How much do I charge for travel?

My company mainly provides photography and videography for weddings in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. I was just contacted by a potential client wanting to hire us to shoot her wedding which will be held in London, England. She has already stated that she will pay our travel expenses. The question that I have is this: Do I charge our normal rates or add an additional charge for being there more than just the time we are shooting footage?

I am a newbie in wedding photography (just set up this year) but the first question I would be asking my is "is this a scammer ?" as unless your names David Jay or something similair then being flown to a different country to shoot a wedding is quite unusual.

Quite a few people in the wedding photography forum have recieved emails from scammers lately, wedding photographers seem to be a target at the moment.

Least for us its very easy to check it out quickly by contacting the venue and seeing if a booking actually exists before your waste any time at all on something which is likely to turn out to be the usual "over payment scam"

Travel should include
Airfare, Room & board
Price of the wedding
At least 1/2 day rate while traveling since your losing other clients while gone.

They're paying for your talents

Firstly - welcome to our forum!

I would follow Banbert's excellent advice and check this out before getting too excited!

There have been a massive amount of scams going around, as reported in many threads on here. I would suggest the only "travelling" you do is around this forum reading about them.

(I guess you joined to ask this question?)

I would also charge an exprense account for all foods etc (set ahead), and yes, you should charge your normal rate (or higher), plus travel time fee.

I don't shoot too many travel - weddings. But for editorial stuff the going rate is usually 1/4 to 1/2 the day rate plus expenses. You don;t charge for food ( you had to eat anyway) but you do for airfare (cost) car rental (cost) hotel (cost) etc. It would just be another line item for your invoice.

Now this is critical, make-sure that you do or do not need a work visa in England. Contact the British Consulate and talk to their business affairs officer. If you show up in England with out the right documents they may send you home!!!

Also and this is critical too, get a wire transfer of at; least 50% of the cost of the shoot up front. Non-refunable. You get the deposit and that should cover the baseline expenses for you and your assistant(s). I would also hire an assistant in the Shoot area that is familier with both the location and the equipment you plan to use.

Get a contract signed prior to making any flight or travel arrangements. Pay for the transfer of documents yourself and add it to the invoice.

There are so many varibles that need to be addressed it is not funny. But it can be a real hoot too.

Do everything in writing, on letthead do not depend emails or phone conversations. There will be plenty of ways to tell if this is legit or not.

I hope this helps.

Les Baldwin

Banbert wrote in post #2307510
I am a newbie in wedding photography (just set up this year) but the first question I would be asking my is "is this a scammer ?" as unless your names David Jay or something similair then being flown to a different country to shoot a wedding is quite unusual.

I know several Australian wedding photographers who have been flown overseas to shoot a client's wedding. I don't think it is that unusual.

I would definitely charge for all of your incurred expenses associated with traveling...parking at the airport, airfare, hotel costs, food costs, taxi while you're overthere and give yourself some cushion!

and yeah, make sure it's not some 419 scam...google it and read up on it if you're not familiar with that.

While Les offered some great advice if this in fact does turn out to be legit, I would first follow Banbert's and do a little further investigation. I have heard this story a million times from other photographers. Some of them don't even shoot weddings and still get those emails. Was it written in broken english?

I've only just started doing this, but I charge in 1/2 and 1/4 day Blocks for the time, then expenses +5%. My Travel is generally just fuel so it's not too dear.

Keep all the receipts and scan then into your accounting software if you some. Great for checking details later.

A few have already said this, but your clients are paying for a photographer not a traveller, so don't try to make too much from travel charges.

Not enough details and thats why I get a real creepy feeling on this one.

Be very, very cautious on this kind of thing. Ask yourself why YOU are so special, as to get the "invite" to shoot. Ego and common sense often do not mix.

Let me repeat that, "Now this is critical,..." I don't know what the situation is now, but I can tell you that they used to be VERY picky who they allowed in to take pro photography in England. Be sure to check this out!
And, if this job goes through, check on an equipment broker to here to get your equipment into the thier country & back into ours.

Do accept any "certified" checks, either. They bounce every day!

Me, too!