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  #61  
Old 20th January 2012, 04:20 PM
Neil Smith Neil Smith is offline
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There is no mention of overheads for Public Liability or Indemnity Insurance. National Insurance or Tax (as I'm sure everyone is declaring their earnings as per UK tax laws). Running costs of equipment , repair and replacement. Advertising costs. Plus various other overheads I can't be bothered to list.

If you haven't got Public Liability at the very least, you shouldn't be shooting a commercial shoot. And you should certainly be declaring any work to HMRC.

So that £400 profit is dramatically less.

Two days work doesn't take into account any pre wedding meetings. And if you produce proof books and albums, this will add to the time especially if you hand deliver them, of course you could get the couple to pick them up, but then that impacts on the insurance cover you need using your residence for business use.

If businesses costed jobs without taking everything into consideration they wouldn't last long.

Neil
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  #62  
Old 20th January 2012, 04:43 PM
R Montgomer R Montgomer is offline
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Neil, you make a very good point. I didn't take it into consideration simply because anyone already in business and wanting to expand into Film Weddings would (should) already have this sort of cover.

Personally I don't count my hours with meetings into the cost of anything simply because they don't cost me anything. I have a studio, and the cost of the studio is covered by studio photoshoots otherwise I wouldn't keep it.

As for the government, the film and processing is tax deductible. I rang My accountant who deals with all that sort of thing (I didn't want to be giving wrong info) and he tells me that a £650 shoot on film is about the same money in my sky rocket as a £500 digital cd only package when all is said and done. To my mind the Film service to the right person has a higher value and sets you apart from the majority.

These things must be paid for if you shoot digital or film. My point was that film is just as feasible as digital in this day and age.
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  #63  
Old 20th January 2012, 04:47 PM
R Montgomer R Montgomer is offline
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Ah, forgot to add about the albums. The example was simply for a Film to DVD package, album packages cost more. It's the same for digital. All my clients collect their albums from my studio.
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  #64  
Old 20th January 2012, 04:53 PM
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Argentum Argentum is offline
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£400 a week is only £20000 a year before tax. These days that is a pretty poor income, especially if you have a mortgage and a family to support. So how much do you earn the rest of the week in Portadown.
Where you live and your living expenses make a big difference to what you need to charge to get by.
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  #65  
Old 20th January 2012, 05:01 PM
Neil Smith Neil Smith is offline
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I totally agree a film shoot is of course feasible. It was till relatively recently the only way I shot weddings.

The only reason I pointed out the other overheads is most people have no idea of the cost of running a business And I hear people commenting on the vast profits photographers make on wedding shoots, when in reality, if all the business overheads are taken into account the profit is far from extreme.

In your case the portrait side of the business allows you to offer wedding packages at a very competitive price. Someone who only shot weddings may not be able to spread the cost of the overheads the same way, thus may need to charge a considerably higher price to take the same profit. Though giving prints on disc considerably lowers the overheads, as proof books and albums are by far the greatest material overhead.

Neil
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  #66  
Old 20th January 2012, 05:26 PM
Dave miller Dave miller is offline
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I haven’t been able to raise my price for a wedding shoot for years; it remains stuck at £250,000 plus expenses.

I salute all of you that can stand the stress of that occupation.
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  #67  
Old 20th January 2012, 05:34 PM
Richard Gould Richard Gould is offline
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I have only ever shot one wedding, and that only as a favor for my better half,(long story,don't ask) and swore never again, to hard on my nerves,
Richard
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  #68  
Old 20th January 2012, 06:12 PM
R Montgomer R Montgomer is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Argentum View Post
£400 a week is only £20000 a year before tax. These days that is a pretty poor income, especially if you have a mortgage and a family to support. So how much do you earn the rest of the week in Portadown.
Where you live and your living expenses make a big difference to what you need to charge to get by.
No this isn't our pricing structure! I was simply pointing out that it can be done.

Without going into too much detail about our business we shoot 50 weddings a year (+/- a few depending on how they fall) and We also do studio portraits, location portraits and some small product photography.

You'll forgive me for not sharing our pricing structure but I am happy that the value that is placed on our service reflects the quality we provide. On the other hand we like to run some ridiculous offers for portraits now and then!
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