Per-hour rates?

[vcutag]

Hey, folks.

I'm just starting to get to the point where I can start charging per-hour rates for assignments in the central Virginia area. I'm not really sure what a fair price is for the area; I've been told $100/hr. is reasonable for someone just starting out. That sounds a bit high to me, personally, but I don't know what a good ballpark figure is.

Any suggestions or advice?

[SuzyView]

Wow, I'm here in Northern Virginia and that sounds wonderful. Get me a shoot and I'll do that for $100 an hour! :)

Actually, I've heard that and I think it's reasonable. You've got the gear, the expertise. If a plumber can charge me $80 just to come in and tell me my dishwasher needs to be replaced, I can charge $100 an hour and get pictures at the end of the deal.:)

SuzyView

[vcutag]

Wow, I'm here in Northern Virginia and that sounds wonderful. Get me a shoot and I'll do that for $100 an hour! :)

Actually, I've heard that and I think it's reasonable. You've got the gear, the expertise. If a plumber can charge me $80 just to come in and tell me my dishwasher needs to be replaced, I can charge $100 an hour and get pictures at the end of the deal.:)

SuzyView

Yeah. I guess I'm just used to working as a college student in the $7-10/hr. range, so 10 times that seems exorbitant. But I'm not complaining... enough of this and I can afford a 5D. :-D

[blinking8s]

assistant stuff (high end) weddings: $50
min charge: $15 (im broke, in school, need the money)

MUST cover use of gear and my time there...

[primoz]

Wow, I'm here in Northern Virginia and that sounds wonderful. Get me a shoot and I'll do that for $100 an hour!

You should this about this different way. This is not work in Mcdonalds where all your expenses are time and ride to there. I guess you are working here with your own equipment which is usually few $10.000 worth and you need to pay it, then usually this doesn't happen at your front door, which means you need to drive somewhere etc etc. After you count all this, $100/h is not that much as it sounds.
You just can't compare this thing with some job, where you come and use their tools.

[PhotosGuy]

The better you are & the faster you work, the less that you're paid! And if you travel to a location & back, how do you get paid for the rest of the lost daylight? I charged a day rate & included 50 "Free" miles. (That's how much I hate paperwork & I'm not going to nickle & dime a client anyway). ;)
For a good client who's in a budget bind, I'd offer an (infrequent) 1/2 day rate. Keep in mind that the first time you cut your prices for someone, everyone else will hear about it & it will soon become your "Normal" rate. :D

Sell Sports Photos
Re: How to determine what to charge for taking team pictures?
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?p=896881#post896881

Selling - Getting paid
Live Entertainment: Pricing for "Flying in for a Concert"
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=112382

Getting Paid - Is there a better way?
http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=17974

Commercial assignment rates (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=451281)

[NGrinerPhoto]

I've been shooting pro for 6 years. Since I started shooting I've been charging $100 an hour for corporate shoots with a two hour minimum, $150 total for photojournalism and $250 an hour for weddings. When I was assisting on weddings, I was charging $60 an hour. When I contract weddings from a studio I charge $100 an hour. The best part about doing that is that there is no editing or meeting with clients.

[kawter2]

I've been shooting pro for 6 years. Since I started shooting I've been charging $100 an hour for corporate shoots with a two hour minimum, $150 total for photojournalism and $250 an hour for weddings. When I was assisting on weddings, I was charging $60 an hour. When I contract weddings from a studio I charge $100 an hour. The best part about doing that is that there is no editing or meeting with clients.


IMO your rates don't seem consistant.

[vcutag]

You should this about this different way. This is not work in Mcdonalds where all your expenses are time and ride to there. I guess you are working here with your own equipment which is usually few $10.000 worth and you need to pay it, then usually this doesn't happen at your front door, which means you need to drive somewhere etc etc. After you count all this, $100/h is not that much as it sounds.
You just can't compare this thing with some job, where you come and use their tools.

Yeah, I know... it's just an eye-opener, thinking in different terms like that.

[SuzyView]

I do like the minimum charge. Just to get my gear out the door would be worth $50 to me. I also don't enjoy the post-processing. If I do the shoot and someone else can handle the images, that would be just fine with me.

