Anyone able to give me an idea of what a professional photographer charges to take a series of shots of a dog?
I'm trying to figure my budget for the upcoming year. Thanks.

I had my cavaliers photographed at a show by Tom Weigand of The Winning Image. They take dozens of beautiful digital portraits and give you the proofs then and there. You then select what you like and they photoshop them (remove leads, clean up backgrounds, etc) and then you can order packages from $50 on up. I paid about $150 and got three different poses, 2 8 X 10s and a CD so I could have repro (advertising) rights.
Look up The Winning Image and I'm sure they'll have samples and a price list on line. If you send me your private email, I'll send you my photos to give you an idea of their work or visit my website www.pedigreebook.com and see for yourself (under my dogs)
Then there are the dog show photographers who do the win photos and I believe you usually get 2 8 x 10s for about $38. You don't jave to keep them unless they're good. The problem is that you get what they think is good so there's no choice but it's nice to commemorate a win.
Julie

I use Cedar Chest photography. She is fairly new, but she has that real "eye" for bringing out a image! She does all of my pic's and is really reasonable (she gave me a price break to establish some referrals for her and would probably do the same for you. She has been booked to shoot some HT's this year as well. She is located in Washington State. I am helping her with her website, but can give you some contact information if you like, just email me privately.
Thanks!
Tina and "kids"

Sandra Balfe took some amazing shots of my girl

Laura Reich - Lor-Al Labradors has taken some fabulous photos for me and many other Lab folk. Her prices are very reasonable.

Everybody who is answering is raising some very good points about how your photographs will be priced.

1) Are you going to the photographer or are they going to you? If they are going to you, how far are they traveling, because that factors into the cost.

2) How many dogs are they photographing, and what type of photographs are you expecting (stacked, head studies, generation photo ( sire or dam and get or more), portrait or some combination of the above.

3) What type of final product do you want? Color prints or black and white prints, or both? If you are advertising you will pay depending on color or black and white in the ad, so do you want both or just one or the other. Just as a side point, getting a color photo and thinking they can print it in black and white is deceiving. A color photo simply converted by the printer to "greyscale" is usually flat as a photograph.
A good photographer will convert the photograph using other digital Photoshop techniques to make sure the shot doesn't lose its "punch". There is a huge difference in an image being converted to greyscale and one which is changed over to black and white from color by a professional photographer using the correct techniques.

4) What other formats do you want the photograph in? Aside from prints you can also have digital files. They can be jpg, Tiff, or PSD. (Photoshop format). These files can also be in color or black and white. Keep in mind that when you ask the photographer for digital files, this means that you expect NOT to return to the photographer and the photographer knows this. This means he will charge a premium for those types of photographic files over giving you straight prints. This is in line with photography practices done industry wide - weddings, anniversaries, school photographs, etc.. It is not unusal, it is the norm.

Also the poster who mentioned a release from the photographer is correct. Usually however a photographer will not waive his or her copyright. Instead she or he sells the photos to you with a non-exclusive license, so that you can use the photo and he can use the photo for his or her own business advertising or portfolio. If you want the exclusive rights to the photograph, that once again is an additional premium over just getting non-exclusive rights, and usually a pricey one.

Keep in mind the photographer's properly filed copyright protects you as well. If anyone steals a photograph from your website, it becomes actionable under Federal Copyright law, and the thief can be sued at their expense.

Finally what everyone said about using a dog photographer is correct, but to refine it a bit, their are different types. Everybody knows the show photographer because he is already hired by the club sponsering the show and is essentially the only game in town at the show. There are portrait photographers, who do specialize in pets. They do an excellent job, but will probably not know what a "stacked" shot is. Some people use these photos in LQ and ILR and Dog News, and they can have just as much impact as a "stacked" photo, but the question is what do you have in mind for the photograph. Go for a photographer whose work is the type of photograph you want. That way you are on the same page as photographer as to the results which will be expected after the photo session is concluded.

I am sure there are other points photographers on the Forum can mention, but these are the ones I think are most important in pricing.

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Anyone able to give me an idea of what a professional photographer charges to take a series of shots of a dog?
I'm trying to figure my budget for the upcoming year. Thanks.