Who could pass up a gig like this!!

[Pinto]

San Diego Craiglist ad:
"Photographer needed to shoot people partying at upscale nightclubs in the Gaslamp.
You would work from 11:00pm to 2:00am on a Friday or Saturday night.
We are willing to pay $.50 per picture, with goal of approximately 100 pictures per night".

Who in their right mind could pass up an opportunity this great!
Drag yourself downtown in a major city in the middle of the night, find parking, hope you don't get mugged or car-jacked, shoot drunks for two hours and make fifty bucks!
Youser! What a deal!

[christyjo2]

LOL yeah :)

[rhys]

Lol. And how much for the parking? How much for some ear defenders - they're essential in nightclubs. Are they paying insurance etc?

[Hellashot]

For $50 is nothing. They would have to be unedited JPGs and no prints included. So you're being paid for the pictures and not your time, huh. :)

[Gouba]

sounds cheap and nasty. Even more so if you dont like the music or dont have friend there.

The post production on that alone wouldnt justify 50c a photo. Its amazing how people think they pay peanuts for somethign

[Spiral Photo]

A downscale photographer for "upscale nightclubs".
Real smart.
Although, I'm barely one to talk after some of the threads I've posted here asking opinions about deals I considered offering here in my hometown whilst looking for ANY kind of work.

[MikeMcL]

I'll do it if they provide the kodak disposables...

...What can i say, i Love taking pictures. If they want it cheap and dirty, I'll do it.


The funny thing is... they'll get about 50 people responding, and they will all be stoked to do it.

[Tee Why]

Wow, fifty bucks as a goal for working that late?
They would have to offer to pay fifty bucks for me to just consider staying up that late, let alone for actually working.

[ssim]

For every person here that says they will pass this up there will be a dozen or more weekend warrior photographers that are going to jump at this.

People are paying this rate because they know that someone will jump at it.

[rhys]

This could be a good starter for somebody looking for experience. They could do this one with a digital compact!

[Pinto]

This could be a good starter for somebody looking for experience. They could do this one with a digital compact!

You're right. Great experience for no pay. :evil:

If this was an internship it would be one thing, but these kinds of offers are just trying to take advantage of the inexperienced and hungry, and it minimizes the profession. It seems that most of the Craiglist ads are from the same perspective-something for nothing.

Here's my take on the equivalent.

Harvard Grad? Just past your Bar? New to legal defense? This is your chance to get valuable experience and cash in your education! You can defend my second degree murder case for $300.00 US cash money! The case should not last over six months and you collect a $100 dollar bonus with a innocent verdict! Call me now!

Hopefully the people that run these offers get exactly the quality of product they deserve.

[Hellashot]

We are willing to pay $.50 per picture, with goal of approximately 100 pictures per night".[/I]


And I wouldn't be surprised if when they go to pay for the photos they only buy 25 instead of 100 shots giving you $12.50 no matter how good all the shots. Payment decided upon delivery of the product - not a good way to do business if you are providing the product!

[Pinto]

The kicker is, you probably have to pay your own cover fees for the clubs. So there goes your total income for the night!!!

[sblais]

Pleeeaaaase! How do I sign up?? :lol: ;)

[daclozer]

The only upside is that if a guy was single,. he could pick up some hot drunk women with the " so you want to be a model" pick up line..... Just kidding, don't flame me... Some people will do it for the experience.

[rhys]

Even at $12.50 for 2 hours work, it's still over minimum wage!

A student with a compact digital would do this and it'd help them out a bit - income-wise.

[John Nicholas]

San Diego Craiglist ad:
"Photographer needed to shoot people partying at upscale nightclubs in the Gaslamp.
You would work from 11:00pm to 2:00am on a Friday or Saturday night.
We are willing to pay $.50 per picture, with goal of approximately 100 pictures per night".

