[PDL]

While I may not be fully qualified to expound in detail about what to charge - here are some of my thoughts:
1. It is a business - not a passion - treat it like a business. Be bull headed and be ready to walk away from someone who is trying to take advantage of you.
2. Do not under cut the other people in your area, if they can't make a living being "cheap" neither can you.
3. Get it in writing, nothing else will do
4. Submit the Copyright forms as necessary.
5. Charge more than the "cost of matrials + x%" and think you are doing good. Go to a retail supply store and get one of the markup calculators (last time I used one, it was a circular slide rule) and use it.
6. Look for professional groups - join as you see fit.
7. Check out this site - So you want to be a a Pro Photographer - and download the Excel spreadsheet at the bottom of this page: What will I charge for my photographs?

Check out this book - Amazon.com: Best Business Practices for Photographers: John Harrington: Books should be a good guide.

Relevance - I have a friend who was selling images right and left (birds, flowers some landscapes) etc. He was charging 30 USD for a framed print. He built the frame, cut the mat, found the glass and printed the image using archive quality inks and paper. He said it cost him 25 USD for --- here is the kicker --- materials. He was not charging for his labor - so basically he was working for free, since it took him 3-5 hours to build the frames, print the image, mount it and drive it to the flea market to sell it. He did sell some images on commision, but quit doing that because "the seller was screwing the customer" - meaning, they sold his images at his price plus 60% - they kept the 60%. The images were selling quite well too, he just thought that the seller was getting too much money. This is in a market where you expect to spend at least 125 USD for an equivalent image and nearly every other outlet for the same size/quality/subject image.

Remember to charge for your time. It is called overhead - if you do not know what that means - you really need to take some business courses.

The Elitist - formerly known as PDL

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Last edited by PDL; 02-11-2009 at 11:53 PM. Reason: wrong page at Ivan's site

[dave sz]

Ready for a crazy answer? Do it for free. Tell her you keep the copyright to the photographs, add it to a portfolio and use it to get some other gigs (if that is something you're interested in doing). I am shooting an engagement party in April for free (I know there are other concerns when shooting an image that may be reproduced for a product placement) but it'll probably be good experience (and it doesn't hurt doing your higher-ups a nice favor).
If it is at all applicable, here is a good article on working for free:
Strobist: Four Reasons to Consider Working for Free

Couldn't disagree more. Don't sell yourself short by doing free gigs...