Shooter needed for All Star Party tonight

[kamari]

I'm in need of a shooter to cover a party this evening at a restaurant/club in Addison. 10pm - 2am. Pays $100, no PP necessary. No lighting setups needed, just candid party photos. PM me if interested

[tukaniray]

Stinks ... I am in Houston.

-Ray-

[Mark Kaplan]

I'd offer, but I'm shooting a burlesque show tonight. I did forward it on to some friends, so one of them may be interested.

[StevenGWebb]

Find someone?

[bryanlindsey]

Please post pics, if possible. I'm interested to see what $100-for-4-hours looks like...

(this is 1/3 sarcasm and 2/3 genuine curiousity)

[Wil_Bloodworth]

$100 for four hours of work? If you've got nothing better to do and just feel like getting out and having a little bit of fun... I guess so.

- Wil

[ShaneKislack]

4 hours? Aren't you forgetting about processing time? How about delivery? How about insurance in case someone spills a drink on your camera? How about paperwork time (invoicing, taxes, etc)? How long does it take to get to Addison and back? What about gas? Oh yeah, batteries for your flash?

$100 really sucks...I should know. I shot an NBA allstar event for $100. I didn't mean to. I was bailing out a friend whom double booked himself. The lady in charge wanted me to bring a whole lighting set up and laptop. I said no way. It also ran an hour and a half over. And the check they promised at the end of the night...well, of course, it wasn't there. They'll send it to me. What a schmuck (me).

So, for fun, let's see how I did.

30 minutes to downtown Dallas. 30 home.
Bought my own lunch (whataburger) $6
Gas $6
Flash batteries (two sets of four AA) $9
Parking $12
Rental value of camera/flash and lenses $175
DVD $1 (don't forget time it took me to buy said DVD)
Postage $2
Time to burn disc, 15 minutes
Time to postoffice and back 45 minutes
insurance $25 (very conservative)
Invoicing 15 min
Time talking to client about gig 20 min
4.5 hours at gig

$100 - (6)-(6)-(9)-(12)-(175)-(1)-(2)-(25) = -136
7.6 hours
-$18/hour to shoot this job

That's the cost if everything goes perfect. Again, the only reason I did it was for a friend and the gig was a charity event.

[bryanlindsey]

Just to clarify, I'm not dogging the OP because he asked an honest question. And he certainly offered more than "pics to add to your portfolio." I'm just curious as to how it worked out.

[ShaneKislack]

As well, I'm not commenting on the OP's particular gig.

[CaptainTom]

If photography is your full time occupation and someone offers you a gig that should be as easy as this one, and you come back with $18/hr net and had some fun, then it's a matter of whether you want to give up your evening sitting at home arguing with SOB's on the internet or not.

[ShaneKislack]

Tom, as I illustrated, you'd hardly make $18/hr.

And with all due respect, that's like telling a plumber to fix your toilet for $18. Hey it's fun! What else were you going to do today, Plumber? I'll even give you toilet fixing credit and tell all of your other clients how well you did.

Photography can be fun. But it's also work.

[CaptainTom]

30 minutes to downtown Dallas. 30 home. - Most people don't get paid for travel to/from their job.

Bought my own lunch (whataburger) $6 - Not a valid expense for a four hour gig.

Gas $6 - one hour at 20mph should not burn 10mpg. my mileage is 20mpg so my gas cost would be $2.50.

Flash batteries (two sets of four AA) $9 OK but rechargables can cut the cost

Parking $12 -- should have known ahead of time and negotiated the cost with the client.

Rental value of camera/flash and lenses $175 We usually own our equipment because when prorated per hour of use, it comes out to pennies per hour over the long haul.

DVD $1 (don't forget time it took me to buy said DVD) You are spending way too much unless you travel to the store and only buy one at a time.

