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Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide

Lesson 88 of 138

Example Pricing Exercise


Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide

Lesson 88 of 138

Example Pricing Exercise


Lesson Info

Example Pricing Exercise

We're going to talk about pricing right now in terms of what you guys are doing. Surprise! (laughing) Should've warned you. I just wanna take a quick moment to see if anyone is starting to form an idea of pricing that you might wanna go with for your work. So, first things first, does anyone have sizes in your mind of a couple sizes that you think you're feeling pretty good about that you would want to put out there? 20 and 30. 20 and 30. So, why 20 and 30 inches? Or if you're doing 30 inches. 20 by 30. 20, 20 by Oh, 20 by 30? Okay good. See, I'm in squares, so I hear one number and I think that's the whole thing. 20 by 30, only size that you wanna offer? It's the first size I thought of, but I, Okay. Can go bigger and I guess smaller by a bit, yeah. Okay. Bigger and smaller. So, let's start with your 20 by 30 size since you feel good about that. And I agree cause my best selling size is 20 inches, so it's probably a good range. And people kinda feel like... It's...

like when you go to Starbucks, and you have the options between the names that I can never remember. What are the names of the, Starbucks It's never small Right, it's never small, right? And so you're standing there in line at Starbucks and you're like, "Oh I don't want it to be too little, "and I don't want it to be too big", so you get the one in the middle and this is very much like that. People think "Oh well the small one is really small, "but the big one's way to big and too expensive, "so I'll get the one in the middle.", so I think 20 by 30 is a really good size. And if you're going to have your 20 by 30, what edition do you think you would do for that? If you were going to edition your work? How many prints, or? How many prints, at that size, would you wanna offer? Just as a starting point? 10. 10. 10. Very good, great starting point. Okay, so 20 by 30 an edition of 10, and you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but on average how much would you say a single image of yours costs to produce? If you just had to say, in terms of everything, like travel to get to the places, cause I know you do a lot of photographs all over the world, so there's probably a lot of costs involved in getting to those places, so if you just had to say an average price of what you would spend to be able to produce that image. What would you say? Wow that's a tough one. I know. And you'll have to do the counting later, but just totally general range. Well if it'd be something close to home, it's almost nothing, Almost nothing. But then again, you've got the camera equipment and lenses, so, you know, Exactly. it is another thing to take into consideration. Okay so let's do this, let's say that your 20 by 30 print cost you $60 to produce. And let's just say that you're gonna factor in another $40 for you equipment and that'll be something that you recoup over time, so it's $100 for your print. Then if you multiply that by 10 that's $1,000. Yeah, we did the math! Okay so that's good, so we've got $1, as your starting point, so maybe if you sell in a gallery, and you're marking it up 50%, you'll sell for $2,000. Now we have to consider where are you in your career. So do you feel like you're emerging as an artist, you're mid-career you've done some selling, you know kinda what you're doing now, or you've been doing this and you're a complete pro. I'd say emerging. Okay, and there are lots and lots of people who say emerging to mid-career artist, and all that kind of stuff, so we'll say starting. So maybe we'll keep it at $2,000 then and that's the price that you would sell your medium sized print for in a gallery and you would make $1,000 of that back. I think that sounds very reasonable for a 20 by 30 inch print, it's pretty big right, that'll be like this wide, maybe yeay tall or so, that's a good chunk of print. So I would say that's a really good place to start for your pricing, and now you have your mid-point so now you can go okay well if it's bigger I'll do this price, if it's smaller I'll do this price, and it's all relative to that one price point. Okay, any other victims, or you feel good about that? I saw Tori, kinda like, (squeak). I'll try. Okay so what sizes are you thinking? I'm thinking three sizes, I think a 16 inch long edge, and then a 40, 42, somewhere in there, large, Okay, good. and then maybe like a six inch or an eight inch little one. Interesting, yeah! I like that, okay so, really small, medium size, and large. We're gonna call yours extra small, medium and large. I like