What to charge? Day's event shoot.

sarkozy

Hi, I was asked at short notice to cover an event (conference). I was on my feet for 10 hours. I hope to do little-to-no post work. What's the market rate for a job like this if hiring a professional? (I can then imagine how to tailor the price to someone like me.)

Corkbah

depends on the client, and possibility of repeat work.

Some PR Photographers charge €200-500 per hour (and throw in an hour or two of post processing on to the bill)
you could charge €500 for the day (if you are happy with €500 for your days work and whatever length of time you spend on post processing)

Since you didn't agree a fee prior to the job you might be told to feck off so I would hold out on giving them images for now.

its difficult to give you a price without knowing everything.
What was the job ?
how short was the notice ?
was there any specialist lenses/lighting required ?
Do they want the images distributed (local, national, international) ?
Do they want to use the images for brochures? for websites ? Facebook ? etc
What licence do they want the images under, unlimited worldwide usage, european usage, UK and Ireland usage ?
you say you were there for 10hours - were you constantly working, did you get any break ?
did they request proofs ? CD/DVD of images ?

As it was a short notice job - you could include a fee for this (so they book in plenty of time for future jobs and are aware that they can save money by booking early)
Also, if they want the images on DVD/CD or distributed - you should charge for that ?
if it was a first time job - with possibilities for future work - you could give them a substantial discount - (ie. 50% first time client discount ...this way they think they are saving money - but you have already increased the price to cover your cost for the day)

magicbastarder

average working year is about 220 days.
say you think your services would be worth 55k per year. you should be charging €250 per day over and above your expenses. and include everything in your expenses - including insurance, wear and tear on gear, and the assumption that you will not be working every day.
the €500 mentioned above sounds reasonable.

colblimp

Between €500 - €600 is a reasonable fee. If they baulk at the price, don't give them the images until they pay up!

sarkozy

Corkbah wrote: »

What was the job ?
how short was the notice ?
was there any specialist lenses/lighting required ?
Do they want the images distributed (local, national, international) ?
Do they want to use the images for brochures? for websites ? Facebook ? etc
What licence do they want the images under, unlimited worldwide usage, european usage, UK and Ireland usage ?
you say you were there for 10hours - were you constantly working, did you get any break ?
did they request proofs ? CD/DVD of images ?

As it was a short notice job - you could include a fee for this (so they book in plenty of time for future jobs and are aware that they can save money by booking early)
Also, if they want the images on DVD/CD or distributed - you should charge for that ?
if it was a first time job - with possibilities for future work - you could give them a substantial discount - (ie. 50% first time client discount ...this way they think they are saving money - but you have already increased the price to cover your cost for the day)

Thanks everyone, I'll try give more detail.

Job was a conference for about 200-300 people. Photos of people including a politician. It was very short notice (less than 24 hours). No special equipment required. Hadn't thought about distribution, but most likely via the client's blog, emailed to people who are in the photographs, etc. I was on my feet/looking out for photos from 8:30-18:30 (working, but not shooting here and there when I had everything I needed at particular slots). Photos are to be provided as JPGs on DVD. I haven't yet been asked to do post work, but I spend 2.5 hours editing, renaming, resequencing and burning images.

I was thinking €500 for the shoot plus extra for the computer time - not sure what to charge.

Thanks for all the info so far. It confirms my belief in what I should charge.

Slipp

I would think that where the photos are going to end up would be one of the most important bits of information to have before giving the client a price. They could end up in the company annual report and you'll have only quoted for blog publication. Have you thought about how long the client can use the photos? 1/2/5 years?

It's hard to give you an actual price for this as we have no idea as to what your cost of doing business is (actually the reason I signed up to this forum, to find out more about this!). Cost of doing business + your creative fee = the fee to the client.


But it's obviously extremely important to nail these details pre-shoot!