Summarized version: Shooting my first freelance job for a company in the US. It's a run/marathon. What should I include in my contract and how much should I charge per hour/total? Tentative details: 3 hour event, guy expects 'hundreds of photos' that will go on the web/social media.
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Detailed version:
A friend who recently graduated and got a job recommended me to her boss to be the photographer at city run/marathon that his company is organizing (managing?). I just spoke to the guy on the phone and he seemed enthusiastic to 'hire' me; he asked about my experience and what I do, though he didn't ask to see samples of my work (I am not sure if my friend showed him the albums on my Facebook page) before jumping to 'lets meet up for lunch next week to discuss my details and your rates'.
I've got about 7 years of photography experience under my belt, although more than 2/3rds of which were spent from outside of the US (where wedding/fashion/event photographer seem a lot more 'lax' in paperwork vs the horror stories I've been reading on the internet). This will be my first time shooting freelance in the US for a company, and I understand (at least from stereotypes) there's plenty of legal precautions us 'hired by job' photographers need to take to cover their butts and get paid.
So my questions are:
- I assume I'll need to come up with some sort of contract, but are there any good 'templates' out there? If not, are there any specific clauses/details which are a must to include?
- How much should I charge (I'm in Central California if that matters)? I am expected to cover the event which is 3 hours long (do I include post processing time as part of the event hourly rate or charge separately?) and they want 'hundreds of photos' for posting on the web/social media.
Also I should add photography isn't my 'day job' at all (always has been a freelance thing); currently studying at a local university.
