please input in my situation

hey guys im in need of some of your advice or logic. i currently attend highschool and the photographers that i work with at school have been asked to shoot the prom. the prom is on saturday (5/10-very short notice ) at a hotel. my mentor doesnt want to shoot it because he doesnt like the attitude of the lady in charge so he handed it down to my friend and i. he feels that she wont let him do his own thing so he declined.

my issue is wether or not we should take the job. they have this prom committe but i dont know what their budget is. it would just be a hi-res disk w/pp. as far as i know, we wouldnt be doing the formal shots and we would be more or less walking around getting the fun, group, and candid shots.

So should we even think about taking the job? How much would you charge either for the whole event (2-4hrs?) or better yet how much would you charge per hour for two photographers?
Your help is greatly appreciated.

mahalo,

In my experience with event photography, shooting the event is the easy part. The hard part is the post processing and the amount of time it takes.

If you plan on shooting in JPEGs and not doing any post processing then not to worry. But if you're gonna shoot in RAW and do a lot of PP then it may take some extra time, which in turn equals more $$.

Also, what are the parameters of the job? Will you be required to get a shot of every single couple or individual? How many total pictures do they expect to get from you? Is there a set deadline of when they need the photos by?

I would charge $350 per hour for event coverage plus commission on sales of the CD / images. 2 Photographers would be $500 / hr.

IMHO if two photographers with more experience than you backed out, that should be a pretty big clue as to what you should do. Even if the reasons are unknown, there is probably a good reason why.

If you decide not to do it and they still need someone, have the lady in charge give me a call or email me. I don't know if I would take it, but I would atleast talk to her to see what she wants done. www.imagesbyk2.com

milk it for all its worth. see if you can get 250/hour.

my friend Craig said...

"Tell Lucas (if it still is lucas who is in charge...) move it the hell out of the prince, and MHS does not have the budget to afford freelance photographers. "


anyway...what i'd suggest is that you should get a contract written up. This is my honest opinion, and from my experiences with this type of stuff, if the gig doesn't matter much to you, you have power over them, they are in need of photography services. Use that to your advantage. Start with a contract. Co-ownership of the images, and make sure that the school will be responsible for getting waivers signed if other students who are there don;t want to be photographed. If they are going to the prom, then they'll probably be fine with their photos being taken. To put it bluntly the only reason they are probably going thru you folks is because they don;t want to spend too much money. This way you can easily get out of it if you don;t want to do it, or if they do cave in, you can rake in some dough. Either way you win.

IMHO no need to shoot RAW. just bounce the flash, and expose properly. If you expose properly you wont need to correct in ACR/LR.

this is an excerpt from my original website for Wedding Photography Pricing.

i usually get contacted by clients, and then we discuss parameters of the contract and then both parties sign it. Honestly, what do you want to do? Do you really want to shoot it? or do you just want to have fun (provided you are going.)

anyway hope this helps.

kylerkwock wrote in post #5476441
I would charge $350 per hour for event coverage plus commission on sales of the CD / images. 2 Photographers would be $500 / hr.

IMHO if two photographers with more experience than you backed out, that should be a pretty big clue as to what you should do. Even if the reasons are unknown, there is probably a good reason why.

If you decide not to do it and they still need someone, have the lady in charge give me a call or email me. I don't know if I would take it, but I would atleast talk to her to see what she wants done. www.imagesbyk2.com

i like that 350/hour.

Why aren't you asking him these questions?

PhotosGuy wrote in post #5477013
Why aren't you asking him these questions?

good call.

ok ill talk to him again to get more of his opinions.

thanks