Do you charge xtra for tweaking RAW?

[alfonso_bresciani1]

When you give a quote for a job to a client do you say

$ yxz day shoot rate + charge extra on top of it for converting RAW to tiffs?

 

I figure since you saving on film and processing you can give the client

that for post processing (not custom of course), but batch processing?

 

Comments? Suggestions?

[Jerry_]

No film costs. But then you also have a 'free' [i.e., found, fell from a tree, discovered on your doorstep] digital camera, one would guess?

 

 

 

You should be able to figure out how many 'jobs' your digital camera can handle over its lifespan. Use that number (cost of camera body/number of jobs) to get a ball-park figure of how much to charge for a day's work.

[ellis_vener_photography]

no. but I do have a digital capture fee that includes basic processing time , which includes

RAW to TIFF and JPEG.

[Ian Taylor]

A friend of mine reps a couple of big food shooters. They always add a 'file management' fee that is, more or less, the same amount they would have charged for film and processing in the 'old days'.

[bill c.]

Alfonso-- Common practice by successful photographers today is to charge by the shot or set-up, NOT day rate. For a particular price per shot, it is common to include one "master file" of one image of the set-up, which is the tweaked RAW file (if that's what you shot). If the client wants additional shots of a set-up besides the one single image that they picked, then the common practice is to charge $50 for an additional master file. Some shooters get away with charging extra even for the first master file.

 

Most top shooters will also charge $50 to burn a CD. That means if the client gets 150 MB master files, only about four of those would fit on a CD. The first master file of each image would be included, but not the CD burn, so if you shot eight set-ups and the client got eight master files, there would be another $100 for burning the two CDs. If the client liked the shots so much that he wanted one additional master file per set-up, that would net you $400 for the eight master files and an additional $100 for the CD burns. All that work would probably take you or a hired employee an extra day or so. How much is your time worth, and more importantly, how much is your business time costing you?

 

And after all, you are saving the client the cost and hassle of getting film scanned, and it's your far more expensive equipment that is doing that job for him.

 

I suppose if you are following the outmoded, irrational, and self-destructive practice of charging "day rates", then you could simply tack on an additional $50 fee per master file and $50 to burn a CD.

 

Happy shooting. -BC-

 

"Never charge day rates! Clients tend to view them as an all-you-can-eat buffet. And never charge by the hour--it penalizes you for being fast and good. Charge by the shot." -Blake Discher

[alfonso_bresciani1]

What you're saying makes sense for like product shots etc. where it may take quite

a while to setup one singles shot.

 

I'f I'm hired to do an aerial shoot where I may just fire 500-1000 images I'd rather charge

a day rate, without having to negotiate/license each image based on usage, circulation,

size etc. To make it easier on the client and get the job. I only charge per shot if it is

stock photography of course, however It'll be very interesting to see how many in here still

charge the "outdated" day rate (?)

 

Thanks for your feedback!

[bill c.]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I'f I'm hired to do an aerial shoot where I may just fire 500-1000 images I'd rather charge a day rate, without having to negotiate/license each image based on usage, circulation, size etc. To make it easier on the client and get the job.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

Will the images be used for promotional brochures or advertising? You may be screwing yourself big time.

 

Steve Uzzell is one of the few top shooters I know of who still charges day rates-- but his day rates start at $8000.00, plus all expenses. Sometimes, though, he does charge a lower day rate with extra fees for extra use. Once he spotted four of his images being used on a TV ad for a resort, which was outside the client's use license. However, there was a clause in his contract which stipulated a fee for this particular use-- $3,000.00 per image.

 

A new art director didn't know that the images would engender additional fees for the use, but felt compelled to use them because they were so outstanding. The extra money was worth it to the client, as Uzzell's images no doubt brought in significantly more business than mediocre images would have. So Mr. Uzzell picked up $12,000.00, because he cut his day rate and charged by the use.

 

I picked up a client after a dissapointing set of executive portraits was turned in by a day-rate shooter who won the job after the client didn't like my pricing structure. He said that he had used up his budget for the quarter, and offered me an almost insultingly small amount if would help him out, with the promise of bigger paying jobs later down the line.

 

I offered to do the job for use fees only-- but the use fees were higher than the original ones. "Let me get this straight," he said, "You're going to shoot it for free, and if I don't like the photos, I don't have to pay you anything?" I told him that was correct.

 

The images I shot of him and his staff were so outrageously good that the CEO knew he would have a revolt on his hands if my images weren't used. Somehow, he came up with the money, which was $50 per quarter per image for each publication they were used in, as long as the publication was distributed. That was for twelve shots that I took in one day, in one brochure that they used for five quarters, two quarterly reports, and one annual report, which counted as a year. That's eleven quarters of use times $600. Do the math. And when they needed new shots, they called me, no matter what my rates. I ended up getting twenty or thirty times the money from that company that the day rate shooter got for his one shoot.

 

So there's another criterion, I suppose: If you feel that your images are compelling enough that the client would be happy to pay extra for their use, then charge by the image and by the use. If you feel otherwise, then by all means charge by the hour or by the day.

 

Happy shooting. -BC-