Second Shooter - What to Be Paid

I would like to know what a second shooter should be paid at a wedding. Right now as a second shooter I make $50 per hour plus $1 per photo that may be given to the client. Of course this depends on what package the client chooses and the number of hours for a second shooter in that package. This question is really aimed at prime photographers who from time to time or very often have a second shooter at the wedding.

I pay second shooters based on their experience and the equipment they have (in other words if they need to borrow lenses/flashes from me to complete the work). Paying per photo is like asking the second shooter to do spec work.

Lets say they have 5DMKIII or 1DX and 2.8 lenses, wide and is good at LR and PS etc and have shot dozens of weddings, what would you then pay them? See poll

Once they have a decent camera, flash, wide and long lenses that are reasonably fast, it doesn't matter if they own a 1dx or a rebel. And I process all the images myself so everything looks the same, so editing skills doesn't even come into play.

I'm a second shooter, and I make the same set rate for every wedding. I don't get paid hourly, so it doesn't matter if I shoot for 6 hours or 14.

I pay my second shooters between $300-$400 depending on skill level. Of course that's what?....$7859 in Canadian money.

Actually it's less than the U.S this past few weeks

I am an experienced wedding photographer (and work with editorial publications full-time) and work on an hourly basis. Payment depends on the photographer, their budget, and how much we negotiate. Typically I earn $50-150 per hour as a second shooter with a 4 hour minimum, plus meals and travel.

I've seen others work for $15/hour and $100/day, but I can't afford to do that.

In the end, if the second shooter has the experience and the equipment, they deserve to be paid fairly. You will be relying on them for useable photos to better impress your Clients.

Last time I did a second shooter gig I got paid a flat rate of $400 for a 5hr wedding. I turned over about 300 RAW files and don't have to lift a finger for editing. I did not get paid any extra per image that was actually given to the couple.