SuzyView

[vwpilot]

I actually dont know many that do the hourly rate. A day rate is the best way to go and have the option for a half day rate as well when you think it warrants it. Most also try to stay away from half days as well because we all know its not only a half day and rarely will you ever be able to book two half days in one day.

Most day rates will go from about $750 on the low end to about $1200-$1500 on average. Half days are usually about 2/3 of the day rate, not really a true half rate.

If you are starting out a good rate would be about $750 for a full day and about $450-$500 for half day.

[chtgrubbs]

Per-hour rates are really misleading, and I don't quote them to clients anymore. I got tired of trying to explain to clients that I was not making $8000 a week based on what I was charging them for an afternoons shoot. On a typical job, I might have 1-2 hours conferencing with the client, 1-2 hours of location scouting, time obtaining props, time arranging for models, packing gear, unpacking gear, post processing, paperwork,etc. Oh, and the shooting time too. Somtimes that is a small part of the job. So a one hour shoot might actually entail 6-10 hours of actual work. So I estimate the real amount of time the job will take and quote a fee based on how much income I must derive from that time to make a living.

[primoz]

I think this is pretty much best advise here. I don't charge hour rates at all either. I charge per event (prices are unfortunately way lower then you have in USA). Hour rates might sound better to someone, but take a look from other side. Usually skiing race, which I cover in this time of year, lasts 2x45mins max, with 1 or 1.5 hour break in between. So basically I'm usually working (with camera in my hand) for about 1 hour, maybe 1.5h. So I can charge for 1 hour only. Problem is that with all things included into this (driving there, getting my stuff to press center, being on track way before start, waiting between first and second run, sending photos etc.) usually I go around 6 or 7am and come back (in best case) around 4 or 5pm. So I'm out and not being able to do anything else for almost all day, and for this I really can't charge 1 hour, and clients usually don't care if I need to be on track 2 hours before start, so of course they wouldn't want me to charge 5 hours. So per event (or as Jim said per day) rate is best option. At least for me.

[NGrinerPhoto]

IMO your rates don't seem consistant.

please explain why it is you don't think my rates are consistent.

[kawter2]

please explain why it is you don't think my rates are consistent.


I just feel that your corporate work and $150 total cost for PJ work is dirt cheap. If you can pull $60per hour just being an assistant and handing the cards of, and also $100 per hour just to shoot. Your time is worth a LOT more in the other areas.. BTW $60 is one of the highest assistant rates i have seen.. in contrast to your PJ & corporate rates. I don't think you are off base with any pricing, I just think you need to evaluate your worth across the board

just a Humble Opinion

Regards

[vcutag]

I do like the minimum charge. Just to get my gear out the door would be worth $50 to me. I also don't enjoy the post-processing. If I do the shoot and someone else can handle the images, that would be just fine with me.

SuzyView

I don't mind Photoshop work in my home office (or even darkroom work at home) if it means I'm making triple-digits per hour... beats the heck out of having to into an office and punch a timeclock for a quarter of the same amount. :-)

[vcutag]

I think this is pretty much best advise here. I don't charge hour rates at all either. I charge per event (prices are unfortunately way lower then you have in USA). Hour rates might sound better to someone, but take a look from other side. Usually skiing race, which I cover in this time of year, lasts 2x45mins max, with 1 or 1.5 hour break in between. So basically I'm usually working (with camera in my hand) for about 1 hour, maybe 1.5h. So I can charge for 1 hour only. Problem is that with all things included into this (driving there, getting my stuff to press center, being on track way before start, waiting between first and second run, sending photos etc.) usually I go around 6 or 7am and come back (in best case) around 4 or 5pm. So I'm out and not being able to do anything else for almost all day, and for this I really can't charge 1 hour, and clients usually don't care if I need to be on track 2 hours before start, so of course they wouldn't want me to charge 5 hours. So per event (or as Jim said per day) rate is best option. At least for me.

When I get to that point, a day rate will certainly make sense. In retrospect, I got burned over the summer on a job I could easily have made $900-1000 on.

The job I just had was going to a corporate exec's house and shooting three headshots... took me all of an hour and some change, so I told her assistant (an old school friend of mine) that it would be $75 per hour, with a two hour minimum, plus processing time. I ended up making the equivalent of a week's pay at my old job in three hours, and as it turns out, I could have charged more. Harumph. :-\

You win some, you lose some. Chalk it up to experience.