that. (laughs) And that's really good because the more you can space them out the more buyers aren't gonna be confused by all the sizes in between. Which was my mistake, so, I very much think that's a good idea. So you've got three sizes, are you thinking any editions for those? I haven't decided, but if I were probably maybe five for the largest and maybe 10 for the medium and I'm sort of thinking of doing unlimited for the small. Okay. Which would be a different paper, and a more mass-produced... Interesting, okay that's a really interesting topic because there will be a group of artists who say "Never do that because that devalues "the other sizes of your prints.", and a whole other group that says, "No, it's a totally different thing, "you can sell them however you want.", and the truth is you can sell them however you want. So that's a really interesting thing. And of course the prices would have to be quite different, on those Correct. So what about your open edition, what size do you think would be appropriate for something like that? It would be the smallest size. The smallest size, Yeah. Okay, the smallest size, six inches you said? Six or eight, yeah somewhere in there. Six or eight inches. Something small so, would you want it to be on a mass-produced paper? Or something like a postcard or something like... The printer in me say no, but, Right? Knowing how pricing works, maybe, yeah. Okay, this is really interesting, I've never actually considered this before. So if you had to put a price on that, what would you say? $80? $80, okay, good. So I like that Just outta thin air. And I like how you said bucks too because that makes it feel better. So $80, so if we have $80 on your small print, then what kind of a jump would you see having to happen, from your small to your next size up? So in my mind, it would be a large jump, because it would be on fine art, matte paper, museum quality, like a much higher print. A different thing altogether, so It would be. The 16, maybe, I think I'd start around $400, and then probably go up from there. That sounds pretty good to me. Yeah. I would, I would say, since it's 16 on the long edge, right, I think that that sounds really good, keeping it under the $1,000 mark to start. And it's definitely something that given only two limited edition sizes, you can definitely push it way higher once you start rolling with those prints. So I would say keeping it around $400 would be good, and then since you have a really big size jump, then I would definitely say don't make that under $1, because that's such a big size jump, that I would definitely say push that a lot further. What would you think for that? My initial reaction would be around maybe the $1,500 mark. Something around there, or even a little bit higher for that just because that's a very large print, the 40, 42 you said, 42 inches on the long side, so given such a large print, I would definitely say $1,500 to $2,000 mark maybe. But it depends of course, on the market that you're in right now, and that's always really tricky. Yeah, I think that, about $1,000 increase to start would be good for that jump in size. This is good, we got two of you done, and I'll talk to you guys later. But yeah, thank you guys for sharing. I know that it's nerve-wracking to talk about pricing and everything like that. And it doesn't feel good to do ever. It's really difficult to figure out pricing, to figure out sizing, to figure out editions and there's a lot to think about. So with this segment talking about pricing and editioning, we have a workbook that will take you through this process of how to find editions, how to find your sizes, how to find your prices, how to find your paper, and all of that fun stuff, and it is really daunting so I just wanna take a second to say that I get it. I know that it's so much information, and it's really confusing cause you don't wanna make the wrong choice and of course, we have this tendency as artists to feel like imposters and to feel like our work isn't worth that much money or whatever it may be, and I know that it's really hard to just settle on a price, and it feels terrible, but it's also really good and empowering to just do that. To set your price, know your worth, have done the math on it, figure out exactly the road that you wanna travel as an artist because these decisions will completely inform how you're able to progress as an artist in the future. Which sounds like another really daunting statement. But it's good, I think that it should be something that we take really seriously, that we spend a lot of time thinking about, and just lay a good foundation for what comes next. Because if you don't you might find yourself in a ton of different terrible situations later. But if we just know it right now, we'll be much better off.

