jimni2001 Loc: Sierra Vista, Arizona, USA

My daughter recently bought a $500 gift certificate at a charity auction for a well known portrait photographer. She wanted a shot of herself, a shot of her and her husband and one of her, her husband and her pets. Three photos. The photographer asked for another $900 after talking with her and agreeing to do the shoot. The shoot went well and she choose the three shots she wanted at which point the photographer told her that for those three shots printed at 20x30 it would cost her another $9000 dollars. I am not sure as I do not do portraiture and have not sat for one since I sat on Santa's lap as a child, but this seems a little steep to me for three photos. I would like some knowledgeable feed back please.

seagullmist Loc: Niantic CT

Rip off. Check out Nation Photo and there price for printing. I did a photo shoot and prints for $500.00. The couple loved the prints.

James R. Kyle Loc: Saint Louis, Missouri (A Suburb of Ferguson)

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WOW! I suppose that I am one of the "Cheapest" of photographers peddling my work.... I know one good friend, a very well known photographer here in STL that charges $200. an hour ( No Prints ) that is his time and edits to have them print at their will and choose from a list of printers locally. Another charges about $400. And then there are package deals.... They can range differently depending on the photographer.

Me?
For my time I charge $100 per hour plus the edit time and printing. If they wish to have larger prints Over 13X19 I give them a high quality TIF file and JPG . They can choose from a different range of print houses locally. Or take it to wherever they want.

I mainly shoot landscapes - nature - rivers - and wildlife - which by the way are for sale in local galleries and direct from me - I have shot for advertisements, office workers for their business web pages, just plain people and my work is seen in hospitals, homes, magazines, offices and of course Facebook. But people are what I do well and I am the best bang for the buck here in STL. (Well I think so that is) :-)

BTW = I will be in Santa Fe and Las Vegas, In Route to Yosemite, come Mid-May... ;-)

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

$1,400 for just the shoot!!! Was it all day? I would reoprt them to the charity at a minimum.

Robert Graybeal Loc: Myrtle Beach

They say 'a sucker is born every minute'

This joker thinks he found one, I hope not.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

Just want to add. I know a lot of people who donate services to charities. Usually photographers I have known donate a package. Like "a family photo session" or "headshot session" so the generous bidder knows what they are really bidding for. Here the guy never intended to do anything other than take the coupon and then charge full price on top.Or more likely he was thinking, "Hey this is one of those doner to charaties types. I should get a nice "donation" from them!

I could be wrong. I mean is this photographer Annie Leibovitz? I would pay her $1,400 for a session no problem. But I do not think that is who it was.

Bram boy Loc: Vancouver Island B.C. Canada

this is a joke right , even a sitting with Karsh wouldent cost near that, even today if he was living . I would have told him to go pound salt long before it even started . $9000 is insane . she could buy a d810 and and a portrate len's
a couple model lights a slave flash . and a book showing some set up's for the
lights soft box. seamless back ground paper . camera $2300refurb len's $2000 get a good one flashes tripods etc $1100 to $2500 . for $6000 or $7000 she could take thousands of pic of what she wants . and a lot will be just as good as his are .

SX2002 Loc: Adelaide, South Australia

it would cost her another $9000 dollars.

An additional $9,000...!!
Do you mean $900...?

Wallbanger Loc: Madison, WI

I suppose it depends how "well known" this photographer is. If his clientele are regularly paying these prices for his work, I wouldn't see a problem.

That's where asking questions up front can make a difference. unfortunately, there are a lot of photographers out there that do not discuss packages or pricing for prints up front. They leave the print pricing as a nice "surprise" after the clients pick the proofs they'd like printed.

A friend of mine had a similar experience with the "best wedding photographer in town". Not only did he try to gouge them with print pricing, his work was simply bad. I'm pretty sure some of his work has shown up on http://youarenotaphotographer.com

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

First of all, I hope the $9000 for three prints was a typo and should have been $900. Then the price still seems high, unless the photographer is very, very good, and maybe did the shots at a scenic location. I shoot business portraits, and I have a law firm client which does a charity auction every year, and I contribute a studio family portrait. I specify what is included, and I never know how much they paid at the auction. If they asked for more than what is included, I would give them a reasonable price, given that it is a charity deal. It seems this photographer just donated a gift certificate which wasn't enough to cover what people might want and then gouged them for the rest.

jimni2001 Loc: Sierra Vista, Arizona, USA

$9000

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

Sounds like the charity was the photographer's bank account.

JohnSwanda Loc: San Francisco

Wow! that's amazing. Would you be comfortable giving us the name of the photographer so we could look him up and see what kind of work is worth $3000 a print for a portrait? And I think the charity should be told about this.

jimni2001 Loc: Sierra Vista, Arizona, USA

The shoot was done at their home. It was not a typo. I had the same reaction as you guys. I just wanted to know that my reaction was not out of line. I will be going there in May and have offered to do the shoot for and processing for free and they can have them printed as they like. If the shoot had taken several hours I could see the $1400 price tag but to ask for $9000 was for three prints was way out of line in my opinion.

jimni2001 Loc: Sierra Vista, Arizona, USA

His name is Jon Wolfe from Tucson, Arizona. His work is nice I will admit but a total of $11,400 (including the certificate) seems a little steep to me for three prints. They are out the $1100 that they payed up front. She paid $200 for the gift certificate.