Postage $2 ok
Time to burn disc, 15 minutes ok
Time to postoffice and back 45 minutes - leave it in your mailbox for the carrier to pick up cost $00.00

insurance $25 (very conservative) Does your policy only cover the 4 hours of this event or does it cover you 24/7 X365 days ? unless your policy cost is $48,000/yr

Invoicing 15 min - too much time, but OK.

Time talking to client about gig 20 min - should have gotten parking and other details ironed out

4.5 hours at gig


100 - $17 actual not inflated costs = $83net / 5 hrs = $16.60/hr

Not trying to start an argument for sure. Just want to also show that you aren't working for nothing, even though you aren't making a bundle either.

The numbers can be skewed in several directions.

[ShaneKislack]

No argument taken, just open discussion. But's let's discuss some more.

Originally Posted by CaptainTom

30 minutes to downtown Dallas. 30 home. - Most people don't get paid for travel to/from their job. Most salaried or hourly employed people don't. However you can bet most self employed people calculate travel cost into their overhead. Don't most repair guys charge a fee for just showing up?

Bought my own lunch (whataburger) $6 - Not a valid expense for a four hour gig. Lunch and craft services are included on just about every commercial shoot I've ever been on. It guarantees that the workers stay on set and basically work through lunch.

Gas $6 - one hour at 20mph should not burn 10mpg. my mileage is 20mpg so my gas cost would be $2.50. I figured 60 miles total, gas milage 20miles/gallon, 3 gallons, $2.50/gallon.

Flash batteries (two sets of four AA) $9 OK but rechargables can cut the cost

Parking $12 -- should have known ahead of time and negotiated the cost with the client. There was no negotiation. $100 was the what the job paid.

Rental value of camera/flash and lenses $175 We usually own our equipment because when prorated per hour of use, it comes out to pennies per hour over the long haul. I call BS. Let's assume I have $1000 in equipment. I shoot 50 jobs a year (average for a commercial shooter). That's $200 per job. I know that you don't rebuy equipment every year, but most people have more than $1000 in equipment. And most photographers upgrade cameras/computers about every 3 years. Just trying to keep the numbers simple. You can't divide the amount you own by the time you own it. Doesn't work that way.

DVD $1 (don't forget time it took me to buy said DVD) You are spending way too much unless you travel to the store and only buy one at a time.

Postage $2 ok God forbid they want it overnight!
Time to burn disc, 15 minutes ok
Time to postoffice and back 45 minutes - leave it in your mailbox for the carrier to pick up cost $00.00

insurance $25 (very conservative) Does your policy only cover the 4 hours of this event or does it cover you 24/7 X365 days ? Business liability insurance (not talking medical) only covers the time you are working. Gear is covered 24/7.

Invoicing 15 min - too much time, but OK. Really? You can create an invoice, send it, file it, copy it, receive it when it comes in, record it in less than 15 minutes? You are very fast!

Time talking to client about gig 20 min - should have gotten parking and other details ironed out

4.5 hours at gig


100 - $17 actual not inflated costs = $83net / 5 hrs = $16.60/hr Do you pay wholesale everywhere you go? If not, business charge inflated prices. That's how they stay in business.

Not trying to start an argument for sure. Just want to also show that you aren't working for nothing, even though you aren't making a bundle either. Well, true, but I didn't even calculate overhead for running a business.

The numbers can be skewed in several directions. True, but you also have to be thorough or you won't be in business long.

[CaptainTom]

I'm at a disadvantage because you've used up the RED color and that was my next choice for rebuttal remarks.

[WarrenG]

Actually, I was sort of wondering where the photos were going and how they were to be used? Original OP (as well as the CL ad) states no post work required, so as I read it... the pay would have $100.00 to shoot till 2am, return home around 2:30 or 2:45am, and then someone would collect the images and use them how?

Now as far as the pay goes, I think Wil got it right.... if you are bored and have nothing to do, maybe it makes sense. For me, I would not shoot a party for $100.00, even if there were a large number of VIP's there. But that is a personal choice. For some, $100.00 to do what they enjoy might be a great deal ya know???