Class Description







  1. Class Introduction
  2. Storytelling & Ideas
  3. Universal Symbols in Stories
  4. Create Interactive Characters
  5. The Story is in The Details
  6. Giving Your Audience Feelings
  7. Guided Daydream Exercise
  8. Elements of Imagery
  9. The Death Scenario
  10. Associations with Objects
  11. Three Writing Exercises
  12. Connection Through Art
  13. Break Through Imposter Syndrome
  14. Layering Inspiration
  15. Creating an Original Narrative
  16. Analyze an Image
  17. Translate Emotion into Images
  18. Finding Parts in Images
  19. Finding Your Target Audience
  20. Where Do You Want Your Images to Live?
  21. Create a Series That Targets Your Audience
  22. Formatting Your Work
  23. Additional Materials to Attract Clients
  24. Which Social Media Platforms Will be Useful?
  25. How to Make Money from Your Target Audience
  26. Circle of Focus
  27. The Pillars of Branding
  28. Planning Your Photoshoot
  29. Choose Every Element for The Series
  30. Write a Descriptive Paragraph
  31. Sketch Your Ideas
  32. Choose Your Gear
  33. How to Utilize Costumes, Props & Locations
  34. What Tells a Story in a Series?
  35. Set Design Overview
  36. Color Theory
  37. Lighting for the Scene
  38. Props, Wardrobe & Time Period for Set Design
  39. Locations
  40. Subject Within the Scene
  41. Set Design Arrangement
  42. Fine Art Compositing
  43. Plan The Composite Before Shooting
  44. Checklist for Composite Shooting
  45. Analyze Composite Mistakes
  46. Shoot: Black Backdrop for White Clothing
  47. Shoot: Black Backdrop for Color Clothing
  48. Shoot: Black Backdrop for Accessories
  49. Shoot: Miniature Scene
  50. Editing Workflow Overview
  51. Add Fabric to Make a Big Dress
  52. Edit Details of Images
  53. Add Smoke & Texture
  54. Blend Multiple Images Into One Composite
  55. Put Subject Into a Miniature Scenario
  56. Location Scouting & Test Photoshoot
  57. Self Portrait Test Shoots
  58. Shoot for Edit
  59. Shoot Extra Stock Images
  60. Practice the Shoot
  61. Introduction to Shooting Photo Series
  62. Shoot: Vine Image
  63. Shoot: Sand Image
  64. Shoot: End Table Image
  65. Shoot: Bed Image
  66. Shoot: Wall Paper Image
  67. Shoot: Chair Image
  68. Shoot: Mirror Image
  69. Shoot: Moss Image
  70. Shoot: Tree Image
  71. Shoot: Fish Tank Image
  72. Shoot: Feather Image
  73. View Photo Series for Cohesion & Advanced Compositing
  74. Edit Multiple Images to Show Cohesion
  75. Edit Images with Advanced Compositing
  76. Decide How to Start the Composite
  77. Organize Final Images
  78. Choosing Images for Your Portfolio
  79. Order the Images in Your Portfolio
  80. Why do Some Images Sell More Than Others?
  81. Analyze Student Portfolio Image Order
  82. Framing, Sizing, Editioning & Pricing
  83. Determine Sizes for Prints
  84. How to Choose Paper
  85. How to Choose Editions
  86. Pricing Strategies
  87. How to Present Your Images
  88. Example Pricing Exercise
  89. Print Examples
  90. Licensing, Commissions & Contracts
  91. How to Keep Licensing Organized
  92. How to Prepare Files for Licensing
  93. Pricing Your Licensed Images
  94. Contract Terms for Licensing
  95. Where to Sell Images
  96. Commission Pricing Structure
  97. Contract for Commissions
  98. Questions for a Commission Shoot
  99. Working with Galleries
  100. Benefits of Galleries
  101. Contracts for Galleries
  102. How to Find Galleries
  103. Choose Images to Show
  104. Hanging the Images
  105. Importance of Proofing Prints
  106. Interview with Soren Christensen Gallery
  107. Press Package Overview
  108. Artist Statement for Your Series
  109. Write Your 'About Me' Page
  110. Importance of Your Headshot
  111. Create a Leave Behind & Elevator Pitch
  112. Writing For Fine Art
  113. Define Your Writing Style
  114. Find Your Genre
  115. What Sets You Apart?
  116. Write to Different Audiences
  117. Write for Blogging
  118. Speak About Your Work
  119. Branding for Video
  120. Clearly Define Video Talking Points
  121. Types of Video Content
  122. Interview Practice
  123. Diversifying Social Media Content
  124. Create an Intentional Social Media Persona
  125. Monetize Your Social Media Presence
  126. Social Media Posting Plan
  127. Choose Networks to Use & Invest
  128. Presentation of Final Images
  129. Printing Your Series
  130. How to Work With a Print Lab
  131. Proofing Your Prints
  132. Bad Vs. Good Prints
  133. Find Confidence to Print
  134. Why Critique?
  135. Critiquing Your Own Portfolio
  136. Critique of Brooke's Series
  137. Critique of Student Series
  138. Yours is a Story Worth Telling


April S.


Ron Landis


a Creativelive Student
