Prices for photographing artwork

[PeterAit]

I have been taking photographs of some friends' artwork (as a favor), and they use these photos for show submissions, portfolios, and the like. I have received some very positive feedback on my work, and I am considering trying to make his into a part-time business. I have no idea what to charge. I specialize in 3-D artwork, ceramics, sculpture, jewelry, and the like. I do not have the lighting equipment required for good photos of paintings and drawings. And advice will be much appreciated.

Thanks,

[bill t.]

Speaking from ignorance, I would say about $40 for two nice views of a piece of jewelry.  Client walks away with digital files on a CD.  Heavy discounts for several same-sized, replace-and-shoot items shot at the same time.  That's for a basic photo, where you just pop the subject into a pre-lighted, grey background cove and knock off the shots.  Since the lighting is already tweaked for shiny objects you have to do minimal post processing, yeah right.  For anything that requires special lighting or other fiddly adjustments, $80 per view.  Anything requiring heavy lifting, forget it.  Or whatever the market will bear.  Of course you will be dealing with artists, $40 means they'll be eating steamed rice with left over pancake syrup for the next 2 days.

[leuallen]

Peter, you should check out Don Giannatti's Table Top Photography 3 day video at Creative Live. Too bad you did not catch it when it was showing free a couple of weeks ago. Alas, now $150. Anyway it would be the first piece of gear I would get if I were serious about this topic. He gives quite a bit of information on gear required (not much), business, and shooting/lighting techniques. He shot some jewelery and small products.

Larry

[Michael N. Meyer]

I've done 2d and 3d copy work and installation shots for artists as well as high volume jewelry product work. For both scenarios I charge a base fee,  a per view fee and a delivery charge. Depending on the size of the job and the intended usage/output there may also be a digital processing/file prep fee, too. The base fee is critical because it encourages clients to bundle up a number of works to be done at once and assures that I'm not losing money on a small shoot. I'm happy to do a small shoot, but I'm not willing to lose money doing so. The base fee prevents this. I am clear to price "per view" rather than "per item." If someone wants six views of an earring, I need to charge them for all six views.

Light, Science Magic is a good technical resource.