[primoz]

Noone was born smart, so yes everything is part of learning. As you said, you probably could earn a lot more. But it was for first time. Next time you know something more, and you learned something from your own experience, so next time it will be better. And don't think the rest of us just droped into this and we all knew everything on begining already. Ok maybe someone did, but I certanly didn't ;)

[Longwatcher]

This is somewhat of a timely topic

I just got asked (about 30 minutes before typing this) if I would like to shoot a high-school basketball team with the possibility of shooting for the league maybe. While group shots are not something I normally do (I usually do Model portfolio's) ; I think I can do this reasonably well with the same basic skill set. Most importantly I can see getting my money out of the AB1600's finally.

I had previously decided I would start my rates at $125 per hour plus travel to just shoot and limited editing (correcting for my camera's issues and easy to do stuff (In terms of time)) So that is what I stated. I provide a single CD-R of the images. Additional CD-R's for additional. This rate is probably slightly high on average for my area (SE Virginia), but I also have higher quality equipment (as in I have heard maybe one other person has 1DsMkII in area) and I know while not the best I am better then average around this area.

I let my contact know that this rate is only for the first team, if the league decides we can work together then I need to do a full evaluation of time versus money before giving them a price value for other teams. It could be cheaper, it could be more.

I also provided an on-site (with i9900) and off-site print (local professional leab) option with minimum print order as an alternative to the time based. Actually the time based pricing was the alternative to the print based.

Any way seemed fair to me at least and it was negotiable.

I do know there are some folks around who will do it for $50 an hour, but you get what you pay for.

Please take into account also this is part time for me. I still make more per hour at my day job. How else do you think I can afford a 1DsMkII and 5 L-class lenses for it. At least I have 5 years experience shooting portraits. And my contact knows how much experience I have shooting teams so there is no false advertising on my part.

Anyway too low? too high? curious what you think. Not the area I was trying to make money at, but even if it pays for one lens it is a plus.

[NGrinerPhoto]

I just feel that your corporate work and $150 total cost for PJ work is dirt cheap. If you can pull $60per hour just being an assistant and handing the cards of, and also $100 per hour just to shoot. Your time is worth a LOT more in the other areas.. BTW $60 is one of the highest assistant rates i have seen.. in contrast to your PJ & corporate rates. I don't think you are off base with any pricing, I just think you need to evaluate your worth across the board

just a Humble Opinion

Regards

I've found that newspapers in the DC and Baltimore area won't pay any more than $150 for a onetime usage of an image. Some only pay $100 plus milage.

In terms of the corporate work ... lately there seems to be a ton of photographers out there lowballing to get this type of work. I've been told numerous times that I'm too cheep but I would rather get the shoot for at least $200 (for 2 hours time) then get nothing at all.

When I was assisting, it was more of a second shooter position. The studios I was working for were more then happy to pay it.

[IndyJeff]

Break down this $100 an hour rate. Right off the top your going to have about $30 in taxes. Now your down to $70 an hour. Lets say the job is not far away but it takes you half an hour to get there. Deduct $5 for gas, down to $65.

So your down to $65 an hour, you have 1 hour shoot time, and one hour driving time. Add in an hour editting and processing, just because your real fast at that and you have 3 hours in this job. That nets you $21.66 an hour.

So how many hours do you have to work at $100 an hour to pay for that 20D and 70-200 L f4? And the above doesn't even consider insurance, meeting with the client to negotiate your price and discuss the job.

[spencer87]

i havent been charging hourly rates at all, but coming up with a flat price for the entire event/project whatever it may be. since i'm just starting out i've really been pushing the fact that i'm willing to work within any budget, so if a client gives me a figure I come up with a package of x hours of coverage, x number of prints, etc that i think is reasonable for their budget. I also think that sometimes an hourly rate makes people uncomfortable, and that most would rather know upfront exactly what they will be spending.

