Going rate for a shoot?

beej · May 30, 2015

Hi,
I've been asking to do a shoot for someone of some architecture. I usually just do my own thing and then try to sell it, so I am not sure how much to charge for this. There would be time involved going to the buildings and shooting them - they are in different parts of town and of course lighting and time of day would matter so it might be going to each place more than once.

I am in a big city (so I don't want to undercharge) and the work will be displayed in this business' offices.

I don't know how much to charge for this! I know I will charge for making the prints (and I would be dropping off the images, choosing the paper, and picking up and delivering them) and other supplies, but I don't know what to charge for the actual labor of going to these places and shooting.

Is there a going hourly rate for something like this? Or would it be a set fee and not by the hour? A range is fine. I don't want to look unreasonable but I also want to get paid as a professional.

Any information would be very very appreciated! I am especially interested in how much to charge for the shooting part, but I am also interested how people charge for the prints and such - do you add something on to the cost and how do you determine that? And do you also charge for the time spent meeting with the client choosing the images, etc? But the main thing is how much do I charge for shooting the architecture.

I'm supposed to give a ballpark amount in the next few days, so any help here would be great. Thank you all very much! This is my first posting and I am glad to have found this forum!

tirediron · May 30, 2015

One generally has one's prices worked out before taking on a commission like this, but here's how I do commercial work. Determine approximately how many hours of actual work (setup, shooting, teardown, site visit, etc) are required and multiply by $125 (my hourly rate). Figure out how many hours of travel are required and multiply by $62.50 (my travel rate). Determine if any special gear is required (rental) and add that in. Determine what the customer's requirements are in terms of deliverables & use (eg one print for an office or a 100 high res digital files and a dozen 20x30 float-wraps...) add that and sum total. Add applicable taxes, etc, and present to client as a quote. They accept or they refuse. You win some, you lose some.

bribrius · May 30, 2015

going here rate for weddings is a hundred a hour. going rate for architecture is 50 a hour. No drive time paid. Be happy you aren't walking. and if you are a artist you hold out a cup asking for donations. Lot of people do stuff for free. Like me giving away free restaurant shots and doing a free wedding. We totally mess up the market and make everyone trying to make a living on this starve to death. Next year i am going to start charging for kids portraits though. Five bucks a set. I give away images online too. I want to see a pro photographer working a second job a Mc'donalds flipping a hamburgers. I don't think they work hard enough for their money and it will help them build character. It is in their own best interest. Like tirediron up there, don't want him getting too lazy or chubby. Got to give him some motivation... :345:

bribrius · May 30, 2015

yeah, i am totally trolling here.........

imagemaker46 · May 30, 2015

Going rate is based on skill and experience. If you have little skill and experience you change little money, if they still hire you based on little skill and experience then they are looking to pay little money. This has nothing to do with how big the city it, it has everything to do with how much the client wants to pay for "professional" work.

How much skill and experience do you have?

beej · May 30, 2015

I appreciate the helpful and detailed comments so far (and welcome more with people's actual fees and breakdown of costs - those are really useful to see!).
I've been a photographer for over 25 years, had numerous shows and have received individual artist grants. I was hired based on this person seeing some of my work both recently and in the past. I just have not done shoots for other people - I do my own work and sell that. The "on assignment" part is what is new. The reason I mention being in the big city is that I have been told the going rate is often higher in a place like NYC than in a small town somewhere. But yes, Scott Grant, you are right that skills and experience are key.

bribrius · May 30, 2015

beej said:
I appreciate the helpful and detailed comments so far (and welcome more!), I've been a photographer for over 25 years, had numerous shows and have received individual artist grants. I was hired based on this person seeing some of my work both recently and in the past. I just have not done shoots for other people - I do my own work and sell that. The "on assignment" part is what is new. The reason I mention being in the big city is that I have been told the going rate is often higher in a place like NYC than in a small town somewhere. But yes, you are right that skills and experience are key.

prices do change a lot according to where you are located. Up maine they shoot for beer. Down maine we shoot for good beer. Southern mass they shoot for cheap liquor. Local photographer i know drives a p.o.s rusty minvan and charges 210 per sitting ( you can tell they pay insurance and taxes just based on the van they drive). Put them in ct they would probably at least have a cadillac or lexus. Just like some places have 400 dollar rents, and others have 4000 dollar rents.

imagemaker46 · May 30, 2015

When working with a new client I always ask what kind of budget are we working with. It's difficult these days to work with carved in stone fees, everyone is looking for a break and it doesn't matter who the client is. I've been shooting close to 40 years, and have changed the way I deal, asking the client has been working for me pretty well. I can't even give you a ballpark figure other than some days I'll take a quick 20 minute job for $150 and then next it's $750 for the same amount of time. I have a number in my head and tell them that I work well within budgets, if they come in lower than that number I work up to the number, most of the time, if they want me to shoot, they come in higher than my number. I'll give some new clients a bit of a break on the high number, hope for future considerations on other work.

KmH · May 30, 2015

Are you in the USA? (no location in profile)
Photograhy assignment pricing software

American Society of Media Photographers

beej · May 30, 2015

Thanks, I just added it. Yes, NYC. Why?

KmH · May 31, 2015

Because the "going rate" varies by geographical location.
In NYC, the "going rate" varies by borough, and by neighborhood if you're in Manhattan.

I can't charge as much here in rural central Iowa as I could if I were in NYC.
I charged more when I had my business in Tucson than after I moved to Iowa.

Commercial photography has different pricing models from retail photography.
The shoot you have coming up is a commercial shoot.
Work you do on your own hook and then sell is retail photography.

For a shoot like yours I would charge a 'day rate' for my time and talent.
Pre-shoot/post-shoot meetings and any additional expenses I would incur like travel, equipment rental, location scouting, would be billed as separate line items in my estimate.
Deliverables, prints in your case, would be charged for separately but my estimate would include some pricing info for the client.
The prints I would sell would be matted and framed.
If the business that hired me wanted to use my photos for promoting or advertising their business in media other than the prints on display at their place of business they would have to buy use licensing to do that.

vintagesnaps · May 31, 2015

I don't do commercial work either but I use resources from ASMP; you could take a look at Photo Magazine Professional Photography Industry News and Resources too. I think it gets more involved determining pricing when you have to start figuring out cost of doing business, day rate, licensing usage, providing prints, etc. I don't think there's a quick easy answer to how to price a shoot.

I live on the far outskirts of a major city and the cost of just about anything is lower here than in the city. I think you'd need to price maybe on the lower end of the going rate for commercial work in your area but not underprice, or it might be hard to ever get yourself into a competitive price range in the future.

I would think maybe a better option would be to refer the company to a professional real estate/architecture photographer and then work on figuring out the business aspects of doing photography so you're better prepared for future opportunities.