If you're like me, pricing is a pretty big challenge. Get it wrong and you're either underselling yourself and possibly setting a dangerous precedent, or overpricing yourself and risk losing the job.
A while back I made a decision to make a living as a photographer by doing what I love to do, creating pictures that I want to see and hopefully others are willing to pay for.
That love of photography even now bubbles up when I'm in a meeting pitching a creative concept, and it is literally all I can do from keeping myself saying across the boardroom table, "you know what? heck I'm so excited about my concept I'll shoot your print campaign for free". A feeling that I regard as healthy and I hope I never lose. It's my love for shooting that keeps me going to those meetings in the first place. Luckily I've been blessed with a bit of resolve and some really good people around me to keep my business smarts and realise I have mouths to feed, bills to pay and equipment to purchase and maintain.
To that end I've been reading Pricing Photography, the Complete Guide to Assignment & Stock Prices by Michal Heron and David MacTavish. I've found this book full of helpful information for anyone who is already or thinking about making a living as a creative individual. While the book is made for the US market, the useful information doesn't appear in the literal values, rather in the concepts and direction it gives. Everything from negotiating, writing out invoices, quoting for commissioned work or stock photography is in this book.
Anyway, I thought some other people might find this book helpful. I got mine on Amazon
Thanks for this post Kenny. I'm gonna look into this book.
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