Who in their right mind could pass up an opportunity this great!
Drag yourself downtown in a major city in the middle of the night, find parking, hope you don't get mugged or car-jacked, shoot drunks for two hours and make fifty bucks!
Youser! What a deal!


I may look at this a differently and that it may be a good opportunity for someone looking to get a start.
First everything is negotiable. You may want to tell them your interested but would require $1 per shot with a $100 minimum regardless of the shots they purchase. You would also demand that you retain the copyright to your images, they would be obligated to reimburse $100 for your time and any further compensation for the use of any photos would be negotiated. Obviously your expenses would need to be covered parking cover charges etc.
This could be an excellent way for you to network with the clubs upscale clientele and build contacts. You could also pass out your business cards with a link to your web site with the intent of selling prints getting more gigs from wanna be actors / models looking for head shots and making more money.
Short answer is that the gig seems like it may have some possibilities if negotiated properly not to mention any after hours action that may come your way if your single :)

[ssim]

I may look at this a differently and that it may be a good opportunity for someone looking to get a start.
First everything is negotiable. You may want to tell them your interested but would require $1 per shot with a $100 minimum regardless of the shots they purchase. You would also demand that you retain the copyright to your images, they would be obligated to reimburse $100 for your time and any further compensation for the use of any photos would be negotiated. Obviously your expenses would need to be covered parking cover charges etc.
This could be an excellent way for you to network with the clubs upscale clientele and build contacts. You could also pass out your business cards with a link to your web site with the intent of selling prints getting more gigs from wanna be actors / models looking for head shots and making more money.
Short answer is that the gig seems like it may have some possibilities if negotiated properly not to mention any after hours action that may come your way if your single :)

There's allot of "ifs" in this one. If you could get them to negotiate at all is the first question. Then if they are willing to move on price. If they agree to your retaining copyright (I doubt they have even thought of this one).

If I was a betting man I would hazard to say that within a few hours of this hitting craiglist, they would have more than their fair share of respondents at the levels that they had advertised at. There is nothing in their advertisements that leads me to believe that they are in the negotiating mood.

There are so many people that are so keen to turn a dollar with their camera that they could actually reverse negotiate this and tell those that applied to put their best offer forward and it would probably end up costing them less.

[kram]

Well, if I'm out partying in these places anyway, that's not a bad deal ;)

[John Nicholas]

There's allot of "ifs" in this one. If you could get them to negotiate at all is the first question. Then if they are willing to move on price. If they agree to your retaining copyright (I doubt they have even thought of this one).

If I was a betting man I would hazard to say that within a few hours of this hitting craiglist, they would have more than their fair share of respondents at the levels that they had advertised at. There is nothing in their advertisements that leads me to believe that they are in the negotiating mood.

There are so many people that are so keen to turn a dollar with their camera that they could actually reverse negotiate this and tell those that applied to put their best offer forward and it would probably end up costing them less.

Your right but IF you don’t ask you’ll never know. And IF they weren’t willing to negotiate why take the gig. Would anyone reading this thread be willing to shot for .50 per shot with no guarantee that any shots would be purchased or that you would be compensated at all? That your expenses could actually be significantly greater than any compensation you would receive? I know I wouldn’t would you? As far as retaining copyright I’d be willing it say that they have thought of it, but again IF you don’t ask you’ll never know. I’d personally rather take a strong approach on such a weak offer after all IF they say no what’s he got to lose .50 lol.

[jmarsz]

Well here's another way to look at it. If they don't buy the shots, you could sell them as stock photography (as long as they don't try to make you sign a contract stating that you can't sell any of the photos you take that night to anyone else). Heck, even the club might buy them if you get the club name into the picture... Just a thought :)

[Lestat]

I've done night club photography, its good fun, and I have some friends who have turned it into a fairly profitable business. For the money they are paying; its good experience.
A word of caution, though; mind your speedlight, high heat/rapid fire burns them out something fierce. A few people I know have burned theirs out.
But if you do it, have fun!

[Double Negative]

Open bar?