Help needed pricing a location shoot for national/niche magazine

Hello,

 

I was approached recently and asked how much I would charge to

execute a location shoot in the NYC area where the photo/photos

picked would appear in a national/niche magazine as a centerfold

poster. The distribution is ~75,000 readers and will take approx. 1

day to shoot. The agreement will be to allow use of the image with

an option for ownership. Any ideas/help with this one would be

greatly appreciated. Thanks -NP

$2500 to $3000 plus ALL costs.

Art, Thank you for your quick response. I appreciate your help. What would you think would be a good rate if I had to break out the pricing for them to do the shoot and restricted use the image for the magazine with an option to purchase the image outright for them to use as they see fit?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated. -Norman

That's a much tougher call... if they want a complete and total buyout for the image, you need to figure out what it is worth to you... how much do you think you will make in your lifetime selling this image, if you sell it to other people? Will this image significantly enhance your career? If you sell it to them outright, you lose ALL rights to its use, so if you wanted to put it in your portfolio or send it around in promotional materials, you would have to petition THEM for permission. There are very few stories I know of where photographers have consented to do this, and when they have, it has been for exorbitant amounts of money. The best example I can think of is Bruce Weber and the Calvin Klein underwear ads - if you remember the early ones he did for them that helped launch the brand, you never saw his name anywhere on the ad. That's because he gave them a 100% buyout for those images - at $1 million a pop. Just some food for thought.

My guesstimate for an NYC shoot like that and the described usage would me more like

$3500-5000 minimum for fee plus all expenses (film/polaroid/processing or digital

processing, assistants, stylists, wardrobe, make up (as needed,catering, permits (if

needed), location fees, scouting times, transportation, prop, and on set catering to keep

the client and the talent happy.

 

If you were Annie Leibowitz or Mark Seliger, etc. the fee alone might be more like $50

-100K.

Thank you all for the advice. I appreciate the quick reaponses and insight. Thanks again. -NP

As this appears to be a foot in the door to the big time, it is a step you should be careful about.

Why did the client choose you?

Fresh talent?

Or

Cheaper than established pro's?

If the client is trying to save money by using you, then as this appears to a chance for you to gain exposure, I would take it.

Photography is a very hard game.

I would never sell my images unless the fee was astronomical.

And as I have said, if this is your big chance to get exposure, take it. It may even be worth taking a slight loss for the exposure and experience.

You hit it on the head. After talking with the end user he came clean and said I came recommended by his graphic artist as well as a number of people who saw my work but he was hoping that the cost factor would be less than quoted. In the end, I looked at it exactly as you stated and took the job being that I will get the exposure and at the same time take it as my first opportunity to get published. Thanks to all who have helped. Your advice really gave me a measuring stick and without it, I wouldn?t have been able to capitalize on this chance.

What you have here is a chance to be published . If you are not published do WHATEVER it takes to get published the first tiem as it is advertising you just can't afford to lose out on . Make sure you put it in the contract that you can use the image to promote yourself and that you agree not to resell the image and they will most likely go for it . It is much easier to get published again when yoo lay a magazine on a potential clients desk along with the negative to prove it is your shot .