What to charge... to shoot a chain of remodeled grocery stores?

[PMatthes]

A friend of mine works for an architecture company, and they're looking for a photographer to take photos of their finished locations for a certain grocery store chain. I'm trying to determine the ballpark to charge for a job like this...

Would a half-day rate and travel expenses be what you would charge per store? Does $750 for 4 hours of shooting and minimal post work sounds fair?

Thoughts? Any advice will be appreciated!

[sspellman]

Pete-

I would have your friend find out what their normal pros get, and also find out why they are choosing to use someone else this time. I like to price commercial work based on an hourly estimate. 4 + 1 hours per store does seem reasonable, depending on the client requirements and shoot schedule. Its really important to get a very precise plan to execute the client's photo needs, and analyze usage requirements.

Im sure overall that your pricing is below the level of most established arch shooters, but that it probably also why they would hire you.

-Scott

[Park Street]

A friend of mine works for an architecture company, and they're looking for a photographer to take photos of their finished locations for a certain grocery store chain. I'm trying to determine the ballpark to charge for a job like this...

Would a half-day rate and travel expenses be what you would charge per store? Does $750 for 4 hours hours of shooting and minimal post work sounds fair?

Thoughts? Any advice will be appreciated!

I would need to know exactly how many shots to start with. Are they all interiors or are there exteriors too? Do they want the exteriors shot at either dusk or dawn? Is the store open and the only time to shoot after it is closed or is it yet to open? Who is the client - the chain or the architects or both? What rights do they want? If it is a large chain like Whole Foods, pricing might very well take a leap up. There are so many questions to be answered first that you would be answering without sufficient data to make a knowledgeable bid IMO.

To get an idea of the way architectural photographers work I suggest you go to the ASMP web page, Working With An Architectural Photographer, at http://www.asmp.org/commerce/comm_arch.php. They have a checklist you may find interesting.

Your work looks good. If they want architectural work on par with your other samples I would schedule a day not a half day if I were you. Remember you will have to learn some new things as architectural work has its own problems and solutions. Even then I doubt you are going to approach the quality of work that people who do this work day in and day out for years achieve. I would agree that they are looking for cost savings since architects and builders are suffering along with photographers.

As far as pricing is concerned, what I see in the US is lows of around $1250 in smaller markets to as high as $5000. These are creative fees and do not include expenses or licensing. Third party licensing is a major factor in this work so making sure you keep your copyright and do not allow third party transfers is very important.

Good luck. Compete on an even playing field.

Park Street - It Really Is My Name!!!
Park Street Photography - http://www.parkstreets.com

[PhotosGuy]

Does $750 for 4 hours hours of shooting How do you know that you can shoot them all in 4 hours? Have you looked at all of the locations?
Some may need morning light. Some may need evening light. Some, facing north, may be better on an overcast day, and as for "minimal post work", you might want to replace the sky, as in...
http://home.comcast.net/~frankjcizek/Samples/album/Misc-Samples/slides/E-Maple-Troy_0169b.html

[PMatthes]

How do you know that you can shoot them all in 4 hours? Have you looked at all of the locations?
Some may need morning light. Some may need evening light. Some, facing north, may be better on an overcast day, and as for "minimal post work", you might want to replace the sky, as in...
http://home.comcast.net/~frankjcizek/Samples/album/Misc-Samples/slides/E-Maple-Troy_0169b.html (http://home.comcast.net/%7Efrankjcizek/Samples/album/Misc-Samples/slides/E-Maple-Troy_0169b.html)

I was assuming that per store, it would not take longer than 4 hours, even if they wanted a large amount of the store photographed.

I agree with the thoughts on different conditions for different stores, but that shouldn't change the total amount of time spent, just when and how I shoot.

Killer shot, and great post work on your example, btw...

[breal101]

To get an idea of the direction the store may face use google maps or something similar on the net.

[PMatthes]

I would need to know exactly how many shots to start with. Are they all interiors or are there exteriors too? Do they want the exteriors shot at either dusk or dawn? Is the store open and the only time to shoot after it is closed or is it yet to open? Who is the client - the chain or the architects or both? What rights do they want? If it is a large chain like Whole Foods, pricing might very well take a leap up. There are so many questions to be answered first that you would be answering without sufficient data to make a knowledgeable bid IMO.

To get an idea of the way architectural photographers work I suggest you go to the ASMP web page, Working With An Architectural Photographer, at http://www.asmp.org/commerce/comm_arch.php. They have a checklist you may find interesting.

Your work looks good. If they want architectural work on par with your other samples I would schedule a day not a half day if I were you. Remember you will have to learn some new things as architectural work has its own problems and solutions. Even then I doubt you are going to approach the quality of work that people who do this work day in and day out for years achieve. I would agree that they are looking for cost savings since architects and builders are suffering along with photographers.

As far as pricing is concerned, what I see in the US is lows of around $1250 in smaller markets to as high as $5000. These are creative fees and do not include expenses or licensing. Third party licensing is a major factor in this work so making sure you keep your copyright and do not allow third party transfers is very important.

Good luck. Compete on an even playing field.

Park Street - It Really Is My Name!!!
Park Street Photography - http://www.parkstreets.com

Dude... thank you for taking the time to really explain! :)

I absolutely agree with what you're saying... and I think once I'm put in touch with the person hiring the photographer, I'll be able to ask those questions.... and having a friend on the inside should help, as he's looking into what the last guy charged.

Very true about branching into architecture. Like models, food, or cars, each has its own problem. The nice thing about architecture is that I can easily practice without having to recruit models... LOL...

Thanks for the help!

[PhotosGuy]

I was assuming that per store, My oops! it would not take longer than 4 hours, Don't forget to figure in travel time, prep time to look over the store, maybe time to move some things around, time for customers to look the other way so they can't be ID'ed, time for that HUGE truck parked in front of the door that's blocking your shot to go away...
See post #5 in:
Photography Rates (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=324925)