How much money should i charge for portraits?

Question

I took some pictures of neighbor's dog for a portfolio, but she really likes my pictures and wants to buy them. I told her that i'd come back in a couple days with 4x6 pictures and tell her the price and she agreed to that. But, i still don't what to charge her. How much should i charge her per picture? I don't have a DSLR, just an unltra zoom bridge camera so i don't want to charge like $50. It's also a 4x6 picture, and how much should i charge for a 5x7? My friend's sister also wants to buy some portrait shots of herself, how much should i charge for that too?

Answer 1

Well since she is doing you a favor by letting you use her dog for your portfolio, I wouldn't charge a regular price. Just the price for printing it plus a little extra for yourself. Your friend, on the other hand, you could charge more, but I honestly wouldn't charge them if I were you. Not at this point I mean.

Answer 2

Are you getting them printed at a local store?  4x6 prints are pretty cheap , so maybe add $1 per print to your cost.  For the 5x7 maybe double what the store is charging you?  It's hard to say but choose a price that you're comfortable with... Good luck!

I agree with the above posters, TFP is always good!

At this point you're just trying to cover you own expenses and have some people talking about your work :)

Answer 3

If you took them for your own portfolio, I´d just give her the photographs for free or at cost, as a thank you. It´s not like she can frame a 4x6 and hang it over the couch.

Of course, if she offers a tip, I wouldn´t refuse it. I just think it´s wrong to charge her for the pictures after the fact.

For the portrait shots of the sister of your friend, I´d do TFP - time for prints. Get some more shots that you can use for your portfolio and make sure to get one or two that she´ll be happy with. She´s too close to home - don´t mix friends & business.

I´m not known for my killer business instinct ;-)