how much would you charge?

[kaitanium]

how much would you charge for a 5 hr party shoot such as something in a nightclub? I have no basis to judge what is fair pricing off of so i wanted to get some ideas thanks!

[SingingSabre]

Depends what they want and how much editing it requires.

[kaitanium]

no editing, a straight handover of all pictures. (i really dont care about copyright, they are just a frat formal dance pictures with couples and a frat group shot at the end, nothing special). i was told $100 is the low end?

[SingingSabre]

$100 is really low.

With something that you just don't care about, I'd would personally charge my hourly rate for my dayjob (as a massage therapist) and go with $60/hr. Throw in $20 for transportation and setup, and you'll be at around $260 for 4 hours.

That's just me, though, I'm sure someone will come in with a lot higher prices and their own justification.

[transcend]

no editing, a straight handover of all pictures. (i really dont care about copyright, they are just a frat formal dance pictures with couples and a frat group shot at the end, nothing special). i was told $100 is the low end?

WHAT? For 5 hours?

OK first of all, learn about copyright. Retaining it is important. You seem to be talking about a work for hire situation, which you should avoid.

Secondly, is your time (and investment in equipment) worth $20 an hour? I didn't think so.

$100/hr is more like it.

[kaitanium]

yea i was saying $100 an hour, sorry for the confusion. what is the low end per hour that someone usually charges?

they are providing rides so transportation isnt a worry.

it is a work for hire situation i suppose but why would such a thing be best avoided? to me the photos i worry about copy right on are those that are more artsy such as in a wedding situation or fine art stuff. if its just a formal dance of couples (not like a studio setup in a room like prom or graduation shots) during the event, i find it a waste of energy to worry about copy right.

i suppose if they resell those pictures and start to make cash of that then thats another story, but i dont want to worry about a contract and such and if they do, oh well(?)

ok in typing that, i now see the importance of copyright if extra money was to be made of the pictures once handed over. maybe i need a contract? even then it doesnt guarantee me some cash if they resell pics since i dont have a website and such to handle that

[SingingSabre]

Ah, you were talking about $100/hr. In that case, I'd go with that.

Of course, retain your copyrights.

[transcend]

$100/hr is much more appropriate. It is indeed lower end of things if you are used to charging a day rate. However, $100/hr isn't too bad for the shoot. You have to consider licensing though and what they plan on doing with things afterwards. Work for hire is a bad idea as you lose all copyrights for a few hundred bucks.

[kaitanium]

ah i see...about the copyright issue....maybe ill charge a little more and just give up those pics. or i can charge 10cents per head per pic they choose or something

[transcend]

ah i see...about the copyright issue....maybe ill charge a little more and just give up those pics. or i can charge 10cents per head per pic they choose or something

Giving up the photos and copyright (work for hire) is a bad idea. Always retain control of your images unless a client is really willing to pay for it (ie: very high sum of money). Retaining copyright is crucial to a photographer's business model.

[SBCmetroguy]

I'm in the $100/hour school here. Definitely much better... when you said $100 and didn't specify that as an hourly rate I almost fell out of my chair! :P

[PuR HART]

yup yup 150+

[LBaldwin]

Sure you don't care about Copyright, then someone famous shows up gets into a fight with ex and your shots already belong to someone else for pennies vs worth. Get it?

Sounds JUST like some of those great Craigslist BS deals where they get everything and string you along. If it is, why do you think they need to hire someone new EVERY week?

Les

[deadpass]

i'd go with 125/hr and retain copyrights but allow them usage.

[kaitanium]

ok how would i "allow them usage?" i dont have a dedicated website where they can "purchase" their photos. even if they sign a contract they can secretly just resale images without paying dues to me....

[Gatorboy]

You can use John Harrington's Public Relations Event pricing calculator to see what he would charge:

http://www.johnharrington.com/dc-photographer-pricing/pr-event-photography.shtml

[kaitanium]

holy smoke. that is way too much to charge! thats more like for a wedding.

[52k]

At the end of the day it's all about your reasonable hourly rate and standing in the photographic community.

If you're an aspiring amateur with little or no reputation you can hardly expect to charge the rates of a famous pro, or even a non-famous pro.

Here in the UK, there is a website from the NUJ which covers such issues and gives guideline pricing which you can adjust to suit yourself.

It's a well known fact that for some clients you can under-charge and devalue you services and often not get considered. Similarly, someone just looking for some basic reportage may not be willing to pay the rates of a full time pro in which case you have to ask yourself if you want the job or not.

My personal approach is to use my hourly rate and factor in how many hours of PP is going to be required. In addition I would add travel time or costs. I will arrive at a figure and then decide if I need to bump it up or down and at the same time ask myself if I want to do the job. If it's a pain in the ass I'll price it accordingly to make it worthwhile bearing in mind the quote may be declined.

It's also a good idea to speak with the client up front and ask them or get an idea on what they were expecting to pay. Some have standard rates which you can chose to accept or decline.

As to rights, look at the situation and decide if you want rights to the photos or whether you're prepared to give them away to the client to do what ever he wants with and once again, factor this into the price (if you want to).

It's a fine balance which can lead to pricing yourself out of a job or going in too cheap and ripping yourself off. Enough clients will want to rip you off so decide how much you want or need the work and go in accordingly.

Also discuss payment terms, some of my biggest clients are the worst payers. They take 6 weeks to pay for small jobs. Make these arrangements before hand by way of a verbal or written agreement for referral later.

Hope that helps.

[kaitanium]

yea im conjuring up a contract right now. half payment first, half payment when done blah blah....i dont expect any pp on these photos are they are real basic and nothing artsy