Very new to this job market. Note: this is not real estate photography for agents.
I've been very lucky in a having some good connections to shoot for some companies with pretty
good bank accounts.
Currently priced a few jobs for a few companies at $125hr. (I know this is low) This includes the
moment I leave the house until the time the last photo is edited.
I don't like pricing it this way but haven't yet come up with a better way to do it, hence the post.
Based on the few conversations I've had with architecture photographers in my area, It seems
very common to bill full and 1/2 day rates
I don't really understand this completely as far as what the client is getting at these rates.
What is generally included in this 1-day / 1/2 day fee?
Some I see, are also charging a per image fee.
On a side note, I have a great opportunity to shoot for a large brick company who needs me to
shoot 150 exteriors of completed buildings. The building are in locations that span a 2 state range.
Many of the buildings are in and around the cities, but some are spaced out beyond the city.
The projects that are out of state will require an overnight stay.
Any suggestions on how to arrange a pricing structure for such a project?
Looking forward to your comments.
Figure out your CODB and then you can figure out your day rate. In the quote include travel, equipment usage, photographer fee, edit fee, and any expenses you will incur. As far as the 150 photos, i'd figure how out long it would take to photograph and edit those photos and charge day rates off of that.
Thanks Drew. This may sound odd but I'm currently a PGA teaching professional which is my main source of income and has been for 20+ years. Having a very flexible schedule is allowing me to do this on the side so to speak. Ideally, I'd like to get to a point where I can make a living off of the photography alone? My CODB at this point, I'm guessing, would be much lower than the guy making a living at this?
I spoke with an architect yesterday about his business with architect photographers and he mentioned that they charge a per image fee based on the images they use. It sounds like the architect gets the unedited images and for the ones that are needed, the photographer bills a per image fee to edit/use.
I've heard this from other photographers.
I have found with Architectural work that an all inclusive price per photo works best.
I know how many photos I can finish in a day and the amount of time I'm going to need to do post on a day's worth of photography, I add licensing into the price as well. I don't like 1/2 days and extremely rarely do them because to me there is really no such thing as being able to do a 1/2 day's work when you include dealing with gear and travel.
Ive also found that putting it together in a package based on a days work with an option to add shots is appreciated by my clients. It make it very simple for them to order what they feel they need and know what their costs are going to be. It basically equals the same as a day rate + post in the commercial world.
I also work across state lines and I add travel based on cost. I charge half of my day rate for the travel days than a per day fee to cover hotel and expenses. I travel a lot so I know what those rates are and so I just put it into an all inclusive price that is added per package. I will discount travel cost by 50% with each additional package. Again this works great for my clients because they know how to budget.
Ive found that working out all these all inclusive cost has taken most of the guesswork out of pricing for new clients as well because I can work off of a price sheet. Everyone knows what they are getting and its fair. I give a % discount on bigger projects like in your post base on quantity of course only if they pay in full at confirmation of booking.
When I first started this we used to scout first which followed with contact pages full of images for the client to choose from than go back and shoot just what was ordered but it became a waist of time because the client is hiring based on our expertise. Want is shot is what is delivered.
I also don't see a difference in pricing based on doing this full time or part time. It's also very difficult to raise your prices later so its important to start correctly.
I rarely offer advise but pricing, I think, is the hardest part of photography and I wish I received more help from people doing this mush longer than I have.
I have tried for years to bid architectural the same as I would commercial work day rate, licensing, plus expenses and it never really worked and has caused a lot of frustration so I hope this helps.