What do you think an in-house product photographer should make?

Say you were the in-house photographer for a nationwide retailer and spent about half of your time taking product shots for advertisements and coordinated a year-long shoot of over 10,000 items for a website launch.

What would you expect to make for something like that?

Part time or are you doing other work the other half of your time?
Really depends on your area. Not sure in Baltimore but in Southern California i need to make a min. or 50k to squeak by and 75k or more to be a happy monkey.
By the way, it really doesn't matter to me what I am shooting. If it takes half my time I would calculate how much I am making the other half and deduct.

Retailer in what field? High end? Low end? I think with any corporate job, it would depend on the product line and where that company's perceived value is.

zagiace wrote in post #11301495
Part time or are you doing other work the other half of your time?
Really depends on your area. Not sure in Baltimore but in Southern California i need to make a min. or 50k to squeak by and 75k or more to be a happy monkey.
By the way, it really doesn't matter to me what I am shooting. If it takes half my time I would calculate how much I am making the other half and deduct.

Full-time employee, but the other half of your time is spent doing graphic design.

cory1848 wrote in post #11301645
Retailer in what field? High end? Low end? I think with any corporate job, it would depend on the product line and where that company's perceived value is.

~70 Wine Superstores in 15 states.

Salary survey from Compdata Salary Survey's indicated a corporate photographer average pay is $44,000.(2009 data) This is a full time position - you can google the company - they survey 1000,'s of US companies

Probably about the same as what you are getting paid as a graphic designer. If you are an employee, you shouldn't be using your own photo gear unless you have additional compensation to cover wear, tear, and insurance.

I would agree with Adam... A superstore IMO is low end retail. Not saying low end on quality, but low end on the commodity level. I would think it is more production work, then it is actually photography work. Once the initial set up is done, its just a matter of swapping out product, is it not?

I think you would be in the 30-35K range, plus benefits if offered.

Just for comparison... I work at one of the largest educational book publishers in the US. Our in-house photographers are paid salary and its based on a production level salary. Pay scale is in the 35k - 45k range non management. Management add about another 10k to the salary. That position has creative freedom as it is mostly of products and kids. Studio and all gear is owned by the company.

Not as much as you could earn as a contracting professional but then you would not get paid holidays, medical benefits etc.

They are paying for your time only.

If you're angling for a raise based on the work as a photographer in addition to the design work, and you still get it into a 40-hour work-week, I agree with the other posts. Mid- to high-30's is what we paid when I was in the instructional design game.

You might be better off negotiating a bonus structure for bringing in the shoot and site on time and under budget. Of course if that's your responsibility you're more of a project manager which is a completely different pay grade.

-Fernando

It also depends to some degree on the local job market, average rates of pay for comparable or even dissimilar work.

For example, here in N. California/Silicon Valley, the rate of pay would likely be higher than a lot of places, just to offset the high cost of living.

Here a 1 bdrm apartment is $1400-1500 a month, gasoline prices are high, insurance is more expensive, utilities are some of the most expensive in the U.S., a business license for a sole operator is $235 a year, property taxes are 1.25% year, sales taxes are up close to 10% in most communities, and the state takes 10% income tax and still manages to end up buried in debt.

Average income is over $50,000 year, household income is over $75,000. A Starbucks employee makes about $30,000 yr. A bus or garbage truck driver with a little experience makes $75,000 a year. A cop or fireman starts close to $90,000 and goes up to $125,000 or more. Meanwhile an engineering position at Google starts at $35,000, but has a ton of perks including stock options, ample opportunities for advancement... and they just announced a company-wide 10% pay increase.

An in-house photographer position (at a well established commercial studio) that was advertised here not too long ago here offered around $50,000 year for someone with reasonable experience, with typical benefits. By comparison, the Smithsonian was advertising for a Director of Photography earlier this year, requiring a ton of experience and education, and offering about $55,000 year plus typical benefits, if memory serves.

While I cant answer the original question, I can say that as an employer I would be more than a little pissed off if I found one of my staff querying their wages on a forum.

I pay what I pay, and my staff have the choice of working for me or not, simple as that. Should they come with info gathered this way I would not be best pleased.

Why be pissed off? The guy is just asking a general question? Information age and people google alot of questions like this.

Gary_Evans wrote in post #11327649
While I cant answer the original question, I can say that as an employer I would be more than a little pissed off if I found one of my staff querying their wages on a forum.

I pay what I pay, and my staff have the choice of working for me or not, simple as that. Should they come with info gathered this way I would not be best pleased.

Heck, my employer (a major US Airline) ASKED us to go out and research what other people in my field and occupation make! They allowed us to use this to justify negotiations for our own pay increases! You sound more like a tyrant than an honest employer.

Gary_Evans wrote in post #11327649
While I cant answer the original question, I can say that as an employer I would be more than a little pissed off if I found one of my staff querying their wages on a forum.

I pay what I pay, and my staff have the choice of working for me or not, simple as that. Should they come with info gathered this way I would not be best pleased.

Get your head out of your ass. Employers use the net to dig for dirt on prospective employees too.