anyone do headshots, or get headshots taken? What are the industry standard pricing?

[Aharami]

Posting this in offtopic as opposed to DV&C because this isnt equipment related.

I'm mainly an event and family photographer. (website, still under construction, facebook page) I got asked by a friend to come do headshots of his employees for a company profile (~ 25 people). My research shows rates are around $100 - $150 per person for corporate headshots:
https://fstoppers.com/business/fsto...hots-corporate-client-what-do-you-charge-1508

Even places like target and walmart studio charges $70 per person for 3 images.

So I quoted them $60 per person and $1500 total. This is apparently way higher than they had anticipated. Their budget is max $600. And it's not just them. Another potential client reached out to me for 28 employee headshots, but I declined that since their budget was only $300 - $400.

I'm wondering if my research is flawed and the industry standard pricing is much lower than I'd thought.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

$25k per target. I guarantee complete confidentiality, of course.

...

Dunno much about rates, I'd assume group discounts would be the norm, since you're just cycling people past your camera.

A little googling says $100 per person is high, but $60 is probably normal-to-low.

http://rwalshphoto.com/staff-headshots-group-headshot-sessions/
http://brandontigrett.com/rates/
https://fstoppers.com/business/fsto...hots-corporate-client-what-do-you-charge-1508

Etc.

Probably mitigated by the fact that most business are only doing corporate headshots for a few senior people, not every employee.

I think this is an example of a small business owner who said to themselves, "well gee, how much could it be? It's just a guy with a camera!"

See also: everything on Clientsfromhell.net.

 

[Aharami]

I think this is an example of a small business owner who said to themselves, "well gee, how much could it be? It's just a guy with a camera!"

That is definitely the case here, and many other clients I work with. People don't understand how much work goes into retouching headshots

 

[Aharami]

$25k per target.

and, is my sarcasm meter not working?

 

[edro]

and, is my sarcasm meter not working?

Hitman

Do it for $600, little to no retouching and all employees must be there for 1 visit.

 

[Schmide]

Typical event photography is charge your rate over time worked. You get a bonus of overlap in both travel and scheduling.

 

[Aharami]

Hitman

Do it for $600, little to no retouching and all employees must be there for 1 visit.

Yea I agreed to $600 since she is a friend.

 

[z1ggy]

I do faceshots, and I give them out fo free.

:wub: :awe:

 

[rootaxs]

I'm frequently on both sides of this equation, as either photographer (my sideline) or client (main occupation).

Like anything photography-related, the #'s will vary by a wide margin, it's all about what you have to offer and how established you are.

If all you're doing is straight-up shots with not much in the way of set-up and tear-down (assumingly, at their location) i've seen group rates go down as much as $35pp, minimum of x people. Typically a sliding scale.

On the mid-high tier, with full-studio access (or mobile studio) with make-up artist and fairly heavy post-processing, the $150pp rate is fairly common.

When doing larger projects, i tend to separate the photography from the post-processing due to better negotiation rates. Savings aren't much pp, but as an overall project it can be substantial.

 

[Aharami]

I'm frequently on both sides of this equation, as either photographer (my sideline) or client (main occupation).

Like anything photography-related, the #'s will vary by a wide margin, it's all about what you have to offer and how established you are.

If all you're doing is straight-up shots with not much in the way of set-up and tear-down (assumingly, at their location) i've seen group rates go down as much as $35pp, minimum of x people.

On the mid-high tier, with full-studio access (or mobile studio) with make-up artist and fairly heavy post-processing, the $150pp rate is fairly common.

When doing larger projects, i tend to separate the photography from the post-processing due to better negotiation rates. Savings aren't much pp, but as an overall project it can be substantial.

Thanks for your insight

 

[CoPhotoGuy]

I bill $250/hour. Figure about 4-5 hours to shoot at 10 minutes per head. Add in that they want to purchase the photos I'm sure and $1500 is not unreasonable. This is assuming no MUA and minimal retouching needed. With proper setup, retouching should not take much time. Adjust for color, etc. and then copy and paste it to all the photos in Lightroom, bam done. Minor blemish removal, good to go. So 4 hours shooting + 2 hours pp, which is not unreasonable because of the highly controlled lighting conditions I'm assuming you'll have and $1500 would be at that $250/hr rate.

 

[tynopik]

fieldtrip to walgreens and get a passport photo for $13 each

 

[Markbnj]

At this point in the thread this reply is required...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovsVU6mktOw

 

[Aharami]

I bill $250/hour. Figure about 4-5 hours to shoot at 10 minutes per head. Add in that they want to purchase the photos I'm sure and $1500 is not unreasonable. This is assuming no MUA and minimal retouching needed. With proper setup, retouching should not take much time. Adjust for color, etc. and then copy and paste it to all the photos in Lightroom, bam done. Minor blemish removal, good to go. So 4 hours shooting + 2 hours pp, which is not unreasonable because of the highly controlled lighting conditions I'm assuming you'll have and $1500 would be at that $250/hr rate.

yea, I'm around that rate also for my shoots. Thanks for confirming my thoughts.

 

[Aharami]

fieldtrip to walgreens and get a passport photo for $13 each

why even bother? you'd get similar results having someone take your photo against a white wall with your cell phone.

 

[Scarpozzi]

I don't know what the charge would be. I used to work for a national photograph corporation, but their policies were not to charge up front so people would actually come in to get the pictures taken. Needless to say, that industry's been flipped upside down since everyone carries 10MP cameras in their pockets 24/7 and GOOD entry-level Digital SLRs can be had for under $500.

I'd stick with the hourly rate because you're less likely to have them cancel on you.