2nd shooting help

[doulahallie]

I recently worked as a 2nd shooter for a pretty large wedding. Being one of my first, I offered my services to the photographer for free (I know, not everyone agrees with doing this, but it felt like the right thing- I wsa there literally to do a I pleased, and she would still shoot everything) in exchange for the oppourtunity, as well as the ability to use images (with Bride's consent) for portfolio building if I choose.

All went well, Bride is happy, photographer is happy and wants me to work for her again in the future. Wants to know what I charge for 2nd shooter work. So now, Im stuck, I can easily see what people charge for their packages, but can't seem to find info on what the going rate for 2nd shooting might be.

Would love suggestions, resources, websites, etc. TIA

[3bayjunkie]

just charge what you feel your time is worth. it will be different rates for different people. If you think you should be getting $25/hr then thats fine, but if you think your time and quality of exposures is worth more, you can charge $50, $100 or more per hour. Keep in mind the time you will spend doing post processing and handling the photos.

[kelleyrie]

I see photographers paying from $10-$25 an hour for 2nd shooters. The ones I've worked with don't need me to do any post work so it's easy money

[Niresangwa]

You're not going to find resources for something like this as it's highly variable based on the photographer, and their policy. Of the handful of full time wedding photographers here, you'd get different answers from each of us.

I see many photographers who hire their assistants as an add-on to the sale as an extra $200 or $300. It's probably reasonable to assume that would accommodate the approx $15 an hour rate for a 10 hour day.

I think it largely depends on the extent to which it means more work for the lead photographer, dealing with your files etc, if you're using their equipment as well as how much help they're giving you.

The access to the wedding with no real responsibility on the day, especially in your position, is probably more valuable than a few bucks. As long as you get your expenses covered, as well as a little bit of pocket money for your time, I'd say don't be too pushy as long as you're getting permission to use the images for your own betterment.