How much to charge for Automotive Photography? and how do you know when you're ready? 

Well good luck with your mission, I hope some of these help you out. 👍 let me know if there is anything else I can do a video on that might help you.

Lol, you are too kind.

Yeah there is a huge range of work and relative pay put there. Especially if you are talking about relatively basic , used car photos. Dealerships for the more affordable brands run on pretty tight margins. You know what they say luxury margins are only in luxury products. But even then dealers are not going to pay loads for basic, all be it technically well done, photography. They can just hire a young person on basic pay to do that kind of thing. If you want to go up the pay levels you have to offer them something they both want or need and that others can't offer them. Social media content, creativity, high quality prints, etc and even then most won't be in a position to commission it. But that's the game, get yourself out there. Make the relationships build the trust. Trust a d reliability go along way to get consistent bussiness.

Thanks Neil!!! Glad it was useful! It really can be hard and it's hard to know where you are at sometimes too. Hopefully many of us make it through and and can start doing great and fun work.

Tha ks buddy really appreciate that!!!

Why thank yue very much!! And welcome to to the channel!

Thanks for such a great comment and welcome with your recent shoot. You will be amazing how quickly you can up your prices and get more shoots. Keep shooting keep learning and it will come.

Glad it was useful!

Yeah it's hard knowing to charge and what you can charge. And you can ratchet up your pricing when you start talking about projects, multiple days of filming assistants, extra production costs etc. But I have found that working on your product and improving your offer over time will enable you to slowly ratchet up your pricing.

Thanks for the comment. And hello Luxembourg! Glad you got something from the video. I feel like there is more on this subject to be said so I might do a follow up at some point with more info.

@@OliverLundy Well I just subscribed and added many of your older videos to my watch later playlist, so I‘ll see you in the comment section of another video!

@@Fe12TB great thanks!!!!

Hell yes buddy! You will be smashing it before you know it!!!

Yeah it really can be, but It will happen with time as yiu get more and more we'll known and you encounter more people. Keep the grind going until its bo longer a grind.

Glad it was useful, it is hard at the beginning. I do other types of photography too, and I also work a full time job. It is hard to make automotive you only gig but it can be done. Look into track work and events. The skills you have and will learn as you get better are certainly useful in other areas. And you can build up as you go. I do weddings, video work events, portraits the lot. It all helps.

Hey thanks for the great feedback! Glad you liked it. Will have some more stuff soon I hope.

@@OliverLundy I’ve upgraded from D3400 to D850. Shooting cars and motorcycles mostly at meet ups. Struggling between using Nikon 70-300 at around 80-100 5.6 to 8 . But images look like shot on toy camera. Focus always soft. DOF small. Trying a Nikkor 50. Are you till hot on the 80 1.8 Do you find issues with distortion when doing motorcycles?

@jeffreykeeney5363 many factors go into focus, but lens quality is one of them. I love the 85mm 1.2 I have. Its my go to for almost everything. Partly because it has no distortion. That usually only comes from 35mm and wider.

Glad it was useful! Hooe it helps you.

Alot depends on how to tell them your prices and what questions you ask them. A little time invested in basic sales methods might really help. Confidence is a bit part of it filer sure. Using phrases like my usual rates, etc instill the idea that you do this all the time.

@@OliverLundy thanks for the advice, gonna use that

Thanks, glad it was useful for you.

This is great advice. Doing anything to build relationships a d get in front of people and show them your work is massive.

Hey, glad ot was helpful.

Thats a good question. My forst reaction is at least 1 really good one. But i usually aim to deliver 10 to 20 final images with the detail images included. But it all depends on how long a session you have etc.

Glad to help.

@@OliverLundy do you accept sponsors?

@@clippingpathcreativeltd depends on the sponcer.

Hi Alan, thanks for the question. Unfortunately it all depends, on the client, the use, exclusive or not, your area, etc etc. A good tactic is to ask the client what they usually pay or what there budget is. Then gage your responce from there.

Thanks for the answer. I assume that’s where the moneys at with licensing etc. the day rate is just your time to capture the shots. Do you charge extra for your retouching work as I can imagine that can sometimes take longer than the shoot itself, if so, is it the same charge as your day rate?

@@leeb0y I tend to charge for my time, per project, that can include the editing and retouching. I have yet to manage to licence a photo to someone as brands want to be part of the creative process rather than licence an existing photo.

@@leeb0y retouching is part of the process unless you're working with a company that wants to use their own retouchers. An unretouched photo is worth a fraction of the price so you should build that into your cost/time. It should never be optional to put out a final product of mediocre, unretouched photos that just hurts your brand image

Don't let it get you down. There will be alot of people who wouldn't pay for a shoot with the world's best simply becuasr they don't value photography in general. Try not to take it personally their perception of value doesnt have to dictate how you feel about your own work. Automotive photographery can be hard to break into. And I still get way more work from companies rather than individuals. Keep going, amd don't let people who want you to do hours of work for almost no money get you down. They will never be good clients. And having good clients is worth the wait.

You don't want that client anyway, he'll go with whoever is lowest priced then complain the whole time and badmouth you afterwards. You didn't have the $50 anyway so you didn't lose anything except a lot of headache

Not at the moment, that is in the pipeline. But thanks!

@@OliverLundy Good. Think about Flickr too...

Hi, basically everything applies, with the added bonus that you can take a motorcyle almost anywhere.

These tactics can work but can sometimes backfire. Be careful with it. But a deposit is a good idea if you can.

I had no idea the top commercial giys could charge that much. That's amazing.

@@OliverLundy actually add 1 or sometimes 2 zeros!

@@ThePhotographyRebuttal that's crazy town money. 😆😆