I have been asked to do pictures with Santa at a local animal shelter for a fund raiser. This is my first time doing something like this. I really don't know how much to charge does anyone have any suggestions?

IF you could rent something like a sony snap lab and print onsite, that would be your best bet. Definitely have an assitant and laptop there to sell immediately.

As far as pricing, I would do packages. Mainly 4x6 and 5x7 some with 8x10's also.

A santa shoot is more about quantity vs large sales. I'd start my packages at the $25-$30 mark and go up from there. Honestly, I really don't know as I don't do them, but, I do remember buying them! People will buy and I remember spending about $30 on a couple of photos of my kids in the mall

If you can't do some sort of on-site review of the photos, then definitely do packages. I would do "pre-paid" packages where folks get a discount for paying in advance. That way, you can tap into the impulse buy to raise more money for the shelter.

If you plan to do on-site reviews, you will definitely need an assistant that is competent with the computer and software you'll be using for the reviews. Since this is a rescue fundraiser, you might even be able to get someone to volunteer to help with this part.

Whatever you do, back everything up before you start doing anything with it on the computer.

Since you said this is your first time I've got a list of questions you might want to think about:

Do you have any idea how many people / pets to expect at the event?
How long does it run?
Do you have / need access to power? Backup batteries for the laptop, camera, flash?
Are you shooting indoors or outside?
How much space do you have?
Will you be in an area that you can close off to pets that are not in the photo at the moment?
Is "Santa" good at handling the pets?
Will you have a backdrop behind Santa or just whatever is there?
Do you have treats, squeaky toys, bird calls or whatever to get the pets attention?


I'm sure there is a ton more, but that's off the top of my head.