All-Day Photo Shoot

[misschips]

Hi folks. I frequent this site for great advice and insight, and now I've been presented with an opportunity that has me a little baffled, and I can't seem to find a thread that addresses this scenario.

A former colleague offered me the chance to submit a bid against two other photographers to do an all-day photo shoot for her company (she is coordinating the shoot for them). They would be set up in a hotel room from 9-5, with approximately 100-150 civil engineers and support staff coming in throughout the day for a head-n-shoulders portrait. The images are to be used on their internal intranet site, and in some of their future business/job proposals. No intent (that I'm aware of) for media/public use. I assume they would ask for full copyrights in their contract, but that hasn't been confirmed.

They would fly me out to the location and back, I think in the same day. It's approximately a two-hour flight. All my travel expenses would be covered.

Although I've been creating photographs for many years, I am still new to the business of photography. Mostly I'm commissioned for family/children, event/wedding, and horse/pet natural-light location shoots, and I also do landscape and creative work on my own. This is the largest job that I have been asked to quote, and would be my first "studio" setup, and I'm having trouble finding any references as far as how to set my price (i.e., by the hour, day rate, by subject, etc.). I do not have a lot of experience with studio lighting, so I would be doing a lot of studying and practicing between now and the shoot, which is in January.

Such a large number of people in one day seems like quite a challenge. My colleague told me they have a "decent" budget, so not to underbid, but she is counting on my quote being lower because I am new to the business. Still, I certainly would not be willing to undertake a job of this scope for a "cheap" rate either. Especially since she didn't say anything about including a budget for an assistant.

Any advice on how I should approach this opportunity? If one of you were bidding on such a job, would you quote by the day, the hour, or...?

Thank you much!

[nickbedford]

Well luckily you have a time period. 9-5 is eight hours and I believe a going rate of around >= $75/hour is not unfair which would be $600 for the time. If they are paying for your travel then there's no real need to put that in the quote, but you may be able to throw in $100 for "general expenses etc".

Then you have processing time. I would guesstimate four hours if you're quick at it (get it right in the camera in a controlled environment and you should be able to speed through). Never really sure how to much to charge for processing, maybe $60/hour? which is another $240.

Then you'll have to figure out a price for each photo. I would throw a random guess of 300 portraits. Depending on the size of the images required you might charge a few hundred for small images (say 800px), more for print sized. Or a few hundred might even be too cheap.

The thing about copyright is that you always want to OWN the images, whether or not you can use them in more than just self promotion.

You could possibly give them an exclusive license to the images, but as the photographer you still own the images and may use them for promotional material as I realise these are portraits specific to one company and aren't really useful beyond your portfolio.

Some food for thought anyway.

[oldwolf]

Day rate for me but be aware with a full 8 hour day and if they only have 100 people show up, you'll have only 4.8 minutes per person to get the headshot. That means you won't get any lunch.

If you give yourself a 30 minute lunch and only 100 people show up then you're down to 4.5 minutes per person. I'd seriously get there a couple hours early if possible to set everything up and make sure your lighting is spot on. If it were me, I'd want to fly in the night before so I'm fresh in the morning and can set things up at a leasurely pace the next morning.

Nothing worse than having to get up at 3AM so you can get to the airport by 4AM. Fly by 6AM, land at 8AM, hope your luggage and all your gear is with you and run to the site hoping to get there by 9AM. By that point in time you'll have a few minutes to set up and hope everything is right. Pay for your own hotel room the night before and add that to your quote if you have to.

If you do book the flight the night prior then don't book the last flight. Reason behind that is you want at least one more flight for them to get your gear there if they lose it. If you're on the last flight then they can't get you your gear until the next day.

The whole assignment is doable if you've got the lighting down perfect. I think that's why you would need to do a studio type set up. You control the light and aren't worried about where the sun is moving. You also don't want your subjects wandering around the hotel wondering where they're suppose to have their picture taken if the photographer is following the light/shade.

To add a bit of variety to it, I'd ask if they had a big company banner or something you could hang up. You could also figure out 2 or 3 different places in the room to set up lights. This would give a few different backgrounds to mix things up. Put some gaffers tape on the ground where you need to set up light stands and cameras so when you switch locations it will be real fast and you know exactly where to set things up.

You'd meter those other areas before the day even begins so you know where to set up stands and what power you need on your flashes. Using speedlights? Get lots of batteries and/or external battery packs. Using studio strobes? Don't forget your extension cords and a spare bulb or two. Do you have an extra camera body in case the one you're using decides to not work that day? If not then is there a camera store near the hotel where you can possibly get another one?

