I get money for retouching pictures...HELP!

[superkoax]

Long story short: I have retouched picture for a company, we did not agree on witch pictures they where going to use. I just started working on them and they liked them alot! They want to pay me for my pictures. SInce I did not ask them before I started retouching( i just wanted to learn more) I don't think I can charge for all the hours I have put in all together(i have spent alot of hours) I said I will give them a price on the pictures they pic out as the best. I have retouched 10-15pictures and maybe they pic out 5. Is there any advice on what price I can take for each picture?


Gerry

[Lasa]

I know exactly what you mean, I've been in the same boat...how do you charge somebody for time it took you to learn or practise a particular photo manipulation? On top of the time it took you to do all the images compared to the few they will pay for... (mistake #1, telling them you did them all)
I decided to charge them for the time it would take me to do it after the fact.
If I got those pictures again, how long would it take me to work them knowing moves I learned or.. how long do I feel it should take me to do these images as opposed to how long it actually took?...4-6-10 hours instead of the 15 it actually took?..times your hourly rate. Be kind to yourself on the rate. $35/hour is cheap and up--->>>>

Hope it helps..

It also works the other way around..because you're fast doesn't mean you should get less money!.. good argument for per image charges...

Lasa

[Bojin Taylor]

I have been in this shoving pixels gig since 1993 working in Seattle, Miami, Chicago and now NYC.
Your question brings to mind some advice I got once from a photographer when I asked her if I could charge the client for overtime. She said,
" Of course you can! You can always charge anything you want. It doesn't mean they will pay it and it also doesn't mean they will ever want to work with you again."

Ask yourself if this is a client you want to hold onto?
A Lot of times in conversation with a client they will tell you or give you an idea of their budget.
One phrase I have learned to run from is " if you do it for cheap now, as we grow we will bring you with us and increase your rate". Put on your running shoes and hit the door! These people are pulling your leg. As they grow they are going to want to work with better people and their budget will allow it. There is NO LOYALTY in this gig!
Keeping that in mind and the fact that you could be getting paid to go to school (learning the program) How much are you worth?
There are retouchers here making anywhere from $7.00 an hour to hundreds of dollars an hour.
Now I myself havn't seen much of your work and it would be difficult to say how much you could make in a market without seeing more of your work. but if your just starting out? why not get paid to go to school. Take advantage of the fact you could be making something while you learn and adding to your resume as well.
Every market has a rate. NYC is the highest.