I'm a photography with my own darkroom and have some families (which I babysit for)wanting me to photograph their children.My problem is knowing how to charge for the prints???I've tried to figure out my cost,but that seemed impossible with the chemicals and the amount of paper I have to use for each print.Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! THANKS

-- Jessica Smith (jess@pa.net), May 24, 1998

Answers

Your mileage will doubtless vary from mine, but this is how I work it out:

- Chemical cost is negligable, so I ignore it.

- I allow two sheets of photo paper per print. It costs me about 25p (25 British Pennies) per sheet, which makes 50p.

- It takes, say, 20 minutes per print. I cost my time at #20 per hour, which makes #6.67 per print.

Total cost, #7.17 per print. Note, this is the cost of printing, and does not include the initial photography, but that can be calculated in the same way.

For the cost of your time, you could use the figure they pay you for babysitting.

The cost would be greatly reduced by using ordinary photo labs.

-- Alan Gibson (gibson.al@mail.dec.com), May 26, 1998.

I don't agree with pricing according to cost. If you are not sure you can complete the project maybe you should do it for free and profit from the expereince. On the other hand if you are confident of your skills, then you might call some of the local professional photographers and act like a customer and get their prices. You will probably want to be slightly lower in price than the local pro but not significantly lower. You are providing a service which is worth more than the cost of materials. Your personal knowledge of the children should help you to make photographs that show their personalities which is a big plus. Twenty years ago when pricing according to cost was normal, a standard practice was to charge 400% of your cost.

-- Jeff White (zonie@computer-concepts.com), May 28, 1998.

If you intend to sell photos, you need to take into consideration the cost that a neighborhood photo-lab charges to process/finish prints plus mileage (i.e., $0.325/mile, based on IRS limit), plus film cost, plus about $20/hour (an amount based on your expertise and equipment costs and volume). This is resonable. This is also an approximate formula that a professional photographer will charge. Then, depending on the "demand" for your service you can raise or lower your hourly rate (price theory: economics 101).

-- peter j o'toole (potoole@mn.uswest.net), July 26, 1998.

I charge $5.00 for 8x10's, $3.00 for 5x7's and $1.00 for 3x5's.

-- Regina Hugo (vhugo@earthlink.net), December 24, 1998.