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Just realized I've been pricing myself wrong for years after a chat with an old photographer in town
Ran into this guy Dave who's been doing freelance product photography in ABQ since the 90s. We got to talking about rates and he straight up told me I was leaving $200-$300 on the table per job by not charging for my gear usage separately. Said he started doing it back in 2005 after he realized his camera body was losing value every shoot. It hit different cause I've been doing this for 7 years and never once thought about equipment depreciation. Now I'm redoing my whole pricing sheet for the next client who calls. Anyone else ever get a reality check from an old timer that changed how you bill?
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hernandez.gavin22h ago
Stopped me dead in my tracks reading that cause I had the exact same feeling about six months ago. Talked to this older wedding photographer in Santa Fe who's been shooting since film days and he practically laughed at me when I told him my day rate. He asked if I was renting the camera to myself for free and I didn't even get what he meant at first. Felt like an idiot driving home realizing I've been basically paying to work for years. Gear depreciation is real, my camera body lost like $800 in value the first year alone.
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drews5521h agoMost Upvoted
Yeah man that Santa Fe photographer's advice hit me hard too.
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kimr9121h ago
Track every single expense including mileage, you're probably writing off way less than you actually spend.
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