Shooting a major Fashion Festival - price quote?

[keegsmeister]

Hi all,

I am currently a part-time event photographer who was just recently recognised to shoot for the annual Perth Fashion Festival (here in Western Australia) for a major departmental store, a major sponsor of the event.

I am NOT shooting the runway, because 2 professionals are already doing so, but I was appointed to shoot the candids, the arrangement and decor of the event. There will be VIPs attending including actors, footballers and artists. I will be shooting 2 different sessions, one taking approximately 1 hour while the other will take around 2 hours.

There will be alot of post-processing involved, I estimate around 6 hours (double my shooting time).

Question is, how much should I charge on a hourly rate? I was thinking of AUD100/hr for the shooting session time, and AUD50/hr for post-processing time. Do you think this is too little? Bear in mind that I am not a full time professional yet. Has anyone actually shot for a fashion festival as well?

ANY INPUT will be appreciated. I am desperate for a price quote :s Thanks!

[sarah789shah]

I too need some info on this

[Karl Johnston]

Looks great to me, go for it.

Never done this kind of work before though PerryGe may be able to help you if you can track down his name and send him a PM

[keegsmeister]

Thanks Karl, yeah i'll just PM him, would love to hear on other people's opinion on this nonetheless!

[airfrogusmc]

I don't work in Australia but I did shoot a similar event here in the states. I did the set ups, room shots, candids and runway. I would say charge at least $150 per hour for shooting + all expenses. Those expenses would include usage and $65 per hour for post production work.
Heres the last one I shot and got some press
click here and all these in this article in Panache are mine
http://panacheprivee.com/Web/BeSeen/DriehausFashionAwards/2009_Awards.asp

And here top 4 images are mine from the same event as in Pacache.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/airfrogusmc/michave.jpg

[keegsmeister]

This is EXACTLY the post I was looking for Allen! Thanks a heap, very very helpful. And your photos are amazing! Did you bounce the ceiling with the flash? I spoke to a good wedding photographer friend of mine and he said the SAME. $150 for your time, and around $50-60 for post processing. Do you think postprocessing will take 6 hours though? I'm hoping not. Use light room by the way.

[airfrogusmc]

Glad I was able to be some help.:D As far as time in PP I use photoshop CS2 (just upgraded to CS4)and thats a hard one. I would say at least 3 to 4 hours for me.
For the candids I used a home made bounce card for some and available light for others. All the runway stuff was available light.