etiennephotography

<p>OMG! You poor thing! I would be equally as enrtaged as you are! You have my total compassion over this situation! I would contact the event organizer and let them know how you feel and what is has done to your business. next time make sre they do not allow anyone to com and do this. Its really UNCOOL on all levels!</p>

<p>People are going to scan your images either way. Its pretty standard and the "nporm" especially when you goive them a disk of their images. Its also just for a grad announcement (not an ad campaign!). Just factor this in and charge a bit more for your work if you have to. I prefer to make my money on the front end and not waste my time with reprint orders and such anyhow. its an anoying waste of time and Id rather be shooting than running to a phto lab.</p>

<p>Try this website: http://www.photocrew.com. I am a pro photographer and got my last intern there. It's a great website!<br>

Keep in mind when aplying for internships. Many of us pros can get hundreds of applicants so were VERY particular about whom we select. Contrary to popular belief not all photographers have their interns dump their trash, clean their toilets and get them coffee!(I don't!). I feel strongly in a "mutual exchange" environment and try to make sure my interns feel they are learning something very beneficial each day they com to work. (maybe that's the mentor/instructor in me -I have a photo workshops company as well as private consulting business), I dont know. The big difference between an intern and my paid assistants is the interns need a lot of coaching and training. This takes time and time is money. I select interns who respect and honro my time and are willing to committ. My paid assistants do not get this kind of one-on-one time. They are supposed to already know my gear and the way I work. Most of them come out of my internship program. Although every photographer is different, the perks of my internship program is my interns get hands-on experience in everything fom marketing a do business stuff to shooting. Being a pro photographer and running your own business involves a lot more than making pretty pictures, (this is a SMALL fraction of it). Intern with a photographer who will teach you some real business skills and whom isn't shy about sharing the details of when they earn and the cost of running a business.<br>

Good luck!</p>

<p>Hi Jonas:<br>

I actually teach about this subject in my photo workshops, ("Create A Successful Photo Biz" Dream Team Photo Workshops). I have a simple formula I teach to my students: Hope this gives you a much better overall comprehensions of estimating. My excuses if it's lengthy. I copied it from the chapter in my book.<br>

