How much should I be willing to pay for my senior pictures?

Question

I am having my cousin do my picture. She does not have a business or anything but is real good. She is thinking of starting one soon though. She has a certain printing software for photos and I am printing 104 wallets, 15 5x7 and 15 4x6 high quality pictures. Should this be less than 200 dollars because I cannot afford to pay much more than that. I do not know if the software she is using is the cheapest around either. I heard walmart and walgreens does it for cheap and they are high quality and as good as any, so should I still pay that much. I added it up at walgreens and it was less than 100 dollars if I did it right. I don't want to pay too much but I think she may have a pricy software.

Answer 1

You should be willing to pay whatever is agreed between you and the photographer.



The price of her software should have no bearing whatsoever on your decision.



The photographer quotes a price and you either accept it or get someone else to do your shots.

Answer 2

Stick with the pricier software.



Walmart and Walgreens have HORRENDOUS prints. Do your research. The quality from both places is atrocious and not worth it. If you want cheap then don't be surprised when they turn out looking like crap. If your photos mean that much to you then you AND your cousin should be taking them to a quality professional print lab, not some chain store or a home printer.



EDIT...



Wait...you're her FIRST subject and she already wants to start a business? Holy crap. Another DWC -- Dumbass with camera. Your cousin needs to work on getting a buttload of experience and skill under her belt before starting a business.

Answer 3

You pay what you are willing and you get what you get for that.



While printing may cost $100... Taking the shots takes time and money.



Cameras cost money. Learning to use gear and take great photos cost money, and time.



A can of motor oil is like $3. Try getting an oil change for the cost of 4 cans of oil.



You are paying for time, knowledge and equipment. Any huge break on price beyond the cost of direct materials is a gift, not a right.

Answer 4

The software to print isn;t the problem, it's the actual printer and paper used.



It would be less expensive (and oddly enough better quality) to print these out at a pharmacy or a place like Costco (and they are crap) ...



Home prints suck (unless she has an actual large format professional printer (2000$ - 3000$), colors aren't as bright, the prints scratch easily, the paper won't last as long ...



Better would be to order the prints from a place like MPix.



My COST (what it costs me) to print your order would be 48$ That's what it would cost ME in printing costs from my professional photo lab.

Answer 5

The "software" is irrelevant -- what the issue is here is the quality of prints from a lab.

And no, walmart and walgreens are *not* "as good as any." They are, in fact, complete crap.



Using a high-quality lab (again, "software" doesn't matter), I would have charged my clients about $320 for the prints you mentioned. No, that's not what they cost me to print -- it includes profit for my hard work.



Peace.

Answer 6

Your question makes no sense. How much are you WILLING to pay, or how much SHOULD you pay?



What you are willing to pay is up to you. What you should pay for prints is however much it costs to make the prints (since you said she is taking them for free). If it costs 50 bucks to print out all those photos, then it costs 50 bucks. If it costs 500, then it costs 500.

Answer 7

If you had gone to a studio like the one I work for those prints would cost you over $400, and that's not counting your session fee or tax.

Answer 8

Sure would - putting a rope around the fat, over rated, self centered hypocrite and then another picture after he was hung - with me holding a sign "job well done".

Answer 9

you should have discussed cost before they were done...



she is your cousin, so stop asking on here and speak to her...



we can't advise you on dealing with your own family... the cost is what the cost is... deal or no deal...