Mary,
I was about to post the same question when I saw that you had already broached it. I don't think about travel expenses when I'm driving less than an hour away but I had also wondered where to begin charging, and how. I may be getting some good exposure in a magazine with a readership in the northern part of the state, and since my prices are low to begin with and I normally paint people in my own area, I can't build the extra expenses into my fee without inflating it unrealistically and pricing myself out of my current market. On the other hand I don't want to have to absorb the cost in time and expenses for traveling three hours each way and spending a whole day on a photo session. Maybe Michael's formula would work, but again, I would hate to have it look as though I value my travel time more highly than my painting time.
|