What to Charge (Piano Recital)

[Tumeg]

Yeah, this type of question has been WAY overdone and so has apologizing for asking this question... So I am going to be one of the first, I recant my apology for asking this question that has been asked many times before :)

Anyway, back to the question... What should I charge?
Last night, a girl from my church found out I was a photographer, and she asked if I was free April 30th, Wednesday, at 4:30pm because she is hosting a piano recital for her class, and she would like it if I could photograph the event. She insisted on paying me, but I have NO IDEA what to charge... Since this is my first paid shoot, and yes I feel confident... I work as an assistant\2nd shooter, and have been for 2-3 months, so I feel good... But how much should I charge?
I would ask the photographer I work for, what she would charge in my situation, but she is the type that would try and steal the opportunity from me, for herself... So I need your guys\gals help!
I don't want too charge too much, since I don't want her expecting anything AMAZING from me, and I don't want her to feel obligated to pay the high price just because we go to church together. I am leaning towards an hourly price, I have asked her how long the recital will last and she has yet to get back to me.
I am also asking what she will do with the photos (If SHE is going to give them to the parents, or if she wants me to do that and give the parents my contact info, so they can order pictures through me)

Anyway, thanks all!

[adam LC]

How much would you want? is the question. If it was my first shoot and I was confident in my ability, I would keep it simple... £100 with minimal editing, but that's me.

[Tumeg]

Just got some answers from her:

Going to last an hour and a half (So, maybe I can charge $100 an hour, and get $150?? Is this an appropriate price for this situation?)
She will be using the photos on her site, and she will be handing them out to the students... I will offer to print them for her professional, not an overwhelming price (My friend has a top of the line printer, top of the line ink, and top of the line paper, haha).... So I can get some extra cash from prints.
ALSO I am thinking of printing out some Moo Cards, unless you guys can suggest otherwise. And I will give them to parents, and tell them the pictures should be on my flickr in no more then 2 weeks, if you need help finding the photos from the event than you can contact me. I will have the url to my site, my flickr, my phone #, and my e-mail address (And my name of course).

I will be doing minimal editing, since that's all I do (I just adjust colors, lighting, ect.).
I am thinking I want $150-$200, not too sure if she is willing to pay that much or not.
It will be held at a near public library, so no need to charge for traveling.


One more thing, will I have to get each kid and his\her parents to sign a model release form? If I want to post the photos on flickr\my site? Is it possible I can make one model release form and give a line for every kid and their parent to sign? (To save paper, haha) Or will it only be legit if I make one form for each child (Not sure how this works, I am in California, you must be 18+ to sign a legal document, so would I have the kid sign AND their parent? Or just their parent??)

[Tumeg]

I found a contract to have the host sign (with all the right stuff, haha,) but not sure if it would be appropriate to have someone from my church, sign a 3 page contract stating what exactly they are paying for, and what they can't do, ect....

But does anybody have a model release form? I can edit it and customize it to my needs, if it matters\if there is a difference, please post one for kids.... haha

[Tumeg]

My mom just suggested:

I should charge her a flat rate ($100)
And for every picture she wants, she can pay another $2-$5 (It will depend on how many she wants) and let her print them cheaply, and give them to the students... In the contract, or should I at least let her know that if she gives them to her students, she can't make a profit off them (As in, she can't charge $7 for the pictures when she only paid $5).... I don't even know if she is going to give them the pictures for free or what, so I need to work all that out still....

But I am still on the model release problem, she has not gotten back to me yet about the # of students, that may affect what I charge... So if it is a small number, I wont have a problem making model release forms for them all, but if it is over 30, then I may want to re-think that part... Would I need the model release form just to put their photos on flickr for their parent to see and buy?

[Tumeg]

Just got an answer.... No more than 14 people kid.
I got a model release form, and it does work for kids under 18 (They sign it, and then their parent\guardian).

I just messaged her with three options (No for sure prices yet) and a few required things for all of them (Such as a brief thing on rights and all that)

1) Flat rate, and she picks the photos she wants on her site and she wants to give the kids, and she will pay me $2-$5 per photo. + I want credit given to me, for the pictures on her site.

2) Flat rate (higher then #1), she picks photos she wants printed, and I will have them printed professionally (I will make a few bucks profit off each print), and I want credit for photos on her site

3) High flat rate, and she gets all photos that turned out. All photos edited, high res, on CD, but I still want\get credit for each photo on her site.

I did notify her that each kid\parent will need to sign a model release form, I am thinking of having her get that to them before the recital, so it is more organized.


As far as the flat rates go, I am thinking:
Option #1) $150 Flat Rate + Digital Photos ($2-$5 each)
Option #2) $200 Flat Rate + Prints ($2-$5 profit each print)
Option #3) $250 Flat Rate

[Mike R]

When you get a minor release signed, it must be signed by the childs legal gaurdian, It's sad but the parent may not be the legal guardian.