Molly Margaret Kearney Photography

When Michelle told me that her budget for all of the services that she wanted me to provide for her was only $500 I absolutely froze in place because I knew it would be way much more and at the time I did not have everything itemized so after our meeting I sent the email that detailed the services I would provide and their true cost. If ANY of my clients wants me to scout out or locate ANYTHING for them I will charge a fee. That includes finding for Michelle a specialized make-up artist and also scouting locations for an outdoor shoot. The time that it takes out of my everyday life to do those things for my clients is why I charge a fee. For the amount of work that Michelle wanted to have done, a typical commercial photographer would charge thousands of dollars more than what I was willing to charge Michelle. And for the record, in the original email (outlined below) I do work within Michelle's means by offering her a package for $450. Here is the ENTIRE email I sent to Michelle below: I was being very nice and agreeable the other day about the price because I did not want to offend or upset you. But I cannot in good conscience only charge you $450. Below is a non-negotiable list of the actual costs of my services. The cost reflects everything you would like me to provide for you. Length of prep time it will take you to get ready between the elaborate makeup, hair styling and outfit changing - from my experience with makeup artists/hairstylists/time it takes to change outfits - this will take at least an hour per scenario = at least 4 hours of time. Plus the outdoors shoot = 1 hour. Altogether = 5 hours of time. Initial shooting = 5 hours of time. My total billable time = 10 hours I value my time at a firm $100 per hour (which is conservative for a portrait photographer in Omaha. Other photographers in Omaha charge at least $200-400 per hour). 10 hours of time at $100/hr = $1000. Fee to scout outdoor locations = $150 Fee to scout makeup artists = $150 Digital workflow (photographic editing and optimization) Estimated 250-300 images = $500 Total non-negotiable cost = $1800 Any amount less than that would be taking advantage of my valuable time, first-rate skills and genuine effort. To provide some perspective, the popular Arnold Clark Photography studio would charge you at least $5000-$7000 for the above services which I can provide to you for $1800. In the event that you would only want to shoot one look to be more cost effective here’s the breakdown for that: Prep time (makeup, hair, outfit changing) = 1 hour Initial shooting = 1 hour My total billable time = 2 hours 2 hours at $100/hr = $200 Fee to scout makeup artists = $150 Digital workflow (photographic editing and optimization) estimated 50-60 images = $100 Total non-negotiable cost = $450 All prices are firm and WILL NOT be negotiated. If you’re still interested please reply to this email. Thank you, Molly