This is the biggest question we all ask ourselves and here is a formula I derived that helps me determine what to charge for a job:<br /> <br /> T x HR + E + CVM = MY FEES<br /> <br /> Time x Hourly Rate + Expenses = total + Creative Value Mark-up = MY FEES<br /> <br /> There are 3 main factors I consider when pricing out a job:<br /> <br /> (T)= Total TIME: This is the total time you spend with this client from the first initial job inquiry contact to the delivered product. Securing the job might mean numerous e-mails, phone calls, faxes and meetings with the client. Prepping for the job might entail location scouting, image reference research, equipment cleaning, checking and prepping. Shooting the job entails time driving to the job location site, shooting the job, tearing down the equipment and packing it up, driving home, paying your assistants, and either dropping the film at the lab or processing, editing, retouching and delivering the digital files. This is ALL time involved to produce the product. <br /> <br /> (HR)= Hourly rate: What are you worth an hour? Most trained “service” professionals will charge $75- $300/hr. This includes everyone from a massage therapist to a lawyer. These are people who have little or no equipment overhead. Their main expenses are their office and computer. A massage therapist can go to school for a few months of training and be out in the field with their massage table, some oil and a clean bed sheet start earning money a few months after that charging $50-$100/hr. Personally I spent over $100,000 on my 4-year photography education 20 years ago and probably have over $100K in photo and office equipment and a hefty insurance policy that covers my equipment and liability. With assistants and photo repairs, portfolio materials, marketing and advertising, my overhead each month is pretty high. This all being said, I need to earn a certain amount just to keep my business running, let alone make a profit! For those of you at a beginner business level (who have at least 2-4 years in photo school, or the equivalent assisting in the field) are worth at the very least $100/hr. After all, you have more training time and overhead expenses. This is a very low base at which to begin to rate your hourly fees. As you become more and more skilled, developing your unique style, reputation and business production system you may find your overhead expenses will increase because your production value costs increase. In other words you’re spending more to present a better product. This will force you to raise your hourly rates a little as you go to survive.<br /> <br /> (E) total job EXPENSES:<br /> <br /> These might be everything from the obvious (film, processing, prints, digital memory cards, CD’s, faxes, phone calls, messengers, paper, ink cartridges, postage, assistants fees, meals, props, gas, mileage, transportation costs and lodging if you are traveling out of town,). Don’t overlook the small stuff. Everything related to the job is an expense down to your company logo sticker on the envelope.<br /> <br /> (CVM) Creative Value Mark-up %:<br /> <br /> This is something that will fluctuate depending on the job situation and the final image application use. Is this a simple family portrait in your neighbor’s backyard or advertising campaign, or something in between? Where will the images be used (in a frame on the family piano or on a website?) If they are used to promote something (a product or person connected to a product) then the value is far greater because now YOUR images are helping make this person more money so they’re more valuable. Get it? I will sometimes add 25-50% depending on the final usage of the images. This is something you will gauge gracefully in time as your career grows. (i.e. actors who bring start value to the movies. They get residual income because their name is on it. Photographers perform a service, yes but we also provide a unique, custom, one-of-a kind product that cannot be sold or duplicated. ).<br /> <br /> TIME/EXPENSE LOG SHEET:<br /> <br /> The best way to learn how to determine your time and expenses is to keep a job TIME/EXPENSE LOG SHEET. When your client calls about the job make note of the time on the clock and jot it down in your log book. When you hang up, look again and see how long that phone conversation took. How about e-mails? How many have you exchanged and how long does it take you to read and write the exchanges? How long does it take you to drive to the location to scout it or research images in your idea files or elsewhere to get ideas for the shoot? What about driving to fed-ex to drop off the package to mail to them? Keep track of every bit of time involved. Make a rough estimate for your first few jobs and then when you do them take notes. How close were you to your estimate of time and expenses? Did you lose money or make money? Do you need to raise your rates? You will do this for your first few jobs until you get the hang of it. After awhile you will know intuitively how much to charge for a job.<br /></p>

<p>hmmmmm.......... blogger or not pictures are not to be moved or displayed anyplace without photographer's permission even if they gives photo credit.they should have contacted you first to get permission. YThey know better than that. This is a gray area but he could be iin breach of copyright infringement. UGH!</p>

<p>HI-<br>

I actually teach about this subject in my photo workshops, ("Create A Successful Photo Biz" Dream team Photo Workshops). The standard rule is you must charge sales tax for "products" . If your product, (photographs, CD's digital files) is combined with your services, (i.e. a wedding or portrait session that INCLUDES your time AND your product as so many of ours do) then you must charge tax on the entire job. When I shoot commercial advertising jobs everything is broken down into expenses and creative fees. I only tax my expenses, not my creative fees in situations like this. If the person and the job your are shooting is out of the state you operate your business in you do NOT charge sales tax. This is the law. I am shooting a HUGE wedding in Mexico. I reside in CA. My client is from NY. I charge no tax on the jobn(they saved almost 3K in sales tax! yes I charge a lot to shoot weddings).<br>

Good luck!</p>

<p>HI Laura:<br>

I teach wedding photography workshops, (as well as plain business workshops). I just spoke at a conventioon in Las Vegas (WPPI) about money and clients in fact. This subject came up. I stress WHAT retainer/deposit is for. It's to reserve your services exclusively for a specific date and turn away any other potential clients for that date. I book up sometimes 18 months in advance and if someone calls me for that date and I am already reserved I decline that job. Now if someone cancels for that date Ive lost the other remaining 50% balance they would ordinarily pay me. Its a fair situation. Its NON-REFUNDABLE and is stated clearly so in my contract. I have had a few cancellations over the years and did not refund their deposit. This is standard in the industry. Anyone refunding the deposit is not a good business person and is sending the wrong message to his clients about the definition and meaning of a "retainer-deposit". AS a courtesy I let them know they can apply it to other products and services I offer. They always understand and are very gracious about it. Ive never had any issues or problems.<br>

Good luck!</p>