What to charge for construction photography?

I just got a call from an Engineering firm that wants me to photograph

their job sites. They mainly do streets, bridges and buildings. I

would be photographing each site and sending them a disc with all the

digital images. I have never charged for my photography so I have no

idea what a job like this should cost. Should I charge hourly, or a

flat fee for all sites? This would be a side job that I would do in

addition to my full time job as a Software Engineer and my goal is to

pay for my digital equipment with this extra income.

If you actually know what yo uare doing , then 41500-2000 a day is a reasonable amount

for a fee. Don't forget to charge for the digital processingorganization time & service--

this takes the palce of film & processing charges --and for travel expenses.

Thanks for your response, I'm a little confused by your prices though, do you mean $415.00-$2000.00?

$1500-2000.00

The dollar sign is shift-4 on a U.S. keyboard.

My first question would be: is this a subject that you would normally shoot? Or, are you interested in making a personal project of this subject separate and apart from the "Job"? If this is a subject you are already shooting I would charge alot less and shoot longer. Example: In 2000 I was asked to shoot the construction of a Rehab. I was already shooting new construction and Urban Decay, so the offer gave me acces to something I already really wanted to shoot. I didn't charge the Rehab a penny. I did get a solo show locally[Reading, pa}

which had a total of 27 prints out of which 11 were from that Rehab construction. I ended up selling 11 of 27 prints at 250.00 each. On the other hand if this is not what you want to shoot, charge the above.

Is the firm just wanting some digital snaps from street level, or do they want through documentation of the works in progress? I have a couple of friends who do exactly this kind of work (including aerial shots). They were both experienced, professional photographers before they started their business a couple of years ago, and only now are their fees reaching the range Ellis mentions (and that's medium format film, high-res scans, and aerial shots). You need to provide more information about exactly what the company wants, and the city where you're located, to get a more accurate estimation of fees.

Good point! I am in the Rochester NY area. The firm wants street level only shots. I will be using a Rebel XT or 20D (I haven't bought the camera yet, I currently have a Canon AE-1 Program) with tripod and submitting digital files only. I have never worked professionally as a photographer so I have no experience. The main reason I am getting this job is because I will be relatively cheap compared to the professionals that do this for a living, but I don't want to do it too cheap. I have an idea that I should charge around $100 an hour as I am new to the business and this is probably about 1/2 of what the full time photographers charge. This is not a subject that I would normally shoot, and I don't plan on making anything outside of what they pay me for the shots.

John, I'd love to know more about your project and the selling of your prints-

what size were they etc...how did you go about this etc

 

I am in the process of something simliar- rehab of an old wooden boat- hand built in the 30's,boatbuilders / way of life /small fisherman family etc, historic data etc

by the maritime meuseam here in town-

 

I was thinking of approaching and offering my services, volunteer, to gain access to document the project, which is in line with other photojournalism work I do...

 

should I ask them to cover cost of lab /film/ etc or would I then be asked to give it all[body of work] to the meuseam?

 

If I self fund the project -I could then give them what they need- and still retain my copyright/film/chromes/ etc

 

 

thanks D