Social event pricing

[doctahjones]

i searched this section but didn't readily find anything...

just wanted to make sure i wasn't crazy and wasn't 'overcharging'.

there's a social group that i'm still friends with, and they wanted me to do a shoot for them for $100 for 4 hours, and then do general photoshopping (just overall color/contrast/etc). they'd be used for their members to display on their profiles and on social sites like myspace/facebook/etc.

now to me, $100 for 4 hours is really about 5-6 hours total if you include the pp. so that's $16-20/h.

to me, that's absurd. now i'm not trying to make my living off photography (at least right now!), but i can't imagine any real professionals doing it for this price (unless it's a close friend or something like that).

[JohnT]

Absurd is right.

[doctahjones]

i did tell them that i would do $200 for 3 hours, each additional at $50/h, and i'd have a contract to do 5 of their shoots before dec 31st (they have an event about every month to month and a half).

and even with that i feel like i'm undercutting the hell out of myself. but, i know the group, and it would be a good way to get some individual portrait work as well...

[boxofrocks]

Originally Posted by JohnT

Absurd is right.

Yup.

I do this for corporations all the time. What they get from me is a data DVD of edited images (like you described above) with reprint rights. The going rate on this is $150 per hour.

[gtakacs]

Originally Posted by boxofrocks

The going rate on this is $150 per hour.

I second that.

[CaptainTom]

absurd is an understatement.

You have figured out that the time on the floor is not the total time
needed for the job. Many don't understand this.

I would give this client a break because they want to contract for several events. But, you could make more flipping burgers somewhere than what they initially offered to pay. (I estimate the PP time to equal the shooting time).

[epoh]

If they are friends, quote them the full, going market rate, and then apply whatever discount you feel is appropriate. This way they understand the realistic cost of what they are asking, but you can still give them a break as a 'friend.' I do this all the time for friends and family, even. I would never charge my family, but I do make sure they understand what I would normally charge, so when they tell their friends, they have accurate numbers to give.

[doctahjones]

Originally Posted by CaptainTom

absurd is an understatement.

You have figured out that the time on the floor is not the total time
needed for the job. Many don't understand this.

I would give this client a break because they want to contract for several events. But, you could make more flipping burgers somewhere than what they initially offered to pay. (I estimate the PP time to equal the shooting time).

yeah, no kidding about flipping burgers.

i understand what you mean about pp being equal to shooting:

with portrait type i generally spend -at least- 15-30 minutes per picture for post processing (blemish removal, skin smoothing, etc). depending on the package, they get to choose 4-10 pictures for retouching, and ala carte per picture above their package. so i do pretty much spend an hour pp for every hour i shoot.

but for event type, i spend maybe 5-10 seconds per picture adjusting color/contrast. i don't do any individual retouching (blemish removal, skin smoothing, etc). so, i don't need as much time for pp, but i do still figure that into my price.

[CaptainTom]

To intercept those who say you can't make a living flipping burgers.
Average indicates that there are as many people making more as there are those who are making less.

Average Flipping Burgers Salaries
In USD as of Mar 23, 2009
flipping burgers
$21,000 or $10.50/hr.

The average salary for flipping burgers jobs is $21,000. Average flipping burgers salaries can vary greatly due to company, location, industry, experience and benefits.

This salary was calculated using the average salary for all jobs with the term "flipping burgers" anywhere in the job listing.

[doctahjones]

lol at justifying your flipping burgers comment. ha.

[toverman]

When I flipped burgers, I made minimum wage, which was $3.35/hour at the time. But I was 15 and just wanted to save up money for a car.

You might not be spending as much time per image compared to portraits, but there will be a lot more images to sift through after the event. Last summer, I donated my services to a national nonprofit organization to photograph its annual conference. I covered both days of the conference, about 6 hours both days. Then there were all the images to sift through, mostly candid shots of seminars, dinner and discussions in between.

The organization sent me a $1,000 stipend for my trouble, which didn't cover my time but made me feel like my work during and after was appreciated. That's the balance you might try to strike here, as if the people are friends you'd like to help out, educate them on the going rate, offer them a deal (as Amy suggested) and both sides walk away happy.

[ShaneKislack]

Well event shooting is completely different than shooting for myspace, etc. Are we talking floating around and taking candids at your leisure...or doing casual portraits of everyone there?

I'd charge $450-650 for floating around and shooting candids. Portraits for 4 hours would be a lot more!

[doctahjones]

this is basically floating around. get people together and say cheese. supposed to try go get a couple candid's of everyone, plus any group shots they organize themselves for.

good to know about your candid event price. my 'going rate' for something like this would have been $375 for 4 hours, but i'm just starting out and don't have any -paid- gigs under my belt yet. :) once i get a few gigs under me and have a little bit better equipment (like a d300!) then i'd start upp'ing my rates a little.

[AndrewCCM]

My current daily rate for an unlimited rights corporate shoot is $2500 per day plus expenses.

That is my starting point when I make a quote. If they want to just pay me for shooting and licensing separately, my rate is $150hr.

Having said that, for shoots that are not full days, but full rights needed...I will work with the client depending on the scope of the job. I have done 4hr unlimited rights shooting for $1200.

My rates are inclusive of moderate retouching and 2nd shooter.

I do not book weddings any longer and those rates were completely different. My second shooter rate for weddings varies.

For general "event" shoots...like casual parties, clubs, etc.. $75per hr is around the norm when I am available.