Hired Motorsport Photographer Fees

Hi All. There is a possibility I would hired to take photos of some motorsport event. Does the fees for such an event similar to say a portrait event? How much would you charge in a similar situation.

Thanks in advance.

This has a huge variance.

Who are you shooting for? What is the intended usage? how many drivers are you covering? What type of images are expected? How long is the event (both in days and hours per day)? How far is the event from you?

I've shot a ton of motorsport events for clients, and charged fees anywhere from a few hundred bucks for a few images to 4 figures per day to follow a driver from alarm clock until the champagne sprays.

Here are some further details. Basically some local sportbike riders want some photos of their activity. Not sure if it would be wiser to just charge them for each photos at a higher rate than I normally charge rather than charging them per hour. I would guess they would only need me for like 1-2 hours max and I'd be driving about 2 hours to get to the location.

I would come up with a flat day fee and x number of images to be used per your contract. If they are not sponsored riders, they may be using your images to soliciate potential sponsers, or maybe they just want some sweet pic for facebook. Gotta figure out their plan for the images as well.

Driving 2 hours each way? Or 2 hours total (1 hour each way)?

Do they just want some cool photos for facebook / their desk at work? or are these professional photos to be used in sponsorship materials / driver autograph cards / corporate posters that are handed out? There's a huge difference in these two categories.

JacobPhoto wrote in post #16416126
Driving 2 hours each way? Or 2 hours total (1 hour each way)?

Do they just want some cool photos for facebook / their desk at work? or are these professional photos to be used in sponsorship materials / driver autograph cards / corporate posters that are handed out? There's a huge difference in these two categories.

2 hours each way and I believe it is for sponsorship material.

How much is your time worth?

1/2 day of travel is worth a hundred bucks or two because that's hours of lost time that could be used to produce images, not including gas or anything else.

Beyond that, don't price yourself too low. If they are for sponsorship material, these images will help the rider earn monetary or parts sponsorships worth thousands of dollars, if used carefully. Don't let them talk you into thinking that these should be provided for pennies.

Thank you Jacob. You make some good sense. As an update I just got a call for a paid gig for a unique opportunity from a Martial Arts / Law Enforcement Training facility. I did a walk through of their new location and they want me for an 6-8hr photo/video shoot. BTW this place is freakin cool.

Since the owners of the facility is a good client from a good friend, I am looking at around 500-600/day. Would that be fair?

That price doesn't sound unreasonable. But again, be sure to lock down the EXACT use of the images before confirming a price. If the training facility sends images to a company that supplied equipment (punching bags or mats on the martial arts side, who-knows-what on the law enforcement side) and those companies use your images in their commercial advertising, the payment you've arranged becomes entirely too low.

Thanks.

Not to beat a dead horse but you have got to nail down who gets the images and what rights you are selling.
You need to cover yourself - you charge a day rate for being there taking the pictures and you make sure to charge enough to cover your time (including travel), your expenses - ALL of them - a little bit goes to your insurance, a little bit to your cellphone, another chunk to the equipment fund, etc. Don't forget wear and tear on the car.
Then you start thinking about the use of your photos: a few prints for the rider's own album? His website? Social media? What happens when the rider hands over your images to his sponsors? He'll believe he's paid you for them and can do whatever he wants with them unless it is spelled out differently in your contract - and sometimes even then,
If the images go to a sponsor or manufacturer how many impressions will they generate? Hero cards with thousands of copies? Posters? Product brochures? T-shirts? You are entitled to be compensated based on how they are used and how many copies are made.
You also need to think about releases - not just from the riders but sponsors and manufacturers and series organizers and possibly commercial rights from the series.