Barbershots Loc: Wilmington, NC

Hello forum members

I am slowly entering the field of charging for my services after years of non profit work as a serious hobby. I was approached by an organization to cover their conference over several days. All they are needing are the files on a flash drive and to make then accessible for there membership. The event starts on a Thursday evening awards dinner then conferences and tours Friday and Saturday. There will several breaks in between all events and the locations are easily accessible. I proposed a min rate of 75.00 an hour with a 2 hour minimum on Thursday and 100.00 an hour on Friday and Saturday. I also offered to close out the conference on Sunday for no charge.

Any thoughts or suggestions

Thanks in advance

SonyA580 Loc: FL in the winter & MN in the summer

I usually spend considerable time after the shoot sorting through the files to weed out the bad ones and do some correcting on the marginal ones ....., don't forget to factor in that time too ...., especially on a 4 day shoot.

Bill_de Loc: US

Those sound like non-profit rates, considering you are giving them the photos.

If this is an organisation where contributions are tax deductible, you might be better off billing them at a professional rate and then donating your services.

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billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

You are going to have down time, you can't shoot non stop for 4 days and the hourly rate does not fit the situation. You should charge a flat rate for your services. Don't forget, a contract is in order here. It should include that you own the photo's and any use of them for profit is strictly prohibited, unless, you receive financial compensation. And, any use of them in newsletters must include your name. And, you better make darn sure you can deliver before you enter into any type of agreement. You mess up and your done with the entire group.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

What is your overhead? Hard costs? Soft costs? What does your business plan say about what you need to charge to make a profit? What is your break even point, etc etc etc. That's the intelligent way to go about determining three things - what you "can" charge, what you "should" charge, and whether or not you can make the profit you need if you have to resort to the lowest acceptable number.

Do you have a contract? How do you charge for extra services? Is your business registered with the State, and do you have a tax number? You do realize that you are selling a taxable item - finished digital images.

Can you really afford to do anything at no charge?

CaptainC Loc: Colorado, south of Denver

One cannot "donate" time. You cannot say your rate is- for example- $100/hr and work ten hours and say you made a $1000 donation. Only actual expenses are deductible.

One can deduct the to and from mileage at a lousy $0.14/mile, any meals that were part of the time spent, parking & tolls and the cost of any product you give them. The cost YOU spent to get it, not your retail pricing. Give them a CD of 1000 images? You can deduct the cost of the CD.

As both a volunteer for a photographic charity and a member of the board, I know this to be true. If one could donate your professional rates, I would be able to claim over $36,000 in donated services. Not gonna happen! :-)

Zone-System-Grandpa Loc: Springfield, Ohio

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

My thought upon the subject is that you should approach the fee you are about to charge predicated upon just how good is the work you do. Think of this or compare this to the price of a Chevrolet verses the price of a Mercedes. Both are vehicles that will take a person from point "A" to point "B", however; one takes a person in style, it is of better quality and it is better engineered whereby it will last longer and maintain a higher resale value. Because of this, one is expected to pay a higher price and, most often, one willingly does so.

When it comes to photographers and their fees, often high fees are paid without question to those who have the knack to arrange unique poses, those who can capture the rmoment, those who contrive situations that are out of the ordinary and always most appealing. Yes, these are the photographers who can charge high fees, deserve high fees, maintain a solid customer base, and they always end up having many referrals that follow.

On the other hand, if a photographer has nothing unique to offer whereby he or she mostly parrots steps taken by others by producing so-so photographs in a mundane fashion, they can barely justify charging fees that are any higher than someone flipping burgers in a fast food joint making minimum wage.

Let's face it, in today's digital world, just about anyone can light up a camera, aim the camera, and produce images that can be made into prints and stuffed into a photo album, AND must we remind ourselves that film days are over whereas with digital cameras today, when taking a photo and it doesn't look right on the live view display screen, well, it's called "Try and try again !"

Talented photographers who charge high fees get it right the first time and then they move on to create more quality photographs, but to do so, it takes talent, it takes experience, and, yes, even knowhow too, to enable a photographer to rightfully assess his or her well deserved, rewarding fees !

Moral of the story: Charge what you think you are worth !

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

Agreed fully, and don't forget the fact that you should at least get liability insurance that covers the event. If you aren't ready to pay full boat, there are places online that you can get liability insurance for a one time event. Of course, if you do that 2-3 times, you could have been covered for the year. Also, if you are charging, and not donating. (I'm not super clear what you were asking), make sure you are properly set up for taxes (both for you to pay as income, and also to charge taxes if you give over thumb drives or CD's. Downloads aren't subject to sales tax (at least not in Indiana), but if you hand them over ANYTHING tangible, it is taxable. Unlike writing off the cost of the thumb drive, you need to charge (or pay) sales tax on the VALUE of what is on the drive.

Not trying to scare you away, but in my area, Photography is cut throat enough, that people are cruising for their "competition" and trying to get each other in trouble for tax issues. Best to talk to a REAL accountant before you actually start receiving money, or thinking about charging money. It won't be free, but can save you much more than it costs to be set up correctly and LEGALLY.