[staciecd]

In Web Design and Photography, it is important to charge the going rate, no matter what your skill level. Let's say you are a beginnger and charge a lesser rate to get work. You are undercutting professional photographers and lowering the overall quality of photographers. A professional in the Baltimore area recently told me "As far as photography as a side job goes, remember it's a competitive field. So in many ways you have to REALLY want it to be successful at it. Though, if you do start doing it in any sort of professional manner, even as just a side job, remember that you are a professional. Don't treat it as a side job.What I mean is, charge fair market value for your services. Don't undercut yourself and undersell yourself, even if you don't have much "experience." Be fair to both yourself and your client. If someone is interested in your work or your services, you should be compensated accordingly. DON'T WORK FOR FREE. Underselling your services not only hurts you, but everyone else out there working. And it's a tough market, especially with the rise of digital where many more people think of themselves as "photographers.""

[fstop212]

Wow, I'm here in Northern Virginia and that sounds wonderful. Get me a shoot and I'll do that for $100 an hour! :)

Actually, I've heard that and I think it's reasonable. You've got the gear, the expertise. If a plumber can charge me $80 just to come in and tell me my dishwasher needs to be replaced, I can charge $100 an hour and get pictures at the end of the deal.:)

SuzyView

Suzy, I like the way that you think. You are absolutly right about that.

[Wilt]

What chtgrubbs said!!!

[mspringfield]

For me it depends on what I am doing. I freelance for several event photography companies. I try to keep a pretty flexable pay schedule. My typical rate for an event such as cheerleading or gymnastics is as follows: $300.00/day for up to 10 hrs. $30.00/hr if it goes over 10 hrs. I get travel expenses + hotel + $30.00 a day for meals + $10.00/hr travel time from the time I leave home until I arrive at the venue or hotel.

Michael

[sbressler]

In Web Design and Photography, it is important to charge the going rate, no matter what your skill level. Let's say you are a beginnger and charge a lesser rate to get work. You are undercutting professional photographers and lowering the overall quality of photographers. A professional in the Baltimore area recently told me "As far as photography as a side job goes, remember it's a competitive field. So in many ways you have to REALLY want it to be successful at it. Though, if you do start doing it in any sort of professional manner, even as just a side job, remember that you are a professional. Don't treat it as a side job.What I mean is, charge fair market value for your services. Don't undercut yourself and undersell yourself, even if you don't have much "experience." Be fair to both yourself and your client. If someone is interested in your work or your services, you should be compensated accordingly. DON'T WORK FOR FREE. Underselling your services not only hurts you, but everyone else out there working. And it's a tough market, especially with the rise of digital where many more people think of themselves as "photographers.""

An old thread, I know, but I just recently started to try to figure out pricing myself and I think this is an incredible quote! Thanks Stacie!

[psuphoto09]

How does one figure out the going rate in his or her area?

[PhotosGuy]

How does one figure out the going rate in his or her area? Call around & ask?

[sfaust]

I have to agree that $100 isn't at all high. In fact, for a working pro it's not enough in most markets. $100 an hour is cheap when you consider all the costs. IndyJeff broke it down pretty quickly to $21.66 per hour. But it needs to go every further.

Clients don't just find you without marketing, so take some off the top for your marketing efforts. You need liability insurance. Equipment maintenance and upgrades. Your computer needs to come out of your fee somewhere. Phone, sales tax, business cards, office supplies, and so on. You also need to factor in the time it takes you to run the business, do your quarterly tax paperwork, pay your bills, create your next marketing mailers, update your website and portfolio, etc, and you need to be paid for those hours as well or you're loosing money. So you need to divide up the extra 10-15 hours or so a month across all your jobs during that period and factor that in there as well. You are an employee of the business, and anything you do related to the business you need to be compensated for.

At $100 per hour, by the time you factor everything in, you would be better off working at a local fast food restaurant since you would have other benefits you aren't getting working for yourself. Its great to get $100 an hour for a shoot, but when you figure it all out and determine you really only made $12 or $15 an hour, its not as sweet anymore. Do the math, figure out the costs for everything, then determine your final rate.

I also don't use a day rate anymore when I can help it for the same reasons. People will take the hourly or day rate, multiply it by 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, and come up with some outrageous price and use that to dicker the price down. They don't see the $40K yearly overhead. and the 2-3 days a week doing non-related shooting tasks. They only see the hourly rate, multiply it, and come up with a yearly salary to compare against theirs.

