are proposing.

4 months experience and YOU think you're ready to go out into the world and start charging money?

Listen, you are FAR from being a professional who charges; don't even think about. What you should do is consider that you are gaining experience for free! Yeah, go ahead and charge... so the students don't get a professional photog take the images and if you ruin the shoot (for WHATEVER reason), and they sue you...? You want to charge something? Charge for the CD or DVD and a few dollars for your time and effort, nothing more. Those are the ones that will help spread the word and you'll always have free willing models to practice with... very important for gaining experience.

Wow! A whole 4 months of experience and you think you are ready to charge other people for your work?

The fact that you say you've learned a lot of editing techniques is a red flag too - either you are incapable of getting it right in camera, or you are trying to turn mediocre snapshots into something more by adding 'filters' and 'effects'.

Don't charge anything - just use it as an opportunity to gain experience in exposure and lighting techniques.

They asked you to take the photos not because you take amazing photographs, but because they don't want to pay a professional... fair enough. But you have never done a shoot before and have only been practicing for 4 months. You don't have any right trying to charge them. How about, you take their pictures for free, get some practice and experience out of it, and if the pictures are really good, then your friends can give you a donation. If the pics are crap, then there will be no loss for anyone.

If your friends are asking you to do their senior portraits then it would be wrong for anyone to assume that you don't have the skill and experience to satisfy them in this specific circumstance. Otherwise, your friends wouldn't be asking you. However, being in the business of photography involves more than just taking pictures and offering clients what you think they want. You need to establish quite specifically what kind of product they want. One 8x10? What if they have grandparents? What's the 4x6 for? Do your friends have smartphones and social networking? Do they have the skills to take one of your 12-megapixel high resolution images, which is far too large for internet, and copy it to their phone or Facebook page (without Facebook ruining it by scaling it down)?

Given your meager experience, I would (1) ask them what they want. (2) Charge for your costs and a little more to make it worth your while. As you gain experience you can raise your rates.

Charge NOTHING.

You are an amateur with very little experience. When you start charging you are establishing yourself as a professional who can deliver top notch results. If you f**k up and your friends sue you, no judge will tolerate hearing "But, I'm an amateur!" It won't fly and you will have to deal with the consequences accordingly.

Don't be one of the delusional amateurs who thinks they're ready to charge when they're far from doing so.

Tell them it's free. The will most likely give you some money anyway. You aren't a professional, so don't charge before. If they are good pictures, people will pay you. You are gaining experience, so that is your payment.

1

Do the prints. The actual photo, tangible and non-electronic is very powerful that if made right, will endear you to the client forever.

As for your pricing, it's all up to you but do charge. It's the fair thing to do.

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