Hi all,

A friend of mine gotten intouch with me on asking if I am able to help them with a family shooting session for outdoor (About 2 hours?) and they are willing to pay.

My question is, what is the market rate for such shooting session for a intermediate level photographer?

I do understand that the pricing does depending on the skill level, level of commitment & equipment used.

For price suggesion benchmarking:
I am using a D40x with 18-55mm f3.5-5.6, 55-200mm f4-5.6
Little to none experience in shooting family potrait. (I am introvert! Usually I don't take homosapien's photo)
Will post-process the images taken during the session. (Basic edits like exposure, enhancing the dynamic range of my limited camera)



And to open up a discussion, or getting advices, I will attach some of the photos of my own collection (non-potrait collection).

Feel free to share your thoughts.

Edited:
It strange that I couldn't upload the photos here...
I'll put the links to flickr instead:
Photo 1
Photo2
Photo3
Photo4

This post has been edited by IzaakC: Oct 30 2018, 02:47 PM

i used to charge rm80-100 per hour basis, basic edited like exposure all of the picture into thumb drive. but i m not professional, just normal wedding photog

Appreciate your reply! I was thinking about that range actually. Considering they told me they will cover all the other expenses like food and transportation for me.

One more question, do you include your time spent in editing in the charges as well?

Hi there,

Professional charges range from RM200 to RM350 per hour. Professional as in photography gear/skills as well as posing/communicating skills.

You mentioned that you haven't taken any portrait before, I would recommend you to not give your customer any expectation based on the price. Maybe RM100-150 for a less than two hours with food and transportation provided would be okay.

Hello there~

Thank you for the sharing. They were looking for amateur photographer to help them for the purpose of capture down their moments with affordable rates. I told them I can find them someone who is experienced but they asks me if I can help them instead.

if close friend, just ask him/her to provide you transportation and a meal in return will do la...just two hours session and some post editing time.

who knows if one day you need his/her help too.

of course, if not so close friend, just charge like what DS_Legacy suggested.

since you have little to none experience, you might want to consider to a reflector (best if got assistant to help to hold it) along when you shooting outdoor under the sun. you don't want your subject face appear too dark if backlight.

also you might want to select which focal length to shoot since you are using kit lens, different distortion level with different focal length.

well, if they requested the photo to be printed out, you might need to take consideration in shooting in suitable aspect ratio depending on the photo printout size. always leave some space for cropping.

extra take note on the horizontal level when shooting formal group photo.


others welcome to make additional comments.

This post has been edited by BOTAK_WAI: Oct 30 2018, 11:02 PM

Ya just like BOTAK_WAI says if a close friend then no need to charge and take this as an opportunity to farm experience.

Shoot portraits and landscape/animal is totally a different experience imho. Some photographers enjoy them, while some don't. Anyway, remember to bring some props such as basketball, guitar, ukelele, or maybe even bubbles. Props help to ease poses and you can get greater candid shots out of them.

Good luck and all the best on your photoshoot

I still remember when I first shot a family portrait. I charge RM10 for 2 hours

i would say shoot wedding is the best chance to improve skills and exprerience tremendously. just stand beside/behind/under the official photog.

Will consider about it! Since it will be a win win situation (they got the photos done, I got my food & experience)

I am planning to use a mahjong paper to stick on a big cardboard to use it as the reflector temporarily, and probably will get my friend who is interested in photography to help out as assistant too.

Printing is something that I have never thought about nor had any experience on it.

^ will be a very scary moment for me hahaha


Bringing some props is a great suggestion! I will ask them to bring something that they like.


Will get my chance into it soon. There's none in my circle at the moment. I tried few event photography, both indoor and outdoor, and I have to say that the lighting is a huge challenge for me.