You should charge what you think it's worth, or you could ask her what she is willing to pay.
If you would do it for $50, that's your price.
Since you are unsure, figure out how much time for shooting and PP you'll need, and then figure out what it's not worth the bother if you only got X dollars, that's your minimum.
First, I feel you ought to come up with a set price for your prints. Decide what is fair for the time you spend on retouching plus the cost of the prints (don't forget any kind of delivery expenses that might be involved). I pretty much leave my print prices alone (except I give discounts for volume and also for family)
Second, as to session fees, I have to ask: What is your time worth to you... and how badly do you want to do the shoot?
There are some shoots where I would just love to do the shoot ... so much so that I might not even care if they pay me. Others, I really don't care one way or another, so I charge what I feel my time is worth. And if I don't feel like doing the shoot but they insist anyway... I might even raise my prices. :)
thanks for the advice guys. one more thing. any advice on a printing company? it would have to be online or in portland or. good quality ect.
If you have a Costco membership, they are inexpensive, and I've gotten good results. You can upload and order the photos online, and go pick them up in 1-4 hours.
You can also order them through your DPC Prints account, and a lot of people here have recommended Mpix, though I haven't used them myself.
thanks for the advice guys. one more thing. any advice on a printing company? it would have to be online or in portland or. good quality ect.
If you have a Costco membership, they are inexpensive, and I've gotten good results. You can upload and order the photos online, and go pick them up in 1-4 hours.
You can also order them through your DPC Prints account, and a lot of people here have recommended Mpix, though I haven't used them myself.
Mpix is great and fast.
DPCPrints does excellent work but will take a few days longer.
CVS does a good job if you need them fast.
One more tip on pricing. Do not yield to the temptation to do the first job real cheap. I've seen a lot of people in a lot of different endeavors go too cheap, to get their foot in the door.
Two things seem to happen way too often when they do that.
1. The customer does not respect their work, feeling it is really only worth what they paid. End result, they get more complaints, and more requests for free fixes.
2. It is harder to raise prices than lower prices. You give the person a killer deal, and oh they love you, and word of mouth advertising is great. But they also tell the world about the great deal they got. So your next customer wants to know why you are gouging them, and not giving them the same price you gave Pamela-Jo.
If you are going to charge money, price it in the price range you want to get for that kind of work.