So I try to price each project at a set price. The fee for the photography, any expenses and production fees, and usage. For smaller clients, its just the overall fee with everything rolled in. The time isn't listed as the time spent shooting, but the overall time for the project. A one day shoot might be 16 hours with pre-production planning, rental equipment pick ups/delivery, shooting time, post production, burning CD's, archiving the images, filling out the copyright forms and FedEx labels, and so on. It should all be covered under your fee, and with day rates the only thing the client sees is the time you spend there shooting and none of the rest.

The only time I specify a day rate is with editorial clients, or when discussing a project with a client to help with a ball park estimate for a project. For editorial rates, the day rate is usually a day rate against space rate, whichever is greater. I also charge a digital capture fee which helps cover the time spend processing and burning the images to a CD.

[tbisaacs]

Remember, no one will pay you back for selling yourself short! $100 / hr is the minimum I would charge!

[Billo78]

This might be a silly question, but if you cover an event and charge an amount per hour is there then an additional charge for delivering the actual photos? Do you just give the client all the shots you took for the day on a cd and be done with it? What are they allowed to do with these photos, ie, are they for personal use only or can they be printed in the newspaper or used in a commercial sense? Who has copyright over these images?

[Wilt]

This might be a silly question, but if you cover an event and charge an amount per hour is there then an additional charge for delivering the actual photos? Do you just give the client all the shots you took for the day on a cd and be done with it? What are they allowed to do with these photos, ie, are they for personal use only or can they be printed in the newspaper or used in a commercial sense? Who has copyright over these images?


It would be foolish to itemize all charges...imagine buying a car and having the cigarette lighter itemized, then the jack, then the spare tire, then the battery -- you resent being 'nickeled and dimed'. Just BUILD IN appropriate amounts into the overall charge for a job to cover your overhhead --which includes general provision for recovering expenses for gas, depreciation, and your time -- it is in your profit margin, and sometimes there is a bit more margin and other times there is a bit less margin. Your client expects that you have done this, in estimation of fair price for a job.

[Billo78]

It would be foolish to itemize all charges...imagine buying a car and having the cigarette lighter itemized, then the jack, then the spare tire, then the battery -- you resent being 'nickeled and dimed'. Just BUILD IN appropriate amounts into the overall charge for a job to cover your overhhead --which includes general provision for recovering expenses for gas, depreciation, and your time -- it is in your profit margin, and sometimes there is a bit more margin and other times there is a bit less margin. Your client expects that you have done this, in estimation of fair price for a job.

Thanks Wilt but that wasn't really what I was asking. What I mean is if you charge say $300 for a few hours work does this include the client getting unlimited access to all the photos or is this $300 just foryou being there and them purchasing the actual photos is a seperate thing. FOr instance a lot of wedding photos charge x for being there but if you want to get prints made and the the full res photos on cd then it's a whole lot more expensive.

What I'm asking is if weddings are unique in this regard or whether this is the case across all types of event photography.

[Wilt]

Thanks Wilt but that wasn't really what I was asking. .

You started of asking about charges for photo delivery, and I addressed that question in my last post!:)

What I mean is if you charge say $300 for a few hours work does this include the client getting unlimited access to all the photos or is this $300 just foryou being there and them purchasing the actual photos is a seperate thing. FOr instance a lot of wedding photos charge x for being there but if you want to get prints made and the the full res photos on cd then it's a whole lot more expensive.

What I'm asking is if weddings are unique in this regard or whether this is the case across all types of event photography.

Think of what service you are providing. I feel that some of my time is chargeable time on its own, but other things (like 'selling') are not separately costed out but are compensated by the prices I charge for the 'final goods'. Imagine you have a construction contractor come in to price a job...his initial consulting and price are hidden within the overall price you pay for doing the job.

In the commercial world, photographers are paid for usage of a photo and the purposes for which that photo is used, and how many times in print that appears. So the same principle can be applied to work for individuals, where a number of prints (a 'limited' quantity) are provided, yet a larger fee is assessed for the CD both because of the quantity of photos accessible and also because the CD is inherently 'unlimited' in what the person can do about distributing electronic copies, making more prints, etc.

[Roy Webber]

If I am asked to photo shoot a property for the holiday rental market, I would charge 100 Euros minimum.

