I think it is time that I establish a website for my photos. I started this blog for my Rose, and although she is the one that inspired my photography and my new "live like today is your last" mentality which in turn has inspired me to pursue actually trying to make some sort of living off of my new found talent and passion. However, it is quickly turning into a photography website now. I know you all love my photographs, but as I was thinking about it, I realized that some of you are still in a place with your grief that seeing pictures of babies or (hopefully soon) pregnant bellies may be a little much. I decided it is about time to establish my Irish Eyes Photography website. Now, I am still working of finding out if I can use that name, and then I will have to pay for the rights, but in the meantime, I figured I could start researching website designs/designers. I want this to be a real site, not just a blog. I want a slide show as of my best work as when the potential customer first clicks on the link, and then separate tabs for Senior pictures, baby pictures, family photos, etc. That way they can get a feel for each individual category. Then of course I want a tab for pricing, for I am hoping to start charging for my services around May or June. Until I get the website up and running, I will continue to post my photos here, but I will warn when there are baby pictures involved (by the way, there are some way at the bottome of this post).
Here is where you come in. First, do any of you know a good website designer, or are any of you good at this? Second, what do you think are reasonable prices for a photographer to charge? I have been doing some research on this, and the prices seem to be all over the place. I find some charge per hours for a sitting fee, others a flat rate, some have packages, and others do ala carte style (so much for sitting fee, so much for each picture, if you want another hour or an additional clothing change, etc). what do you think? To give you an idea of what goes into a simple senior picture shoot, I recently had another shoot. She changed clothes three times, we went to three different locations (one of the locations we used 3 or 4 different settings...so I don't know if this counts as 3 or 6/7 different settings). It took approximately an hour and a half for the entire shoot. I have to admit, the more I do this, the more proficient I am becoming with my equipment, and the quicker these shoots are going. The majority of the time invested comes after the shoot. It took me about 3 hours to download, do some BASIC editing, and post the pictures to my facebook/blog. This does NOT include the burning of the disc, and the time it would take to order prints for the family. Based off of that information, what do you think I should do?
Since I KNOW you want to see the pictures, here they are:
Can you see the improvement in my photos? I really can! Also, here are my latest photoshop adventures, I am becoming better skilled at it too!
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| Photoshop |
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| photoshop (softened, matte added, scratches and blemishes removed) |
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| Phtoshop (Softened, matte, and scrathces removed from face) |
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| orignal |
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| Photoshop! LOVE this effect!!! |
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| photoshop! |
7 comments:
One thing I'd advise is to maybe pop into a local photographer's office if there is one near you, & see what their charges are for similar types of shoots, & how they structure their charges to account for things like time, moves to different locations etc. You don't need to tell them it's with regard to your own charges - tell them you're thinking of having a photo shoot yourself and are looking for price ranges from different photographers. Or you could just set an hourly rate (& factor in your PP work etc) if that's easier for you - that way if anyone wants to relocate 3 times and change clothes 4 times, then they know up front that your time is their money.
I love that you are taking this on, there is nothing better IMO than doing what you love and getting paid for it :) website design does not have to cost a fortune and there are companies like Bludomain that will do it for you for a monthly fee. As far as pricing, it's really up to the individual and what best suits you. I charge for my time and additionally to order my work so don't short change yourself. (it's harder to raise your prices once you've established yourself in a certain price bracket. There are so many different ways you can go with it. Have fun and GL!!! Here is a link to my website incase you wanted to see how I'm structured. www.kcrussellphotography(dot)com
I'm designing a photography website for a friend of mine who is also starting her own company. I am using wix.com to design the webpage and it is really simple to use. You basically can just drag and drop things onto the page and move them around as you like them! Just an idea in case you don't want to pay anyone to do it or you want to try it a bit for yourself.
note: now that I read this, it sounds like I'm advertising for them, but I'm not, I have just started using them and I like the way that they are simple to use.
A friend of mine has her own photography business - here is a link to her webpage - it might give you something to go on with respect to pricing!
http://www.marthapenellaphotography.com/1/262d9#/page/pricing/
No advice, just DYING TO KNOW HOW YOU GET THE B & W effect with a POP of color on photoshop! I have a mac and I-photo (which is probably not the same thing).
http://www.starbucknerphotography.com/
This is a website of somebody that I went to school with. She just started her company last year and is having a blast with it! Check it out. Keep in mind with her pricing that she is in a small town in WV.
So excited for you!
Here's a couple photographers I know
http://kpahlphotography.blogspot.com/
http://lighthouselifeinpictures.com/
http://www.mudpiephotos.com
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