Event photography rates
Out of context: Reply #9
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- vaxorcist0
Ok.... so it's probably different from lots of corporate event stuff, but beware of charging a gallery person X dollars and somebody else hearing about it and thinking you'll do something very different for the same price....
Try to figure out their unspoken need.... an evnt photo client may not know their main need is to get a very flattering picture of a certain arts partron standing next to the artist next to their work while talking naturally and/or holding up some award certificate.... that picture itself may be worth a TON in PR value, and/or solidifying a relationship when the arts patron has that picture printed and framed on their office wall. Finding this out partway through the event can be unnerving, as the arts patron may be standing in a dark and unlit part of the venue.... with no possibility of flattering bounce flash....and the artist may have already left the room....
So, I try to start a conversation about actual image needs, people, and how these images will be used before we talk about price... the "what is it worth TO THEM" is more important than an hourly rate, but make sure they don't feel manipulated, if you are calm and clear, they should feel that you're listening to their actual needs, not just quoting a commodity number....
Also make it clear to them that you WILL EDIT the images, as some clients may say "just give me the memory card and I'll do the rest" which is a terrible threat to your reputation, when I take a photo of anyone at an event, I have an implicit agreement with them that if that picture is unflattering, I will not let it see distribution.... I once worked with a photographer who said a certain very wealthy woman walked up to him at an event and said "Oh, you're the photographer who took that horrible picture of me a few months ago that ended up in ____ magazine...." ... and you be she may tell her friends about this...