If the client achieves an extra weeks holiday rent, it has paid for itself and with change!

[totalphoto]

Great thread! I really feel you have to go throught some jobs and get experience in what it takes every step of the way. I have gotten comfortable in my pricing of $175/hr. I could not care less what ANYONE else is charging (Without hurting other photogs) I know how much my gear is, I know how good I am, and I know how long it takes me to deliver.
I kinda look at it ($175) $100/hr Labour, $75/hr Gas, Car, Gear. All in general terms.

Aside from all of that, most people use photography as a second job, which means, majority of your work will be on weekends. Weekends is your time off from your real job, and time to be spent with spouse & kids, or even friends.

I have worked for free lots, I might do work for free in the future, But, there will be an angle to promote myself or to meet 100's of new clients, and get my name out to thousands in the process.

Be fair, be smart, be realistic.

Bottom Line- You have to fall off the horse!

[collierportraits]

Virginia Beach area. Good thoughts all. 15 year professional and there is no blanket answer for this. Is this literally an hour shoot? If you will only be shooting for an hour, then you MAY want to charge an hourly rate, but keep it a minimum of two hours regardless of if it takes you 15 mins or 2 hours.

I have been charging a day rate for many years now, and really only get into half day rates if the shoot goes for 3.5 days or something. In those cases, sometimes I'll just charge the post processing charge. In film days, we used to charge for 'time and materials'. Well, the job may be a $3,500 job (timewise) and the materials may add up to $800. Now, essentially there are no 'film' costs or processing costs, but there is a significant increase in 'time' costs! So, we started charging (as many others have) a post processing charge for eliminating, PS work, etc, etc, etc. I would be curious as to how others charge for this?? In fact, I think I'll start a post on this topic?

Sorry for the digression. I would start in the $75-$100/hr. range if you are truly a beginner. Don't ever give your work away, but sometimes you can provide an extra hour or so, or maybe some extra prints, etc, but only after they have paid the 'upfront' fee. In other words, make sure your 'freebies' are at the end. Keeps the client happy, and you have made good money in the process. My experience has told me that if you have to GIVE them something first, they NEVER (and I mean NEVER) end up ordering anything at all, because you have just announced to them your worth as a photographer - nothing. Just random thoughts. Hope this helps!

K

[sfaust]

there is no blanket answer for this.

The above sums it. For a portrait photographer, a 1 hour portrait could be $250 including print and processing. For an editorial photographer, it would be a minimum rate of $550 for a small inside image, or $5,000+ for a cover image on a large circulation magazine. For advertising, the same hour portrait could bring in $25K or more based on how wide spread the usage is. The hour is the same, the usage is so different, and thus so are the rates.

In the commercial world, if the image could make the client millions of dollars and be seen my millions of people, it doesn't matter how long it took to take the image. The value of the image is not how long it took to create it (which is really 1/125th of a second in many cases :), but the in how its used, and now valuable that would be to the client.

So collierportraits couldn't be more right, there isn't a easy answer.

[amccomis]

I see this thread has been revived...

Think of this from a bride's point of view. Not to insult intelligence, but usually, they are not savvy businesswomen. Personal experience: I"m working with one who doesn't understand the difference between a 34 page album and a 100 page album. Most brides want to know the price, expect to pay for prints, and be done.

My business model is to sell a completed album. With grand customer service, excellent photography, and attention to the finest details being the ingredients in that recipe.

I've seen photogs do a one price deal at what looks like an astounding price of $10 or $12,000 US. It is all inclusive, including unlimited coverage with assistant, completed album of 100 pages, some $amount of prints credit, cutdown sized parent copies of the album, and so on. I thought that was high, but then I did the math on it, and it's completely reasonable. Here's how:

Photog: 10 hours @ 200/hr = $2000
Assistant: 10 hours @ 75/hr = $750
Album Jacket: $600
Album Pages: 100pg @ $80 = $8,000
Parent Books: 2 @ $350 = $700
That adds up to $12,050 before adding in the prints credit, or anything else the photog includes in the price.

But the genius part is it gives the bride one number. She doesn't have to figure out 600 plus 80 per page on the album, or how long the photographer's going to shoot before he packs up and leaves, or any of that stuff.

There is seemingly a great deal of value in lowering a bride's stress level.

