Hello, I was recently hired to do a 2-hour event shoot of a company’s parade float. They only want 12 photos in the end, but obviously I’ll have to edit much more than that so they can pick out which 12 they want. I’m also a sophomore in college and wouldn’t say I have more than the average amount of experience. I really just don’t know what to charge for shooting or editing. I don’t want to overcharge, but I know if i lowball then I won’t be taken seriously.
Thats a hard question i think everybody is struggling with especially in the beginning. Some points i would recommend:
Charge a fee that includes everything (shooting.time, editing, transport, ect). If they want to keep you longer than the two hours/have extra fancy editing wishes charge more. I personaly dont think its good to charge per final images or editing time separately. If you are good or have a fast workflow, why should you get less money for that than someone who has no experience in that and take forever?
You choose the final images (but if there are more than 12 good ones, give them more) I almost never let my clients choose the keepers out of all the images i take and i never had anyone complain about that. Deliver the best of the best shots and dont even show the bad or mediocre ones.
Think about a price that you are comfortable with. That means that you give them a good product but also you will get something out of that in the end beside all the work and stress. If 75 bucks per hour is ok for you and you feel like its fair, charge that, but you could also say 250 per hour if you feel confident enough. Nobody beside you can decide that. BUT before you say your price add 10-20% to it. If they want to haggle, go back to your original price. If not, congrats to some extra bucks ;)
I had the same discussion with myself a lot of times as well, even after a couple of years its often hard to give my time and effort a price. Selling your service is an artform itself and same as photography this takes time and practise to master
Hope this helps a bit