Need advice on local band portraits!!

[quentaylor]

Ok, so I did a set of band portraits for a pretty big band. They actually used a group shot for the cover of their album. In return I got photo credit and access to the venue.

Evolve Thru Scars Portrait - Quentin Taylor Photography | SmugMug

Now I have several local bands that want just about the same thing. I am confident that I can produce the same quality consistently, I just don't know how much to charge.

I know that local bands aren't the most wealthy of us, and I would love to help them out by providing quality photos.

My original thought was $50 a person. Too high? Too low? I want it to be affordable without making me look like a cheap discount photographer.

Any advice would be a great help!!

[funcrunch]

My experience as a concert photography spe******t is that bands are very reluctant to pay for photos, especially at live performances. However, if you're doing a posed/studio shoot, and you have professional skills and a portfolio to match, you should be able to convince them that you're worth the money. After all, they are probably paying full price for their gear, rehearsal studio rental, and other things they don't think twice about. It's always the photographer who gets the "starving artist" sob story...

I can't say what an appropriate amount to charge is, because that depends on your location, your actual expenses, and the local market, amongst other things. But don't let them talk you into doing it for just a photo credit, especially for cover art. You've done it once, presumably to build your portfolio which is fine. But if you get in the habit of that, you'll find it much more difficult to charge what you're worth down the line. I know this from direct personal experience...

[metric_photography]

I totally agree with funcrunch-- don't do it for free. Been there, done that (and for a bigger name band) If they want you bad enough, they will pay. I offered a promo session for $120 and the guy whined so I dropped it to $100, saying that it is only $25 per person. WHICH IS NOTHING!!! I actually knew him from other bands and he didn't end up emailing me back. A week later, I saw some REALLY bad pics of him and his new band on his facebook. I mean bad, as in the photographer was standing too close to them (individual shots) and therefore they look distorted with big noses. I assume that they just got a friend to take the pics because there was no watermarking/ photographer credit. So basically, they pay nothing, they get nothing.

I think your $50/ person might not be a good way of explaining your costs. What if you did it as a per shoot or per hour rate? Just an idea.... I can't imagine local (aka poor kids) spending $250 on pics that their friend can take on an iphone or some BS. Do you have an hourly rate for portraits? Maybe ask them what their budget is? I am not sure what you should charge. It depends on what they are using them for. Cover Art should be more expensive. Facebook, etc. would be less expensive.

Just my 0.02

[Ginger Pixie]

I'm in a band - we paid £50 for our shots which you can see here.

Being in an unsigned band is a stupidly expensive business. Between equipment, paying for recordings and promo... it all racks up and if you are unsigned you may never recoup your costs.

We have an arrangement with our photographer that if we ever get signed or sell bucket loads of the CD's he took the artwork for he will get a cut of the profits on top of his original £50.

There is no way we could afford to pay more for photos - and I would suggest it would be the same for most unsigned bands. I don't think it will be a massively profitable enterprise...

[funcrunch]

I've had unsigned bands pay me over $200 for a photo shoot though. One thing I've sometimes offered is to shoot on spec if it's an event I was planning to attend anyway. That way they have no upfront expense, but only have to pay for the photos they actually want. I also charge much less for web-resolution images than for hi-res, so if they're looking primarily for web/Myspace/Facebook images then my services are much more affordable. I also sometimes offer a discount for signed model releases, but only if I think the photos have commercial or at least advertising potential.

What it comes down to is that I don't feel obligated to lower my prices for starving artists because I have expenses to pay too; professional photography is also "stupidly expensive" with insurance, web hosting, advertising, equipment replacement, etc. I could choose to subsidize my concert shoots with more profitable wedding gigs, but I'm really far better at shooting performing arts and would prefer to concentrate primarily on that. I have thousands of concert photos in my portfolio now so I have no reason to shoot solely for practice or exposure, and I would never gamble on a share of future profits; I simply won't do the shoot if it's not cost-effective. There are plenty of cut-rate photographers on Craigslist for bands to choose from if they really don't have the budget for professional photography.

[quentaylor]

Thanks guys! I appreciate all of the feedback!

[Kellyj69]

a quick 2 cents... I also shoot primarily bands.. and Austin, Tx is definitely the place for that.. I too get the "can't afford it" story.. but I'm also a musician...

a band is still a business.. and QUALITY photos of the band can sometimes be the difference in choosing one band over another.. They all spend lots of money on bumper stickers, business cards, t-shirts, CD's etc..

they just need to budget in a good photographer as well ..

They also usually don't realize that our gear costs as much (sometimes more) than theirs..

keep at it .. and quit giving it away free or like someone else already said.. you'll always be the free guy

been there.. won't do it again

[funcrunch]

Originally Posted by Kellyj69

a band is still a business.. and QUALITY photos of the band can sometimes be the difference in choosing one band over another.. They all spend lots of money on bumper stickers, business cards, t-shirts, CD's etc..

they just need to budget in a good photographer as well ..

That's exactly the thing - bands are willing to spend a lot on promotional materials, but what good are those materials without great photos to go on them?

And I'm also a musician for what it's worth, a serious amateur on voice, keyboard, and bass, and the daughter of full-time professional musicians. So I know it's a really hard profession to make money in. But so is photography!