dale_murray2

<p>It is somewhat shocking to see how much traffic my sandbags have gotten since I issued the PDF - a few thousand downloads thus far. If you make them please email me a picture of your success and a note - I like to know how well they are being received.</p>

<p>Charles,<br>

glad to see my PDF worked for you, hopefully they were not to difficult to make. The PDF has been downloaded over 1000 times now but I rarely get feedback of see the results of peoples work.</p>

<p>As for stands, I am using Calumet 13.5' air cushioned stands, there is nothing glamourous or light about them but they get the job done.</p>

<p>As for using sand bags, I would much rather lug 15lb sand bags than replace one of my $500 monolights, but that is just me. I think the phrase goes something like, and ounce of prevention... In this case, 15lbs of prevention versus $500 lost.</p>

<p>*EDIT when I originally wrote this reply I thought it was for 200 people not 100, so basically cut everything I wrote by half. $2450-3850 for the job using $1400-2200 day rates. The per portrait fee would remain $24.50-$38.50 which is still ridiculously cheap, honestly, but this is essentially assembly line work.</p>

<p>Let me preface my post by assuming this is a situation where you will setup a backdrop and lighting and all your subjects will come to you - much like a school photo job.</p>

<p>I think the best way to approach this is with a day rate of about $1400-2200 (10 hour day), possibly more depending on your local economy.</p>

<p>If you assume you are able to get one good portrait every 10 minutes (Adults are more self conscious than children and it will take a few moments for them to compose themselves for the shot) then you are realistically looking at a 3.5 day job and eating lunch while you shoot.<br /> So the bid should be $4900-$7700 for the job, which is $24.50-$38.50 per shot - which is absurdly cheap, honestly.</p>

<p>In my case I am using a sliding per shot scale to increase participation. If I get a group of 20 or more people signed up then I will charge $70 per person and will not shoot more than 20 portraits ina day, which is giving me a $1400 day rate.</p>

<p>When figuring costs make sure you allow time for post work, granted you will be able to color balance all shots with an action and you should not have any exposture issues, but you will need to crop and sharpen each image individually - so you are looking at several hours of post work. In retrospect, having done the math, you may want to go higher than what I originally suggested.</p>

<p>Hope this helps.</p>