Event photography rates
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- graphiknature
i was wondering what people charge for event photography. I'm in NYC but would like to see what people are getting around the country as well as in NYC.
- vaxorcist0
Varies,... a LOT.... and you might have people answering off-line, so check your email....
....but NOTE that many, many clients have NO IDEA about the postproduction we do, they're used to digicams outputting JPEGS that they just upload immediately to facebook, not the RAW files we tweek and tweek and photoshop for print quality output.....
So, I have to subdivide my rates into shooting and postproduciton. Showing a few actual prints (before/after post production) helps them get it if they're intending to use prints framed on walls....
- Miguex0
so many factors involved..
a wedding could start from a couple of thousands and way more."Shooting at clubs could be just for drinks, or not even that. I doubt there is a rule on what to charge to be honest. I would start by planning it as a day rate, including the post production days you plan to be using for editing, but chances are that will scare most people away, unless its a big event w big $$
- Kiino0
I agree with what Miguex & vaxorcist wrote above.
More to keep in mind...Do NOT agree to a work-for-hire unless you're billing north of $10-20K in fees. If you're billing them a few hundred bucks or even $1,500, do NOT let a client have you believe they should own the copyrights to the images and can have unlimited use of the images in perpetuity. That would be whoring yourself out.
In other words, be clear about what areas of use you, the copyright holder, will license to them...editorial, marketing/advertising, industrial, collateral, electronic, print, gallery prints, for-sale merchandise, promo items. Limit it and get compensated appropriately. Don't give away the shop by agreeing to/signing bad deals.
I had some delusional company approach me to shoot assignments for an extremely nominal fee and had additional plans to sell the images to other companies without further compensating me. They had that shit ass backwards. This was a company recently valued at $1Billion. Like I said...ass backwards.
Best bet, educate yourself here:
http://www.apanational.com
http://www.apanational.com/i4a/p…
http://www.apanational.com/i4a/p…Licensing Business Model:
http://apanational.com/files/pub…Work-For-Hire FAQ:
http://apanational.com/files/pub…Get smart and spread the word.
- Kiino0
Another killer resource for up and coming as well as experienced photographers:
- jaylarson0
thanks guys
*from the peanut gallery
- nikefreerun0
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- graphiknature0
Thanks for the help everyone. I will be shooting for a gallery space that hosts many events and they are looking for me to shoot 3-4 events and would also want to refer me to people using the space. I typically do music photography but I have some experience shooting events for a few publications. I'll go through these links when I get home. Thanks again for the feed back.
- 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...
- Kiino0
Consider structuring your estimate along these lines (this is a very loose example here):
Creative Fee:
-$XXX per event
-includes pre-production, 4-hour event production and online gallery for editing proofs.Post Production Fees:
-$XX per image
-includes hi-res file processing/image prep, retouching, dodging/burning, proprietary creative treatments & delivery.Licensing:
Usage rights granted to Company XX for distribution to editorial press, non-paid electronic promotions (web/email) & collateral. All other rights reserved. Additional uses beyond those stated will require negotiation of additional licensing fees.But you'll find more thorough estimate/invoice examples on the American Photographic Artists site (the APA links above).
- Kiino0
Here are two specific pages with solid info. Everyone/anyone would benefit from getting familiar with these details before entering professional photography negotiations:
http://www.editorialphoto.com/re…
http://www.editorialphoto.com/re…
- vaxorcist0
Have you asked their budget?
Often a prospective photo client will ask a bunch of photographers "how much would it cost to do x" and X isn't too well defined, they get a bunch of highly random numbers....
If you follow various industry guidelines, your price will be WAAY more than their "uncle bob" kind of friend-with-dslr expectation....
So, if you do that, you'll have to explain WHY your rate is more than lunch money, and why you're worh it.... as well as spend a LOT of effort making sure they understand that you're trying HARD to find out what they REALLY NEED, not just what they think they need....
good luck, try not to let all this throw you off the deep end... .but lunch money clients are rarely worth it, just like in a web project....
If there are alternate revenue streams from this gig, that can be a good thing, i.e. you can charge the gallery itself X, but anyone who wants prints HAS TO COME TO YOU, rather than just print them from the files you give to the gallery., You can upload them to a web-based service like
and make money on prints, and re-use.
Make it clear to the gallery that if a PR agency wahts to use your images, they owe you the same rate they pay anyone else. This can be a delicate discussion, you don't want to sound like an asshole, but you need to get paid.