How do you Charge for Travel?

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I've been asked to photograph an event that is 2 hrs from my home. I always visit the venue at least once before the big day, so we're talking 8 hrs of driving total.<br>

Of course I'll charge for mileage, but do you also consider the time it takes to get there? Let's say I was hired for 6 hrs and had to start shooting at 12 noon. I'd start traveling to the location at 10 a.m. to get to the venue. Would you count travel time as part of your 6 hrs? Or do you simply charge mileage and not travel time?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

 

I charge $200 USD per full day of travel (8+ hours), and scale for more or fewer hours of travel. I do not charge for under

2 hours total, however. My philosophy is not to charge at my working rate since I am simply driving, but at the same time

charge something because being self-employed my time is valuable.

<p>hm... 2 hour is nothing at least in my book. i routinely shoot weddings that are 2 hours away and i don't charge anything extra for it. but that's just me. after alll..we are talking maybe 10% extra money..i rather simply just make the deal and not make the extra 10% as oppose to loose the deal and make 0</p>

<p>you can do whatever combination you want. you don't have to disclose how you came to the number to the customer..just say the total will be X and leave it at that... but if you charge too much for the travel, chances are someone else's pricing might start looking more enticing to the couple.</p>

<p>and no..typically you don't count travel time as part of your time if you are charging by the hour.... the couple could care less about paying you to drive and get hit by that in addition to mileage charges. after all, let's say you hit traffic and the time is even longer....is it fair for the couple to pay you to sit in traffic when she already is paying you by the mile?</p>

<p>I agree with Mark.</p>

<p>Two hours driving time ought to be inconsequential. If it makes a real difference to you then something is wrong with your pricing. I don't charge for travel time unless it involves flights longer than 5 hours. For all other scenarios the time is built into my fee.</p>

<p>The fact that you visit the venue beforehand is your choice, not the client's. Therefore it ought to be at your cost, not theirs. There's no inherent need to pre-visit venues and there's no connection between doing so and creating better work, or otherwise extending some 'value add' factor for the client.</p>

<p>This could be the old saying...in America a 100 years is a long time, in the UK a 100 miles is a long distance.<br>

When I was doing mostly friends' weddings for costs I just charged a mileage rate.<br>

Now it's factored into my package charges. I wouldn't book my budget wedding package outside of my usual caichement as this extra travel is not built into the margin. My higher end package has more "padding" to accomodate those extra hastles and expenses.</p>

<p>Driving 4 hours and shooting in the same day is just about too much for me- I offer all day coverage and getting in or out NYC can be really nerve-racking. I expect a hotel room for any commute longer than 2 hrs. If it's a wedding that I really want to shoot and my travel expenses are too high for them, I'll offer to shoot the rehearsal dinner, or other wedding-weekend event for no additional cost. I've found that clients often like having a photographer for more than just the wedding. If that doesn't fly and I still want to shoot the wedding, I'll ask them to pay overtime for an assistant who will do all the driving.</p>

<p>Just from a business standpoint, you should accurately bill for every cost, including your travel time, whether it's included in your package pricing or not. </p>

I agree that it's up to you if you visit the venue ahead of time. Not that you shouldn't scout things out, especially for a wedding, but you can't directly charge that money to the customer. It would be like charging by the hour for the time you spend showering and dressing, then eating breakfast, loading up your car and putting gas in it. These are just things you do in preparation for a job. Your fee must be high enough to justify your efforts, and provide a living, but these scouting trips are not "extra". One could even argue that it's sufficient to show up 2 hours early and scout in the early morning. Use a compass and the Farmer's Almanac to figure out where the sun will be later in the day.

<p>Thanks guys! I just want to do what most photogs do.</p>

<p>Most experienced photographers do not feel the need to visit the venue ahead of time, especially if the distance is prohibitive.</p>

<p>Interesting...I know many experienced photographers that do visit the location beforehand. I like to be organized and plan ahead where I'll shoot at the venue and don't care for last minute decisions as to where we'll go (unless the B&G have something different in mind). <br>

I agree that my prices are such that I am finding myself wanting to charge for further distances. I plan to adjust them after the next several weddings.</p>

<p>I reserve the right to charge for wedding day coverage more than 20 miles from where I am, but I generally will waive charging extra for the wedding as long as the distance is reasonable (within 2 hours driving time) if it exceeds that, then I usually charge a pretty good fee because it usually means that I will need a hotel for the night. I usually charge to cover cost of travel, hotel, car rental, and modest meals plus a little bit of padding.</p>

<p>As far as visiting the venue ahead of time--I don't think there's anything wrong with visiting and scouting the venue in advance, I will say that as a practical matter it's probably easier and more economical to arrive an hour or two before your official wedding coverage starts and scout the venue then. Especially if you're flying out of state this is likely your only option. IF you're charging money to shoot a wedding you're smart enough that you should be able to figure out the venue if you have 60 minutes to explore before your coverage begins. Take time to research the venue online and learn what you can about it over the phone and internet. If a venue is 2 hours from me, I won't visit it until the wedding day (though I will show up a little early to walk around.)</p>

<p>It depends on the wedding. If it's a destination wedding that is absolutely picturesque and a location I would love to visit, I will usually offer the clients a break. As a professional wedding photographer, you've got to pick the jobs that you really want to shoot. It shows in your work.</p>

<p><em>"Interesting...I know many experienced photographers that do visit the location beforehand. I like to be organized and plan ahead where I'll shoot at the venue and don't care for last minute decisions as to where we'll go....." </em><br>

<em> </em><br>

I'm doubting this, most working pros that I've known over the years have better things to do with their time than to make preview trips to venues ahead of time. Often, they've been there before anyway. It's much more time/cost effective to arrive a bit early and do a little scouting if needed. I'm not saying that there is anything wrong with pre-visits to a venue, actually for newcomers I think it's a good idea....but, it's deffinately not something to pass on to the clients as an extra cost to their coverage.</p>

 

<p>Another approach might be to offer different prices depending on mileage margins. Say you have an X price for all weddings within an X amount of miles, a Y price for all weddings between an X and a Z amount of miles and so on and so forth. Naturally, those prices should reflect all your costs - whichever way you calculate them - but should be offered to the customer as a total price rather than as itemised invoices.</p>

<p>But I agree that scouting, while a superb idea everyone should adopt, should not be charged to the customer...after all, that is part of the special something you bring to the event...!</p>