[Aszental]

Great thread guys!, i was wondering, when people say "event" photgraphy what do they mean?

I'm interested in starting a small photgraphy buisness for my community shooting small events such as engagment parties, milestone birthdays and the like.

These kinds of stuff people want photos but i dont think they necessarily want albums made, its too expensive for that kind of event.

An event charge that would give a limited time shooting. (e.g. $300 for 2.5 hours of shooting) then i'll just dump them on a cd and give it to them would be reasonable no?

The problem with selling prints i find is that people have trouble accepting a charge of lets say $5 for a 4x6 when they know that they can go to wallmart and get it printed for 10c, its easier just to give them the cd and let them handle the printing themselves.

What do you think?

[Zebceponaf]

These kinds of stuff people want photos but i dont think they necessarily want albums made, its too expensive for that kind of event.

An event charge that would give a limited time shooting. (e.g. $300 for 2.5 hours of shooting) then i'll just dump them on a cd and give it to them would be reasonable no?

What do you think?

I have mixed feelings on this. Giving away your files so others can make prints can go horribly wrong if people don't know how to print right (more often than not) bad prints=bad rapport

On the other hand if you have faith in your client than go ahead and hand those files over to their graphic designer.

Pretty much it comes down to the situation and you have to make the call each time.

[Shamir]

Well.. a little bumpy to this thread wont be bad I guess. Amazing thread, read every single post and now I know what im going to charge :) thanks guys :)

[Analog6]

I'd be much more inclined to do it on a cost per job basis. That's how wedding photographers work, I understand, and you can include some prints in that if appropriate.

[sapearl]

Absolutely - I have several packages available for the typical wedding. They pay me a flat fee for one of seven different packages, get me for "X" hours of coverage, and receive proofs and a finished bound album.

Everything is spelled out up front so there are no surprises, and I am compensated immediately for my work to I don't have to worry about how I made out on the job. If they want additional prints, they are a-la-carte then.

I'd be much more inclined to do it on a cost per job basis. That's how wedding photographers work, I understand, and you can include some prints in that if appropriate.

[hachi]

subscribing

[dastrn]

This has been a very useful thread for me. Thanks for all your insight, everyone!

[mikekelley]

Great thread with great info.

[sfaust]

i havent been charging hourly rates at all, but coming up with a flat price for the entire event/project whatever it may be. since i'm just starting out i've really been....

Bingo. For a newbie, you're doing it right from the start. ;)

When you quote a day rate, all the client sees is the time you are on site, and usually the day rate seems very high. Then you have to start explaining and justifying why you are getting $1,600 per day, even though the job will actually take almost two days worth of work.

If you charge an hourly rate, now the client is watching their clock ticking away and trying to get things rushed to get you out the door to save money. Again, not the best of methods.

A flat rate based on the project, and bounded by the terms such as the time allocated, number of images edited, etc. is much better. Now the client doesn't feel they are under pressure and lighting an fire under you. They don't see the fee as the cost for you showing up and shooting for day, but rather see the whole picture and can then justify easier in their mind.

When you use a flat rate, and a detailed job description, they get to really see what they are paying for.

Ie, for $1,600 they will get; 2 hours of consultation, 8 hours of shooting, 6 hours of post production, 3 edited final images in high resolution, master TIFF, web resolution. Color correction, conversions, client web gallery for selection, archive CD shipped FedEx overnight, etc.... It's much easier to digest than "My day rate is $1,600 a day", and their translation to $1,600 a day, 5 days a week, 50 weeks a year, wow, $400K a year!

I've found the perception works so much better, and have abandoned the day rate like most other pros for the creative fee and usage model. A much easier sell to the client, and I get far less raised eyebrows and my rates have gone way up as a result. It works!

Remember, no one will pay you back for selling yourself short! $100 / hr is the minimum I would charge!

Well said. Although I would go with $150 minimum if you are just starting out in the commercial area, and keep that figure internal to you for estimating, and not use it for the client.

[MeganRizzo]

So silly question..The per hour rate of XX$ does this include a disk of ALL the pics you took or only a set number? If yes how many pics do you give on a disk once edited? and if you do the ordering of the actual photo's they want printed do you just add a % on top of what the processing lab charges you??