Catalog shots for a local company

If you've had experience in this, I would really appreciate some

help. Basically, I've been asked to do some catalog shots for a

local company. For one set of them, the creative director wants to

be there to help with the propping/posing etc. I would be doing the

photography (digital) and getting them the pictures on CD. Since

he's going to be there, and it's going to take much, MUCH longer

than if he wasn't, I figure I should charge an hourly rate and maybe

a per shot bought fee. My questions is, what should that hourly

rate be and what would be a fair per shot (royalty free, unlimited

usage) fee? I don't want to price myself out of the bid war, but I

would need to make a little money too. I should note that I've only

done a few professional jobs and have never done any paid catalog

work. (I have done some for portfolio and he liked them so he

know's the quality that I would bring). Any help is greatly

appreciated.

 

Thanks

. . . what should that hourly rate be and what would be a fair per shot (royalty free, unlimited usage) fee? I don't want to price myself out of the bid war, but I would need to make a little money too. I should note that I've only done a few professional jobs . . .

 

1. What was the resultant hourly rate for the professional jobs that you have already done?

2. Did you "make money" from that rate?

Answers to these two questions would be a good starting point to give you an hourly rate for this job.

 

"Unlimited usage fee" - how long is a piece of string? Endeavour to find out an indicative of the Creative Director's budget; or what they've paid in the past;or what like companies pay.

After arriving at a per image fee that you're comfortable with, offering a discount for 10+ 20+ is also a reasonable consideration to enhance a business discussion.

 

FWIW - 'catalogue shots' that I have done have had a limited life, so the images have not been used other than for historic and reference purposes beyond the 'season'; but I expect if the catalogue is for widgets, such as spanners or nuts and bolts, then the catalogue images could have a very long usage life; my point being you've not provided much detailed information.

 

For a 'fashion season' of usage rights for catalogues, I'd typically quote AUS$50 to $200 plus tax, per image - but as I mentioned that information is on the basis of 'for what it is worth'.

 

BTW I am not sure of your meaning here - "a fair per shot (royalty free, unlimited usage) fee?"

I have taken it to mean "a per Image USAGE RIGHTS FEE, for the Images to be used in UNLIMITED NUMBER of CATALOGUES"

 

i.e. that is a different meaning to: "a per shot fee" and "unlimited usage".

 

Additionally, "royalty free" means precisely (my underlined and bold for emphasis )- "the right to use copyright material or intellectual property without the need to pay royalties or license fees for each use, per each copy or volume sold or some time period of use or sales.

 

***

 

You need to clarify your question and provide more detailed information to reap more precise comments.

WW

As I have posted here many times "Don't practice on paying clients"

If you have never done this work before, do it for free for the experience and portfolio material.

 

Doing a job for pay, where you have no experience of knowledge is cheating the customer.

A very long time ago, I did a catalog job for a new company, had never done one before. Flat fee, did a credible job, nothing special. As the company succeeded, I saw my photos in their catalog for a good many years. Both of us apparently happy - I needed the money (not very many $) they needed and apparently liked the photos. Who was cheated? I think the point is not to be what you are not. If you are a nascent pro, charge that way - if they like the photos, well & good, if not, redo or refund. Move forward!

As I have posted here many times "Don't practice on paying clients"

If you have never done this work before, do it for free for the experience and portfolio material.

 

Doing a job for pay, where you have no experience of knowledge is cheating the customer.

A very long time ago, I did a catalog job for a new company, had never done one before. Flat fee, did a credible job, nothing special. As the company succeeded, I saw my photos in their catalog for a good many years. Both of us apparently happy - I needed the money (not very many $) they needed and apparently liked the photos. Who was cheated? I think the point is not to be what you are not. If you are a nascent pro, charge that way - if they like the photos, well & good, if not, redo or refund. Move forward!

Both gentlemen make reasonable points.

 

My experience is more similar to Charles than to Sandy. I did a lot of free portraits before ever charging for one and gave away prints of other types of work before charging for them. I did several “practice” weddings before ever charging.

 

The question of a client being cheated has come up and I’ll add a word to that. A client can be satisfied and cheated at the same time because he may not realize how much better of a product he could have gotten from someone else. Sometimes, it’s up to the photographers, carpenters, and construction crew to elevate the standards of their industry and help educate the public as to what good work in each field looks like. A client’s happiness should certainly be a goal, but is a bottom line, I think, and stands in tandem with a set of standards that may exceed simply the client’s satisfaction. If the client is satisfied in the moment but later learns that he could’ve gotten a better product, the initial satisfaction could turn to resentment.

How about a photographer with a record of dishonesty?

If he delivers, is the customer cheated?

If you agree, pay, and are happy with the result, and later find that the photographer practiced deception, were you cheated?

 

Would you do business with a person you knew to be deceptive if their product was good?

Edited September 27, 2018 by Moving On

For product shots, at least around here, the concept of usage rights is non-existent. It's work-for-hire and the client owns everything to use as they wish. Charge what you need to on an hourly basis to make it worth getting out of bed and going to the job. You should give 'em a break if they provide good descriptions and sketches of what they want. Not so much if they want to "help" unless you've worked with them before and it goes smoothly. If this is more of a fashion shoot, entirely different rules apply.

This thread is over 2 years old, and I expect that the OP solved the issue and moved on.

That said, it's good to have the creative director on site, styling the shots, that way they get what they want, not what the photographer wants to give them. I always preferred to work with a CD or designated stylist.

Catalog work is different from simple product work, because of the logistics of managing many products and shots. The worst job I ever had was to shoot 200 purses for a catalog. What a hopeless mess!

Sucked into a necrothread again. :(

 

Mod note: For your info - there was a comment, immediately above yours, which bumped the this thread: that comment was spam and has subsequently been deleted.

Edited January 10, 2020 by William Michael