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Pricing Question - REALLY NEED YOUR INPUT

I'm looking for the advice of the community.

I'm looking for ideas on how I should price this to the customer.

I've been asked to shoot a Modeling Agency Cattle Call. The customer has 20 or so models to shoot over a 2 day period. Most of these models already have portfolios and looking to fill them out with another photographer eyes.

There will be other agency people involved to handle keeping people in order, paperwork, hair, makeup etc, so I concentrate on shooting each person. The plan is to have 45 or so with each person. The agency has a set of lights and backdrops of their own so we could have 2 indoor bays and outside if the weather is right.

The agency director want to get 10-15 masters of each subject.

What are some different ways I could price this proposal?

In my market, I do a fair share of model work, but it's all one-on-one so my normal pricing model just doesn't fit the gig.

The chance to add 20+ models to my portfolio is not an chance I want to miss out on, and I do want to make a fair amount for that much of my time.

What are your thoughts?

All Input is welcome.
 

Kathy Rappaport

pro member
Hourly

Why don't you factor it as an hourly rate? Come up with a day rate and half day rate.

You won't have to do any of the set up. I would calculate how long it would take you to do one model by the hour including any post processing and come up with a fair flat per model price or a day rate so that if someone were lagging and you were sitting doing nothing it would be fair to you as well. So, as an example, if you could shoot 20 photos in studio photos/looks in 45 minutes and then 45 minutes for pp as well - (I am just guessing at the number and timing) you would have a base factor YMMV- . 10 models in one day for 8 hours and then one more day for PP? - two days of work and your target price. Maybe also a half day rate too.
 
Sounds like a 2 x 10 hour days to me. Plus anywhere between 4 and 6 x 8..10 hour days of postrprocessing. 20hrs shooting + say, 50hrs of post. 70 hrs. So, how about 7 grand?
 
Hi Frank,

I have said this before, and I will say it again. What is your time worth?

Take what you earn an hour (divide a weekly salary by 40 or 50 hours depending on your work habits) and map that to how many hours of work you will do. Then divide this into your projected shooting time. This is a reasonable base hourly rate. (this should be at least triple your hourly income).

Now consider fixed costs like prints. Take each print/CD and mark up its cost by at least 100% to cover expenses (time, petrol, CDRs, ...). Consider depreciation on all gear used. Taking 5000 shots in two days would use roughly 10% of the expected shutter life in a Rebel XT/350D/... and a lesser percentage in fancier bodies.

Also look at lens rental costs at weekly rates. Your fee should cover the rental of at least half the gear you will use. If it does not, then you are not charging enough to cover the wear and tear on your gear and are losing money doing the job (albeit, you could be getting exposure which may have longer term benefits).

After adding up what it will cost to pay yourself, pay fixed costs, pay ephemeral costs (gasoline, prints, ...) and depreciation of gear from use you will get a break even value for your time. Take this number and raise it as high as you can while still feeling honest or lower it (gift to a friend, poor client, ...). If you do lower your cost ensure they know you are giving them a discount so that word of mouth will at least carry the correct rate even if you get a reputation for giving discounts.

Sometimes you can get people to make you an offer to do thing for a flat fee. This is gambling and can be hit or miss (I hit more often than miss, but I will not do bids for highly detail oriented clients as their vision will never be the one on the bid). I should note I do software much more than photography. But to get me to shoot photos for you, you will have to pay me as much or more than I can make coding or it is not worth my time.

In the end though, the real question is "is it worth my time?" If you can answer yes to that, then you are charging enough for yourself.

enjoy your day,

Sean
 
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