How much?

[Oladefe]

Hello there. I was asked to do a 5 hour event (a party with local rap artists) but don't know how much I should charge. Do most photographers charge per hour or per photo? I have been doing photography for a while now but never really got into the commercial side of it.

Thank you.

 

[Sideburns]

usually per event.

 

[dipstick]

I always charge for every image on top of what I charge for the shooting. The charge for shooting could either be a flat rate or a day or hourly rate, depending on the nature of the job. The fee per image covers the time I spend on post processing high res files and also the right to use the image.

 

[Oladefe]

Thank you for your replies. However, could you give me actual prices that I could possibly charge? I have to go to another part of the city to get to this party where local rap artists will be. To be honest with you I am not sure of how big of an event it will be. I was asked to stay there for about 5 hours and capture some moments. I have never sold any of my photos of anyone nor have I done any events. Could you give me any ideas of how much I should charge?
Thank you again.

 

[dpolston]

Well I base it on the hour plus prints.

And as far as how much... what are you worth for those 5 hours? If you charge $250.00 for 5 hours (50 bucks an hour), what happens if your there for 7 hours? What if you're only there for 2? Do they want a refund? Are you charging some for your wear and tear on the camera? Do you need to rent gear? What happens if the card crashes? Do you need to buy new cards?

What kind of product do they want? Prints or digital negatives? Do they want them for promotional materials? Are you going to keep the copyright or give them up? Do they want to use these for the inside sleeve for a CD or are they going on myspace?

As you can see... it is almost impossible for us to give specific pricing because of those things and things like your skill level, overhead and tons of other reasons. Plus experience plays a roll too. Some photographers are charging hundreds or thousands of dollars a day for their work. Others will only charge 100 bucks and free food and drinks at the party and give the cd away. You will have to figure out your worth.

Me personally... I'm going to charge $750.00 for 5 hours, 200 for each additional hour, give them a proof cd and 10 8x10's (or 8x12's) for that price. All other images are standard pricing. If they want to use these for pr stuff... I'm going to charge them 500.00 for a one year/shared copyright for 10 images. After that year, we'll negotiate for another year if they want.

What do you think you're worth? You have to decide.

 

[Oladefe]

Thank you for the useful information. I didn't realize that all those played a huge role when it comes to pricing, until I read what you wrote.

 

[Alpha]

I'm going to charge them 500.00 for a one year/shared copyright for 10 images.

No offense, but I would strongly caution you against using the word "copyright" in this context. The only time that copyright can ever be shared is between two authors of the same work. The copy right, legally, defines who the author of the work is, and not the more lay definition of who has rights to reproduce it at some given time. The spot for "claimaint(s)" in form VA is for transferring the copyright, not sharing it. What you're referring to is licensing, which is entirely different.