How much to pay assitants?

[DeLeon]

My wife usually assists me on photoshoots, but since the new baby is on the way, she no longer wants to do this. (I don't blame her at all) So, I will need to hire an assistant of some sort. I will mainly need this person to hold reflectors or lights/stands for me. My session fee at the moment is $50. I'm right there with the local average in Amarillo, so I'm not sure if I should raise this.

So I guess this is the long way around asking if anyone knows how to set a rate of pay for an assistant.

Anny help at all is appreciated.

[AndrewCCM]

Depends on amount of time I would say...

[bigjon0107]

Ya, it depends on how long the session is. But i wold say $25-30+? for up to 2 hours.

[DeLeon]

Thats the ballpark I was thinking. Most of my shoots last about an hour to an hour and a half. I may have to raise my session fee. Thanks guys!

[toverman]

You might get creative on how to secure your lights and reflectors without help of an assistant. A couple sandbags can go a long way!

I do value having help, though, as another pair of eyes can pick up on things I might otherwise miss.

[LDB]

Sounds like it's time for the fee to go from $50 to $60 maybe, to partially offset the labor cost.

[carrbowl]

Or you could do like I do, find a teenager that thinks $25 is alot of money. In my case it is my 13 year old, who will do it for $10-$15 bucks, depending on the length of time and how much she has to do. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to hold the reflector....just a rocket scientist to get the sun to hit the reflector

[Flames]

Best bet is to go with a high school kid, or maybe even a college kid who just wants a bit of extra cash....better yet one who is taking photography classes and is willing to work for free just so they can gain some experience. Also, your child(if you have any), or a niece or nephew thats old enough.

I don't consider myself a pro but I take portraits of children and this summer my 10 year old is my assistant. He lugs my gear around, helps me setup, tear down, holds reflectors. I pay him $7/hr. So he usually makes $14 a shoot and thinks he's rich. lol I have pro photographer friends that always manage to snag photography students from the community college. They never pay them....the kids do it for the experience=D