Daily rates Qs

veryrandom

Quick Qs for anyone who can help me, iv been asked to assist/second shoot at a wedding and if i have a daily rate. Whats the going daily rate for this kinda thing? Or will i just say am happy with whatever their willing to offer?

Thx

Fajitas!

Depends on what the photographer is getting for the wedding, but you should definitely be getting a nice few bob. It's only the cheapskates that wouldn't pay you for your days work.

veryrandom

Iv tentively said about 20% of whatever their charging for the wedding - that sound about right or is it too much?

Fajitas!

Yep, that's about right, between that and 25% - Obv, depending how long you're there.

Steve Reddin

veryrandom wrote: »

Iv tentively said about 20% of whatever their charging for the wedding - that sound about right or is it too much?

Hi,

You might want to be a bit careful as you are basing your % on their gross return rather than net.

E.g. they charge €1,000 to the wedding couple and provide an album, a boxed CD and delivery that costs €350. You request 20%, but you're getting closer to 35% of their net takings; more if they are paying VAT.

In deeming whether this is fair you would need to know exactly what is expected of you; e.g. do you hand over the RAW files or will you be working on them yourself first, will their insurance cover you or do you have to have your own etc; do you have liability if things go wrong or are they talking sole responsibility.

The less you have to provide the more 'money for old rope' it is and the less you can charge whilst expecting to make a decent net return on your time. On the flip side, the less you have to do outside of taking the photographs, the less a % of the net amount you should expect to get as you'll have no real outgoings that match theirs.

I know if I were looking for a second photographer and I was going to pay 30% / 35% off my bottom line I might not be too keen to follow the conversation much further.

Hope this helps

Steve

Fajitas!

Steve Reddin wrote: »

Hi,

You might want to be a bit careful as you are basing your % on their gross return rather than net.

E.g. they charge €1,000 to the wedding couple and provide an album, a boxed CD and delivery that costs €350. You request 20%, but you're getting closer to 35% of their net takings; more if they are paying VAT.

Unless of course, the price the clients are being charged already includes the second photographer.

I know if I were looking for a second photographer and I was going to pay 30% / 35% off my bottom line I might not be too keen to follow the conversation much further.

Very much depends on the second photographer tbh. A second photographer is very much seen as the 'assistant' or someone learning the trade, but it'd very much not the case in a lot of situations, often they're the free-er photographer, able to concentrate on more artistic and candid shots. It just depends on how they work together.

veryrandom

Ok thanks, this is pretty helpful and ill take it into account! Am not used to be being asked for a daily/other rate so i wasn't sure what was the done thing. Suppose i probably should figure that one out! Thanks for the insight anyway!

Steve Reddin

Fajitas! wrote: »

Unless of course, the price the clients are being charged already includes the second photographer.

Unfortunately that information hasn't been provided.

Fajitas! wrote: »

Very much depends on the second photographer tbh.

Although it's moving away from the question, it doesn't as I was saying if I were looking for another photographer. I would want more than artistic and adhoc work to justify a near equal % of my net profit.

Other photographers are different, but again the information hasn't been provided as to what this particular photographer is expecting, therefore I'd not want to say a blanket 20%/25% on the gross fees is a fair price.

Hope this helps

Steve

Steve Reddin

veryrandom wrote: »

Ok thanks, this is pretty helpful and ill take it into account! Am not used to be being asked for a daily/other rate so i wasn't sure what was the done thing. Suppose i probably should figure that one out! Thanks for the insight anyway!

What I would suggest you do in determining a complete price is

1. Find out exactly what will be expected of you, both on the day and before / afterwards

2. Determine what you would charge for the amount of work you figure out in (1)

Leave aside looking at the amount the 'main' photographer is charging and trying to come up with a % of that. If the figure you come up with is accepted then you're quids in and you're getting what you feel you deserve for that much work; there's no fairer figure than that.

If it's declined then they are not willing to pay you what you feel you are worth. Whether you are overvaluing yourself or they are undervaluing you is another point entirely.

Hope this helps.

Steve