Corporate shoot questions

[Gator_Nutz]

OK guys and gals who know this sort of thing, I have been fortunate enough to get another opportunity to do some more work for my wife's employer. I will be taking interior shots of their Houston and Dallas manufacturing facilities. Both will be different views of their plants and equipment, some running, some maybe not. There may be employees in the photos and there might not be. I will be providing them with 30 to 40 images from each location.

I will also be doing headshots of 20 of their executives from each location. All of the images will be used in their website and also in their print advertisement and informational type corporate brochures. My wonderful "hobby" has suddenly taken a turn and things are coming at me faster than I really expected and there are things I do not quite know concerning this sort of assignment and the whole business side of things. In a corporate shoot such as this, would I still need releases from people that may be in these facility shots? What about the headshots? I tell you I am a complete noob at this stuff and would appreciate any input or advice that will help ensure that I do the right things to cover myself. Thank you.
James

[carrbowl]

Please don't do what my husbands company's photographer did...used a 15-40 lense...everyone looks much bigger than they should!!!!

[bondarnes]

The company probably already has releases on their employees, but if not it is the company's responsibility to get them. If you need help when you come to Dallas give me a holler.

[carrbowl]

Originally Posted by bondarnes

The company probably already has releases on their employees, but if not it is the company's responsibility to get them. If you need help when you come to Dallas give me a holler.

I would be jumping all over that one if I were you James....that man is a wealth of good information!!!!

[fstops]

Originally Posted by Gator_Nutz

... All of the images will be used in their website and also in their print advertisement and informational type corporate brochures...
James

james-do you know if they have an agency of record or design firm working on these materials. if they do, i recommend you get together with the creative director/art director to establish a style or a look-and-feel for the whole campaign.

[Gator_Nutz]

Her company is actually owned by an ad agency and I am working with their business development manager as well as their art director. So far so good. I have a good understanding, I believe, of what they are looking for. Now all I have to do is learn how to light a 150,000 sq ft plant floor with an SB-800:) Think Strobist can help me there? I'm kidding. I have already taken quite a few images at this place and all with natural lighting from the plant's overheads. They have 5 of my prints hanging in their front reception area. I am feeling confident about getting the right images I am just ignorant to the real business side activities that need to be taken care of. Thanks for the input and thank you Don for the very kind offer. You may hear from me yet.
James

[blazinphotography]

Just out of curiosity what do you charge for something like this?

[texxter]

> I tell you I am a complete noob at this stuff and would appreciate any input or advice ?
> that will help ensure that I do the right things to cover myself. Thank you.

James, I don't know if you intend to take your hobby into a business direction and this is a step in that direction, or this is an isolated gig that you don't intend to seek out. My advice is that you don't take the job if you feel it's WAY over your head. Only you can make this determination - dealing with a corporation involves all kinds of interesting wrinkles, like usage rights and licensing and pricing, invoicing, terms and conditions - plus the obvious responsiiblity of not screwing up the job. Given that this is thru your wife and there may be some unintended consequences of screwing up things for her with her employer, I'd give serious consideration to whether I'd accept this job or not, if I were you. Do you have the experience and knowledge necessary to make your client happy? Being a total newbie, using your words, may be dangerous.

There is always a first time, but it's best to have a bunch of portfolio work that has prepared you to take an assignment.

Please don't take this the wrong way - some photographer friends have told me that one of their big mistakes was to take too big an assignment early in their careers. Others told me that they took assignments way over their heads and they had the self-confidence and ego to handle them well.

Take care,
-Paco

[d2creative]

Originally Posted by blazinphotography

Just out of curiosity what do you charge for something like this?

Charge by the day. So whatever you day rate is x how ever many days you will have to be there shooting.

[d2creative]

Originally Posted by texxter

Please don't take this the wrong way - some photographer friends have told me that one of their big mistakes was to take too big an assignment early in their careers. Others told me that they took assignments way over their heads and they had the self-confidence and ego to handle them well.

Good advice. In this case it sounds like he has experience shooting there, this is just a little bit larger scale.

Now that I look back I'm shocked I even attempted this but the pics on this website were from my first assignment ever. I shot exterior, interior, corporate portraits, shot inside HEB, shot inside a bar... and I ordered my first set of studio lighting (alien bees) specifically for this! So i also had to learn how to use studio lighting and bring it on location before the shoot! All this and I had one "assistant" who was just a friend and knows nothing about photography. At one point I was even shooting off a roof with my bees two stories below. Thankfully I had the foresight to purchase pocket wizards for the job, too. Crazy. They turned out ok for a website and the client was very happy. Some of the exterior shots are hanging in their lobby now. But whew, i wouldn't recommend that to anyone. http://www.faustdistributing.com

[Gator_Nutz]

Thanks guys for the great input and words of wisdom. Believe me, I struggled with the question of whether I was ready and able to do a good job in this assignment. I have done a couple of other jobs for them so we know each other fairly well now. In fact, it was they and their liking of my previous work that convinced me to go ahead and take this job. I do want to take this to the next level and hopefully one day perhaps have photography as my main income source rather than just a part time here and there sort of opportunity. I figured this would be the next logical step for me if that were to happen. So yes, I feel confident that I can satisfy their needs and make them happy that they selected me for the job.

As for the business side of things, that is really what I meant by being a newb. I have had questions about pricing naturally but have been doing a lot of research and talking to some people that either have done this sort of thing or have paid someone else to do it so using that info along with taking my current skill level into consideration, along with what I hope to accomplish in future endeavors, I was able to arrive at what I considered a very fair price and they agreed to it. Invoicing, terms and conditions, all of that is taken care of correctly I do believe. My wife has been a great help in that area. She is also my "assistant". Again, this forum as well as others has some great information available to help someone like me.

All that being said, I feel I am ready for this and I look forward to it anxiously. I really appreciate everyone willing to share their wisdom to help someone like me. It says a lot about the great community of people here. When it's all over and done, whether I flopped or was able to supply a product that the customer wanted, I will be sure to share a few here at the TPF. Thanks again.
James

[LIPstudio]

Originally Posted by bondarnes

The company probably already has releases on their employees, but if not it is the company's responsibility to get them. If you need help when you come to Dallas give me a holler.

Don, I'm doing a similar shoot like this can I also get with you on company's responsibiliy to get the releases?