Oh, if you were wondering about the full 150 people then for a full 8 hour day you'd only have 3.2 minutes per person. If you want a 30 minute lunch then you're down to 3 minutes per person.

What's the turnaround time for the portraits? Are you going to spend hours post processing them? If so then don't forget to take that into account when you quote them a price. If they are using it for media or public use then you'd want to charge accordingly.

Last tip that I can think of. If it were me and I needed to get these people to give a little natural smile then I'd pack a few loud shirts or even some wigs or hats for me to wear. That way they're laughing at me and not worried about the camera or what their best side is. That's just my personality though. Some people will be receptive to that and others won't.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[nickbedford]

+1 on the smiling. Smiling at people when you're taking their portraits (wherever you are) works WONDERS.

[misschips]

Thank you both, that is all very valuable input. Definitely a lot to consider...

[Jim Poor]

When you say "she is counting on on my quote being lower because I am new to the business," did she actually say that, or are you assuming?

To put it simply, if your work is quality, charge based on what the work is worth, NOT based on how long you've been doing it.

I once delivered 48 proofs from a 6 minute session with a dog, so three minutes per human isn't impossible, that said, it may be worth your time to ask them to consider what they are asking of you.

In your proposal, tell them they MUST include time for you to eat, and that they SHOULD consider allowing more time per portrait. Present it professionally and along the lines of "in order to show each employee at their best, I need a minimum of XX amount of time.


Although it's not my bread and butter, I've done some of these "assembly line" type shoots. Off the top of my still half asleep head, here are some things to consider.

1. Will you shoot tethered so that you can review images immediately other than on the back of the camera?

2. Do you need to track names and sort photos by employee? If so, how will you do it? I've got a couple systems I've used, but won't waste space on them just yet.

3. SPACE. If they get you a hotel room, you're going to be cramped. Try for a conference room with the tables and such moved out. If it must be a hotel room, insist on a suite that can have furniture removed from one side.

4. When you do your proposal, don't forget to include processing time in the budget. Also present options for rights. Full rights, exclusive license, etc.

5. Have a spare of every single piece of equipment that would kill the shoot if it died.

6. Rather than an "assistant," I'd ask for a second shooter. Set up two backdrops (make sure you're not using optical slaves, or the same remote channels) at opposite areas of the room and double your throughput.

Not knowing where this is or what sort of company you're dealing with in terms of size, budget, etc, this is how I would approach it in very loose terms.

Fly me out the night before, and provide lodging at the same location as the photo shoot (even the same room if a suite is used, but I'd really push for a conference room). Depending on how you feel the company budget out, I'd also go for lodging the night of the shoot with return the next day.

Plan for 10-12 hours of shooting with a 30 minute break for lunch (room service) or one hour for lunch off site.

Provide forms for each employee to fill out ahead of time if you're responsible for tracking who is who in the photos. This can have a space for file numbers (but don't forget to fill it out for each one!) or could include a spot on the reverse for the employee to put their name in large print for a "mug shot" first photo so the names are right there for you to read.

I wouldn't touch it for under $1250 plus travel, lodging and meals. That would be with one photographer, retention of © by me, with license for the company to use the photos as you outlined.

[wulf]

I've not done anything quite like this but do remember a few days taking student photos for ID badges when I used to work in IT at a further education college. It is pretty tiring task because you have to keep the same friendly, professional demeanour even when you are on the 243rd person; for them, it is a new situation.

A thought that does occur to me is not to forget backup equipment. What happens if your camera breaks halfway through the day? A spare would be a very good idea and you will definitely need plenty of storage room and perhaps a backup battery or two. You might have all that in hand of course but do plan in depth.

Wulf

[Jim Bryant]

+1 - Jim. I was thinking about along the lines of about $1500.00 for all the work..shooting, editing and PPing involved.

[danbaileyphoto]

Good advice above.

I'm with Jim on this- An all day shoot should be more in the $1500 range. You want to price not by the hour, but by the project, which reflects your creativity and time, photo usage and any extra work you'll need to do to prep the final images.

[misschips]

Thank you to everyone for your feedback. You've given me a lot of valuable food for thought as I consider this.

To Jim Poor - Her words were: "I will be getting two other quotes but I think you are the quality we need w out being crazy expensive. But do not underbid...we have decent budget."

Nothing insulting; I just think she's aware that I'm newer and not high-priced as far as portraits go. That said, this project definitely isn't an average portrait session. I really appreciate everyone's thoughts about pricing, timing, equipment, travel, location...all of it. Thank you!

I have until Wednesday night to submit my quote, if I choose to compete for this. If anyone has any more wisdom to share before then, I am still all ears.

Thanks,
Reanna