Questions of a portrait photographer

In my genre I have lots of questions that I would like to ask. It seems that there are lots of articles that cover being a Commercial Photographer but very few on being the type of photographer that I am.

So the questions that I would like answered is as follows: and not in any particular order.

·        Basic backdrops for in studio use, which ones would you invest in that won’t be out of style the follow year?

·        How much time do you spend in processing photos? I.E. Photoshop etc.?

·        How many photo selections do you offer a client {poses}?

·        How do you select you’re the packages that you offer.

·        How do you control the time spent shooting the client.

·        How do you determine how and where to shoot a client.

·        Do you bill every client the same.

·        Would you take charity cases and if so how do you keep it under wraps so that everyone else doesn't look for a bargain price?

·        Do you enjoy your work or did you just fall into it?

·        When do you see yourself retiring?

·        What are your biggest challenges/do you ever get bored shoot portraits?

·        Do you every shoot subjects you are uncomfortable with, if so how do you handle it?

These are some of the questions that I would like to ask a portrait photographer. There are many more that I know would come along as we talked. I would really like to spend a day in the life of a portrait photographer to 1. Learn as much as I can, and 2. To figure out how to build that better mouse trap!