What would you charge...

[Annrive]

Dining director at campus has requested 25 images from me and said I can charge what a normal photographer would charge so what would you guys charge if you were me

I am also doing photo editing
And the chef wants to have final say in the images I give to the director so that will mean extra time because apparently if he does not approve them I can't hand it in (which I think is ridiculous) but I'm not going to argue with the chef

 

[Designer]

Where would you place your skills as a photographer? Are you as good as the people who photograph food for national magazines?

Also, the responsibility for how the food looks falls upon the chef. So make good photographs!

 

[tirediron]

Wayyyyyyyyy too little information with which to work. Are you responsible for everything? Renting gear, hiring assistant, stylist, etc, or solely for walking in and taking the shots? Food shooting can take a LONG time because the food needs to be carefully styled and if for instance, you accidentally splash mustard on the 'burger bun, you've got to start all over.

Assuming that all I was responsible for was the shooting and processing, I would probably bank on about two images/hour, so round out to a twelve hour session plus two hours post, I would estimate the shoot at $1725 + licensing.

 

[tirediron]

Where would you place your skills as a photographer? Are you as good as the people who photograph food for national magazines?

Also, the responsibility for how the food looks falls upon the chef. So make good photographs!

:raisedbrow: Really? Huh...

 

[KmH]

This was pretty much discussed in - http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/general-shop-talk/326344-first-paid-gig.html

But you leave out details that would affect how much a professional food photographer would charge, and pricing varies by region, which isn't indicated in your profile.

Visit - http://asmp.org/links/1#.UZZCAqJzji0 They recommend stock image and assignment pricing software like http://www.cradocfotosoftware.com/fotoQuote-Pro/

 

[jwbryson1]

Keith nailed it. This is an old story / thread.

 

[Steve5D]

I remember reading a piece in a magazine ("Popular Photography, maybe?) in which it was shown that many of the food photos you see actually don't contain edible food. They contain food which has been glued in place, sprayed with shellac, etc., in an effort to make it look more appealing.

As for what the chef wants, that's not really your concern. Your agreement will be with the Dining Director. If he wants to give the chef the final say, that's entirely up to him. Unless you enter into an agreement with the chef, nothing he says should matter to you, and I would let the Dining Director know this. He can pay you to shoot the food that's presented by the chef. He, and he alone, should approve the photos. If the chef doesn't like the photos (assuming they are of an acceptable quality) that you provide, then the Dining Director can hire you again...

 

[Steve5D]

Where would you place your skills as a photographer? Are you as good as the people who photograph food for national magazines?

Also, the responsibility for how the food looks falls upon the chef. So make good photographs!

:raisedbrow: Really? Huh...

Sure.

It's like a portrait photographer having to photograph someone who's ugly. If they're ugly, they're ugly, and it's not the photographer's responsibility to make them not ugly. It's the photographer's responsibility to accurately photograph the ugliness which he is provided...

 

[CCericola]

Where would you place your skills as a photographer? Are you as good as the people who photograph food for national magazines?

Also, the responsibility for how the food looks falls upon the chef. So make good photographs!

:raisedbrow: Really? Huh...

Sure.

It's like a portrait photographer having to photograph someone who's ugly. If they're ugly, they're ugly, and it's not the photographer's responsibility to make them not ugly. It's the photographer's responsibility to accurately photograph the ugliness which he is provided...

I just had to laugh at this. Food stylists have the job of turning ugly food into the most delicious things you've ever scene. It has very little to do with the chef. When you see photos of ice cream. It's not ice cream. It's a mixture of plastic and playdough so it doesn't melt during the shoot. Have you ever had a big mac that looked anything like the photo???

One of my internships was with a home shopping network in PA. Almost all of the food on display for cooking gadgets was fake. In fact, the same "food" was used over and over. We would have to glue things, paint things, spray things with glycerine, and mold things out of plastina. It was fun but tedious. Oh, and we were also told not to look Joan Rivers in the eye if we happened to be in the same area

 

[frommrstomommy]

I think everyone's reading much farther into this than necessary right now.. lol she said "CAMPUS director" aka.. it's for the college campus dining room. She is probably a student there, if she's been chosen for this opportunity and been told to charge what "a normal" photog would charge. I've not done any paid work yet, and I'm thinking OP has not either if she has to ask this.. so I'd see this is an opportunity. Coming from someone who would actually be in your shoes exactly if I were in your shoes... lol think about time it will take to photograph, edit, time to and fro, and any extra gear necessary. I'd also consider what the images are going to be used for.. are they for their website? Are they expecting these images to really make them money in some way or do you think they just want some pics of their Wednesday sloppy joes for some random flyer to post on campus? lol

 

[tirediron]

I think everyone's reading much farther into this than necessary right now.. lol she said "CAMPUS director" aka.. it's for the college campus dining room. She is probably a student there, if she's been chosen for this opportunity and been told to charge what "a normal" photog would charge. I've not done any paid work yet, and I'm thinking OP has not either if she has to ask this.. so I'd see this is an opportunity. Coming from someone who would actually be in your shoes exactly if I were in your shoes... lol think about time it will take to photograph, edit, time to and fro, and any extra gear necessary. I'd also consider what the images are going to be used for.. are they for their website? Are they expecting these images to really make them money in some way or do you think they just want some pics of their Wednesday sloppy joes for some random flyer to post on campus? lol

Except insofar as print size (eg. billboards) and viewing environment (images meant specifically to be viewed in a light/dark environment) go, this is irrelevant. The client should receive the photographer's best work even his intent is only to line his canary's cage.

 

[frommrstomommy]

I think everyone's reading much farther into this than necessary right now.. lol she said "CAMPUS director" aka.. it's for the college campus dining room. She is probably a student there, if she's been chosen for this opportunity and been told to charge what "a normal" photog would charge. I've not done any paid work yet, and I'm thinking OP has not either if she has to ask this.. so I'd see this is an opportunity. Coming from someone who would actually be in your shoes exactly if I were in your shoes... lol think about time it will take to photograph, edit, time to and fro, and any extra gear necessary. I'd also consider what the images are going to be used for.. are they for their website? Are they expecting these images to really make them money in some way or do you think they just want some pics of their Wednesday sloppy joes for some random flyer to post on campus? lol

Except insofar as print size (eg. billboards) and viewing environment (images meant specifically to be viewed in a light/dark environment) go, this is irrelevant. The client should receive the photographer's best work even his intent is only to line his canary's cage.

This was meant for reasons of pricing.. not quality of op's work. Would you charge the same for a family session whose intended use is personal.. vs a shoot for a billboard ad?

 

[tirediron]

This was meant for reasons of pricing.. not quality of op's work. Would you charge the same for a family session whose intended use is personal.. vs a shoot for a billboard ad?

Oops, okay, I understand you meaning, but since this is a commercial shoot there's really only one pricing standard to apply to it IMO.

 

[KmH]

No, I would charge more for the billboard ad shoot because the client intends to make money by using my images, + whatever the use licensing charges would be.

The dining director also hopes the campus food service will make more money by having images made.
The dining director is hoping to take advantage of an inexperienced photographer who will charge substantially less than a actual professional photographer would charge.

 

[Designer]

O.K., screw the chef. Who the heck does he think he is, anyway?

Go ahead and spray the food with glycerin so it looks "hot and fresh". Salads get glycerin and then misted with water.