What to charge your Boss?

Disclaimer: I am not a professional

The owners of the place I work at have seen some photos I took of a friends apt and have asked if I would be willing to take some pictures of 4 buildings that they are renovating. They are looking for 4-6 photos of each building. They are asking me what I would charge and I have no clue where to begin.

Being that I am a salaried employee, I would be getting paid while taking the photos anyways so what I charge would be for any processing time, etc.

I would appreciate any assistance/advise so I don't go to high. They have lots of contacts so this could lead to even more opportunities down the line.

I do a lot of shooting for my work either for our website or documentation of projects. I do not ask for compensation even though its my equipment, my post processing, and my time.

Tell him you don't have the len to do what he requires and you cannot afford it. If the company will pay for a ______________ you can take the shots. (maybe a 24-70 2.8)

bcd01 wrote in post #15633815
I do a lot of shooting for my work either for our website or documentation of projects. I do not ask for compensation even though its my equipment, my post processing, and my time.

Since they offered to pay me so why not make a little extra cash?

Maybe they might see you as a team player if you make the right offer?

bcd01 wrote in post #15633862
Maybe they might see you as a team player if you make the right offer?

That's what I was thinking. Don't want to overprice them so I was thinking of telling them I would do it for $100 since they are the owners. If I end up getting other jobs out of it (from others, not them), then the price would go up.

What is your day job, and how does it relate to photography?

At my last job (working for a tech company), I shot some headshots that were used on a website to launch a new brand. Since my day job (sales operations) had no relation to photography, they compensated me for the photos as if I was an outside contractor even though they were taken on company time.

JacobPhoto wrote in post #15633906
What is your day job, and how does it relate to photography?

At my last job (working for a tech company), I shot some headshots that were used on a website to launch a new brand. Since my day job (sales operations) had no relation to photography, they compensated me for the photos as if I was an outside contractor even though they were taken on company time.

The owners have several businesses and where I work I have an office job. They would be using these photos on their website, in brochures, etc for the buildings that they lease.

If you like where you work and you like the people you work with, why would you charge them? Maybe charge them any costs of processing, and even then, only if they ask for a 16x20 that will set you back more than $50 or so. Otherwise, I would even cover the expense of processing 4x6s or digital images.

Just because they offered to pay you doesn't mean you should. Sometimes making a buck will cost you two in the long run.

lehmanncpa wrote in post #15633946
If you like where you work and you like the people you work with, why would you charge them? Maybe charge them any costs of processing, and even then, only if they ask for a 16x20 that will set you back more than $50 or so. Otherwise, I would even cover the expense of processing 4x6s or digital images.

Just because they offered to pay you doesn't mean you should. Sometimes making a buck will cost you two in the long run.

Good Advice

I always hate these situations b/c you never know what someone "really wants". Could be willing to pay, could secretly expect it free. If you are trying to get started photography wise and like your job and boss, and feel comfortable with "free" simply ask for a testimonial for exchange. I give away free products to the students at the gym a lot and always ask for a simple testimonial. Do a great job, and use the testimonial to future benefit.

Another thing to consider if you want to get paid or don' t know: consider what your boss would say if the situation were reversed. If you asked your boss to photograph something outside what might he charge? Would he charge? It's always worth considering before totally doing something for free. Many times this has kept me from totally bending over backwards and working for free in situations where (looking back) I'm glad I didnt work for free.

I'm always a believer that if you're truly providing something of value to the end user, particularly a business, that you should attach a price to it (even if it's deeply discounted for various reasons). If you didn't do this shoot, how would your boss treat the situation? Would he snap a pic with his cell phone and use that (0 cost to him) ? Would he hire another professional photographer ($$ cost to him, shows that he had a budget in mind) ? Would the photo just not get taken (0 cost, 0 end product) ? In this situation, it sounds like someone is going to get paid to get a professional-looking photo that will be used to solicit future sales, so it might as well be you.

In my situation, my company had a budget and was willing to send the photo subjects to the local mall photo studio if necessary. They saved money by using me, and I made money in a situation where I wasn't expecting it. Oh, and my boss would still give me that 'testimonial' if I ever needed it.

I was asked by my company Director at Christmas last year (after a few drinks I went on about being a photographer) to take photo's for the 2013 Brochure.
I was hesitant at first to ask to be paid but at the end of the day she wanted professional quality photo's. Now I don't consider myself to be professional as I work full time also but I do value my work and time spent taking and editing the photo's.

She made an offer that I was happy with considering the time it would take and told me she'll be putting my credits in the brochure too.
Had the job been 1 day of shooting while at work I don't think I'd have charged but it took around 4 day's (my own time) + processing.
The Brochure goes in to print next week and will be my first published work.

Like I said if it was in work hours and didn't require too much processing time I would have been happy just to have my credits in it, free advertising is always nice.

If you're taking these and processing them all on company time, then it's assigned work regardless of your job description. In that case, you turn in an expense voucher.

If you are expected to do this as though a separate job on your own time--and the offer for pay suggests that's what's in mind, then you approach it as a separate job.

Don't do this halfway between the two positions. It's it's either on their time or your time, and if it's on your time, you do it in a fully businesslike manner.

I'm sorry, but this is the "Business of Photography" forum. We're not talking about taking happy snaps of fellow employees at the company picnic for the internal website. We're dealing with a business for a product product to be used commercially.

To think that charging for work would "cost" him anything job wise is insane. Not even earn as much as he'd get working at his desk for the same amount of time?

See how much time it takes and then price it.

I am a real estate agent and I occasionally shoot for other agents. If its in my office, or someone I like - usually $100, but sometimes more depending on size and how custom the house is or how many specific shots they want. This is for a couple hours of work.