Straggling headshot shoot

[katelynch]

<p>Hello all! I recently did a series of head shots for a small local city - city council members, mayor, police and fire chief, and key managers. I brought a mottled blue muslin backdrop and set up in a conference room with two soft lights (I shot with a strobe as fill light). When I was asked for a bid (I've done lots of event and tourism work for this city in the past), I told them I would charge them $300 for two hours. Yes, I know that's a low bid, but I haven't done much work for them recently. We're talking about 7 council members and maybe 8 staff. I told them to plan on one hour in the afternoon for staff and one hour right before the council meeting in the evening. When I got there, the administrator I was working with told me that they'd like to schedule a second shoot (she kept calling it a "retake session" which it is not) because two council members and two key staff couldn't be present. The staff shoot took about 45 minutes (I had to hunt up about half of the staff). I left and came back before the council meeting. I managed to get shots of the four council members, the mayor, and the city clerk. But it took 2 hours because they weren't all present, had an executive session scheduled (which required that I wait several minutes), and the mayor had a TV interview. Originally, they had scheduled me for 3 hours. I told them I would have to charge them $150 for the third hour, because I bid the job based on two hours including set-up. I delivered high resolution and web-size photos on a DVD three days later. They told me they were very happy with the images. I told them that I would give them a price for the second shoot. This morning, I received a message from the admin that they would like me to reshoot ALL of the city council members in chambers (dark, will be tough to light), with flags in the background. After we do those, they'll decide which they would rather use: the shots with the flags or with the neutral background. I had already checked city portraits for 8 surrounding cities. None of them use flags in the background - all use neutral backgrounds. Should I tell them (in writing) that it will be a new shoot, so I will be charging them $300? With studio set-up, the last shoot actually took nearly four hours. Thanks for your help!</p><div></div>

[Matt Laur]

<p>They want a new, previously un-discussed shoot? That's new business. Don't give your time away.</p>

[MichaelChang]

<blockquote>

<p><em>"Should I tell them (in writing) that it will be a new shoot, so I will be charging them $300?"</em></p>

</blockquote>

<p>I would do exactly that; your description suggests you have fulfilled the terms of the original contract, and the contract is complete if you've been paid.<br /> <br /> I see a low probability of them arguing the point. It would be akin to a man who orders a custom tailored suit, pays for it, then comes back for another custom suit in order to determine which he prefers. The fact that he accepted the first suit without objection means the original sale is complete and the second suit is a new deal. <br /> <br /> If you haven't been paid for the original shoot, then make sure they understand the original contract will be amended to include the change, and the quote will be adjusted accordingly.</p>

<p>Edit: or draft a new contract after you've been paid for the first. </p>

[MichaelChang]

<p>By the way, city council members frequently include lawyers-turned-politicians; unlikely they will nickel-n-dime you because they know the law. :-) </p>

[katelynch]

<p>Thanks Matt and Michael. Love the custom suit analogy. May I borrow that? With attribution, of course! :-)</p>

[craig_shearman1]

<p>Since you've established your rate as $150 an hour (both on the initial $300/two hour quote and for $150 for the extra hour) and they are comfortable with that, I would quote this at $150 an hour with a two-hour minimum. If you can get it done in 90 minutes, they still pay $300. But if they screw around and it takes three hours or four hours, you make more money -- you are there and available, so it's there problem if they are wasting time.<br /><br />Money aside, if they want headshots with flags in the background and are willing to pay for a second shoot fine. I work in Washington and a flag in the background is standard for many members of Congress' official portraits. Your city officials might want the city flag (if there is one) or state flag in the photo along with the U.S. flag.<br /><br />In regard to your sample photo, you appear to be way too close to the backdrop. I would get the subject about five feet out, and use a wider aperture or longer focal length to throw the background out of focus. That way you won't see the wrinkles. Your lighting is also very flat and the man appears to be leaning backwards. I would try getting a little more lighting ratio going -- keep the light to the left of the camera at the exposure you've got but drop the one of the right down a stop or two so it's more of a fill. And have the subject sitting on a stool and leaning forward a touch.</p>

[katelynch]

<p>Thanks Craig. I told them I would charge them $300 for the next shoot. I still need to talk to the mayor to get his thoughts (his day job is working in public affairs…as is my day job) about the flag background. I did quite a bit of checking to see what other cities do, including NYC and Boston. None of the local governments use a flag backdrop (I checked 7-8 cities in our area). Even our state legislature doesn't have flags in the background of portraits. I just checked our U.S. Reps. and Senators web pages (in Right Coast Washington). None of them has an official portrait with a flag behind them. I think a flag is distracting for a headshot. Then again, maybe we do things a little differently in Left Coast Washington. </p>

<p>Thanks for the setup tips. It's been many years since I've had formal studio lighting, so I'm still getting used to this setup. This is the second time I used the new lights and first time I've used this backdrop. I actually like the crinkly look of the background and it was impossible to get back farther. I was in a small conference room. I do appreciate your suggestions, though. I'll experiment in my home studio a bit before the next shoot, which is a couple of weeks out. My friends always like getting free portraits done in exchange for being my test subjects. :-)<br>

Merry Winter Solstice!</p>

[zelph_young]

<p>He appears to be close to the background as mentioned. The darker pattern looks like shadows behind the neck and and could benefit by being more out of focus.</p>

[katelynch]

<p>Thanks Zelph! Sorry for the long delay in responding. Much appreciated. </p>