Hire an assistant

[lalvidrez]

end

[liza]

Sounds reasonable. You just need to iron out what her duties will entail.

[kuanyu]

Would be more helpful if we knew where you were located.

[lalvidrez]

I live in Texas, not a big city.

[RichNY]

Seems like a lot more than you need to be paying. There is a big studio franchise in our local mall that is paying their studio photographers $8.50/hour and getting really great large prints that are selling quite well. All the shots use the same basic 5' octobox main and small softbox hairlight but the quality is very good.

I also approached a large sports photography image firm that hires lots of photographers. Because I had my own 1D Mark IIN and L glass they were willing to pay me $15/hour- LOL.

What I noticed in both situations is that there are plenty of photographers who are willing to work for small amounts of money, are reliable, and who turn out commercially acceptable work. When hiring an assistant I think photographers have a tendency to pay more than they have to because of how they value their work rather than recognizing that compensation and quality are not necessarily bound.

Decent photographers are a dime a dozen. Those with the gift of exceptional talent are a different story but those aren't the ones who take jobs as assistants anyway.

[bigjon0107]

For starters, what part of texas are you in? If you need another assistant i may be available:).

But what are the duties going to entail? If she is going to be shooting, i would say around $20/hr, but if she is truly assisting (not shooting, just helping you move people, get you what you need, taking money etc...), i would say $10/hr.

[lalvidrez]

I am in East Texas, Longview and she's is going to be shooting with her camera. We're looking at 33 teams with 7 to 8 kids per team. She will be shooting on one side of the gym with me on the other so things will move quickly and smoothly.