What should I charge for photographs? Daily rate?

Something here might be sensible!

Running a photographic business is not easy. The glamour of photography be it documentary, fashion, advertising, architecture…. is a myth. The myth is nice, the reality is different.
When you are confronted with the number of skills required to run a business you may wish to run a mile. Take that age old question of ‘What should I charge?’ coming from fledgling photographers is one thing, and now, it frequently voiced by those who have been trading for a long time.
It’s difficult at times to determine what the price should be because the goalposts are being shifted all the time. New technology at a consumer level can seem cheap but once you set up in business its one thing after another to sustain yourself and to keep up with the best. Professional level technology and quality is expensive.

It’s possible to use pro-consumer camera bodies with good quality lenses and good lighting to produce good quality photography, that alongside Photoshop and other forms of post-production software.
It’s possible to offer high-end photography by hiring expensive professional camera and lighting equipment. These costs have to be covered though. Some photographers hire specialist types of equipment to achieve certain results instead of investing large amounts of money in buying the equipment. There are ways to lease equipment which have their own pros and cons.

Professional photography has been, to some extent, devalued by the fast development of digital technology. It’s a perception that will change. Someones brother, sister, husband, friend can do the photography… I was asked by a recent client if I’d take some family portraits for her. Then she said, her son’s girlfriend is going to do it, and she’ll see if the photographs are any good! She didn’t call me!

Of course, there are different ways to approach photography. And there are solutions that make things easier, but never easy. There are levels of expertise and quality to aspire to but there are many that don’t look so high.

In the UK, daily rates vary from a fee of £350 upwards, some of these photographers are studio based and so if the job requires a studio it’s part of the fee. Most photographers don’t work from a studio and therefore that becomes an additional expense. There are different ways to calculate the rate to charge apart from the going rate. If you decide to charge a basic daily rate of £350 per day and work ten days per month you’re going to gross £3,500 per month, that’s £42,000 per annum. If you take four weeks holiday then make it £38,500. Sounds like good money. You’ll need to invest in your business: buy new lenses, camera body, computer hardware and software, software updates, car maintenance, insurances, accountants fee, tax bill, assistants fees, misc. things, magazines etc…. Then will it be enough? Can you ensure ten days work at that rate per month? Some days will earn less. Is there enough money left to cover living expenses?

What are the photographs going to be used for? Web, print, advertising, editorial… what about copyright issues, geographical rights, exclusivity… Each of the answers to these questions can help determine the value of the photography.
Some businesses will have fixed rates that they offer, eg. editorial commissions for magazines. Book publishers may present budgets within which they want the work done. Some clients may ask for more than you can offer in the given time, so work a different solution for the client.

This might be one way of beginning to resolve the issue:

DAILY RATE:

If it’s £350.00 per day, an 8 hour day.
350 divided by 8 equals £43 per hour.
If you produce 10 photographs , that’s £35 per photograph.
How much do you charge for post-production, let’s say a flat fee of £100.
That makes it £45 per photograph to the client.
Some photographers charge the normal day rate for post-production.
Other expenses like travel costs, batteries, assistant, film! are extra…

HOURLY RATE:

£350.00 per day divided by 8 equals £43 per hour.
Photographers charge £75-£120 to do a one hour job.
How many photographs are required?
How quickly are they required?
Does that fee include post-production.

What are photographers charging in the marketplace? Is my experience in line with that kind of fee? Can I deliver a quality job at that price? Will I be losing money if I work at this rate? Do the images have a re-sale value to me? Can I put them in a stock library to make extra money? What kind of licence/rights am I selling?

What is the value of the photographs to the client?
They will want the photography to sell a product or a service. That’s where the value in the photograph is.

www.bipmistry.com

~ by bip mistry on January 16, 2008.