Pricing for product shoot

[tzvih]

<p>Hi all.<br>

A prospective client is asking me to quote the following job-<br>

Basic, clean, white "ebay" style photos of about 400 simple products (nothing complicated like glass or jewelry). Do I price it per image, per hour etc. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.</p>

[tonybynum]

how efficient are you?

[steve_solomon2]

Well, if you know exactly what's involved for each shot, the products are uniform and consistent physically, and you

can complete it fairly quickly, then charge per shot. However, if some products may require extra setup time or

unforeseen preparation, then charge by the hour. That way, you won't short-change yourself. Have fun with it!

[Charles_Webster]

<p>If you have shot something like this before, you'll have some idea of how long it will take. Remember that 400 pieces of anything will require logistics and planning, so be sure to add time for that.</p>

<p>And be sure not to underestimate your post-processing time. Five minutes per file times 400 files is almost a week's work.</p>

<p><Chas></p>

[tony_clark]

<p>Using an hourly rate is never a winning formula for a photographer. I hope that you remember the time that it takes to process and edit the images when you quote a price. Most important is how the images will be used and for how long, you may be focusing too much on the shoot and forgetting the long term value to the client. I always factor in those details into my estimates and make sure that it is worth while to both parties.</p>

[john_a5]

<p>There never is an easy answer to such questions. There is nothing wrong with charging an hourly rate for the shoot, however, you then need to figure out a rate for each shot for the use of the digital equipment and the post on each file. In film days, we might charge a client like this hourly, but we also charged for film and polaroid. The mark-up was hefty, 100-200%, and this covered our equipment wear and tear as well as basic editing. Today, we get none of this money for such things if we don't charge a per shot fee in addition to the hourly or a fixed digital fee per day and a per shot fee for the post work--which saves them from having to have film scanned. (just a rant, too many photographers do all of this and don't charge for it, that is why clients think digital is so much cheaper than film!)</p>

<p>The other solution is to charge a per shot fee, however, not only can the shots take longer than expected, if you haven't worked with the client before, you may find that they are very picky about how a shot looks. I have had similar shots take 12 hours with one art director that took 2 hours with another--same client and agency, just different AD's (I actually think the latter shots were better and more fresh--not so overworked!). So you have to really understand their expectations and they need to understand that what are your expectations for a per shot quote.</p>

<p>Quoting on a per day basis (hourly) with a digital charge, and taking into consideration the production time such a large shoot entails, allows you to give them a firm number. If the shoot appears to be moving slower than anticipated, due to their activities or lack of promptness, you can turn to them and suggest that "we either need to get this moving or I will need to revisit my quote". When it is in the middle of a shoot, this sort of thing isn't the same issue as quoting too high upfront and losing the job.</p>

<p>The advice about allowing for the logistics of shooting 400 shots is a very good one. You will find that organizing and prepping that many shots can take nearly as long as shooting them.</p>

[lngroller]

<p>For a first time client, without you having seen the products I vote for a hourly/day rate and a hourly post processing fee. As mentioned above<br>

1. You don't know how picky they will be<br>

2. They aren't photographers and simple to them may take a lot of set up/tweaking work. I once had a location shoot and I asked if anything was highly reflective in the shot and was told no, got there and most of what I shot was stainless steel on top of that the room was sprayed down with water/chlorine every 15 minutes. Point is, they don't understand complications that can and do arise. <br>

In situations like this I tell a client if they need a hard # I will give it to them but they should be aware that I am going high expecting complications.</p>