Its time for the next big step!

[TheRandomPhotographer]

Well i did it as a job in high school in a studio..then continued while i was in the air force..and dropped into the hobbist group after i got out.

As some of yall may know i did a shoot with a Factory Five Shelby Cobra and did the interior of a 99 ACR Viper. The response to my work from outside of this forum from people i barely know and those i never met was overwhelmingly positive.

I also had an oppourtunity to speak with some pilots in both the rotary and fixed wing worlds and i presented them the work i did at WOH 2010. The helo pilot actually got goose bumps looking at he shots, weird lol. The fixed wing pilot, who happens to be a stunt pilot, loved the series so much he requested that we speak about hiring me to do a show for him. What suprised me about his comments was not the praise or appreciation of the final product but the story about a photog he hired to shoot him practicing in Scotsdale, AZ and producing sub par results while charging what apparently was a substantial amount of money.

So with the response i have recieved i have decided to start a specialized studio. Since i already have a well paying job I will be doing this part time but year round. If this develops into something bigger then it happens but if not thats fine too. My focus will be automotive and, if all goes well, aerobatics. I wont be doing any weddings, seniors, or children. I will, however, provide automotive focused portraits and event coverage if I am available. Once started and my roots are deep enough, so to speak, I may consider doing automotive sporting events in Central, South and East Texas.

Now to my myrid of quetions.

1. From what I understand creating an llc is the route i should take, is this the best choice or is there other options for one man operations?

2. How far can i take a tax exemption with this type of business?

3. With automotive and aerobatic events all over Texas how would I bill lodging and travel? Would i include it in the initial fees or is that a separate billable profit or just bill to cover expenses?

4. Have any of yall done independant jobs that require travel? How did you cover all associated expenses other than lodging?


Thanks in advance for any input or advice. If you have any other input that would help me move this into the lime light that would be awesome.


Sent from the road.

[srwatters]

Start by finding and meeting with a competent tax accountant. You will get as many different answers here as there are members. At least that's what I do when money and my livelihood are involved. Of course YMMV...

And good luck. It's great to see people succeeding at something they love to do.

[peeker]

As far as expenses are concerned, the clean and easy way is to have whoever is hiring you to foot the bill. The challenge is they may not see it the same way as you do. You will have to test the waters during your initial discussions to understand how they interpret expenses. That might help you determine for that job whether to bill them separately, or embed it into your session fees.

One other thing that might make it easier for these folks to swallow is to have a daily per diem charge for meals and possibly hotel. When I worked in a consulting business, it was easy for a corporation to handle expenses as it was normal for them to think this way. I have found it a bit different in this world as most people don't view photographer's costs being any big deal. In some cases, especially when I'm driving to a location, I have embedded the costs into the session fee and then I knew I was covered.

[TheRandomPhotographer]

Originally Posted by srwatters

Start by finding and meeting with a competent tax accountant. You will get as many different answers here as there are members. At least that's what I do when money and my livelihood are involved. Of course YMMV...

And good luck. It's great to see people succeeding at something they love to do.

Alright..will do. I suppose that i will be advised as to the associated tax laws and codes that come with specific types of businesses.

Sent from the road.

[TheRandomPhotographer]

Originally Posted by peeker

As far as expenses are concerned, the clean and easy way is to have whoever is hiring you to foot the bill.

Well like you said, incorporating the cost of living into the fees is probably the best way to go about that. As a contractor i regularly deal with billing issues and customers trying to weasel their way out of paying for things.

Sent from the road.

[WarrenG]

Specific to travel, I realize that I work in a job that requires me to travel to a variety of locations. With that in mind, my pricing for an assignment includes all travel to the location as their is often times a 3rd party involved in the process, and everyone wants to deal with the bottom line on the budget.

If I do have to line item travel in an estimate, I do so at cost +15%. My philosophy is I work like I live. I want to eat reasonably, sleep in a clean and quiet hotel, and at 6'5", I want to travel with as much leg room as I can afford, so I usually pay the extra couple bucks for the "extended space" seating on a flight.