Doing a family portrait for a friend.

[Blukoo]

A friend has asked me to take some pictures of her family for her mums birthday and she's asked me for an estimate.

I though maybe about half an hour to set up and take the pics (they'll be outdoor as I don't have a studio), then between 3-4 hours of retouching in photoshop to get everything perfect.

I told her £40 will cover my troubles (mates rates of course).

Just out of curiosity, what would you professionals charge for a similar situation. Do you charge by the hour, or a set rate for portraits.

Thanks.

ps. If you have any example shots of outdoor portraits and advice please feel free to post them

[Ed_P]

Blukoo said:

ps. If you have any example shots of outdoor portraits and advice please feel free to post them

If you want some great advice on locations, setup and lighting for portraits; Neil van Neikerk's blog has some great tips and advice ...

[Simpo Two]

£75ph inc processing. So a one hour shoot usually leads to at least one hour processing = £150. However that will get them several dozen good photos on CD and licence to use pretty much anywhere, nothing else to pay.

Edited by Simpo Two on Thursday 9th September 22:04

[Blukoo]

Ed_P said:

If you want some great advice on locations, setup and lighting for portraits; Neil van Neikerk's blog has some great tips and advice ...

Thanks for that.

All I have is a 450D and a tripod. I think i'm going to have to pray for and rely on nice natural lighting.

[TonyHetherington]

Blukoo said:

Ed_P said:

If you want some great advice on locations, setup and lighting for portraits; Neil van Neikerk's blog has some great tips and advice ...

Thanks for that.

All I have is a 450D and a tripod. I think i'm going to have to pray for and rely on nice natural lighting.

Don't use the tripod. First shoot I ever did I used one, it's so limiting. Instead, get up and around the models.

[Ed_P]

Blukoo said:

Ed_P said:

If you want some great advice on locations, setup and lighting for portraits; Neil van Neikerk's blog has some great tips and advice ...

Thanks for that.

All I have is a 450D and a tripod. I think i'm going to have to pray for and rely on nice natural lighting.

Trouble is, you can't rely on nice natural lighting!

If you have no flashes that you can use on or off-camera (and no plans to invest in any), then you might want to consider investing in a large(ish) reflector instead. Getting rid of unwanted shadows can be a problem with portrait photography. Have you discussed with the client what sort of thing they are expecting? Diffused window light can be very flattering.