On the surface, the 8 models shoot appeared to be an excellent deal. OP herself had conveniently pointed out that if you sign up early & together with a friend, you pay $140, and its only $17.50 per model. Wow, what a price! However, lets looked deeper into the business side of this shoot, and here are my observations:
Pricing:
According to the OP, each of the 8 teams will have 20 minutes per model, total shooting time, 160 minutes Per minute cost at $140, its $0.88, at $150, its $0.94, and at $180, its $1.13. that is cheap.
Lets compare OPs shoot to the average shoot organized on CS. 6 photographers, cost is $50-$75 for a 3+ hours shoot, net shooting time 160 minutes, the per minute cost is $0.31 to $0.47. Well, the OPs shoot is not so cheap after all.
OP is promising 20 minutes per model. That is not bad, but if you divide up the time among the 5 photographers, its only 4 minutes of equivalent 1 on 1 shooting timel. That is very little time. Actually, bothering no time to shoot!
With total equivalent 1 on 1 time of 32 minutes, per minute cost at $140, its $4.38, at $150, its $4.69, and at $180, its $5.63. Compare to a typical shoot, the cost will be $1.56 to $2.34.
Shooting Time:
OP will argue that that you have exactly the same amount of time you have with the typical shoot with 1 model. True, but assuming there will be 2-3 outfits, for each look, you have 10 minutes 40 seconds to 16 minutes of equivalent 1 on 1 time to pose and shoot, vs. 4 minutes here. You are much more likely to produce the images you want with more time to pose and shoot. With only 4 minutes per model, you are better off just fire away as fast as you can.
At the end of the day, the shoot will be extremely disjointed. There will be no time to think about any shots. You will have to be a machine gun and hope for that lucky shot. Oh, you mean snap shots, yes, you are right!
Cost:
Now lets look at the cost structure of this shoot. Typical models on Club Snap charge about $150 per shoot. I will use the high end figure for this analysis, $250.
OP claimed to have 3 MUA on hand. Lets assume they cost $100 each for the shoot.
Assuming OP will hire 8 assistance to help run the shoot, 1 per model, and each cost $30.
OP stated refreshment will be provided, assuming that will cost $150 and assuming another $50 for incidentals.
Lets add up the cost 8 models will cost $2,000, 3 MUAs will cost $300, 8 assistants will cost $240, others $200, the total is $2,740. Add a mark up profit for the organizer, after all, no one is expected to do something for nothing, lets use 50% margin, that is $1,370. The grand total will be $4,110.
If every photographer who joined this shoot pays $140, the total take will be $5,600. If all the other costs hold constant the markuo for the organiser will be 104% of cost. Not bad at all.
If I double the amount each model is getting to $500 each for this shoot, the cost will increase by $2,000 from $2,740 to $4,740. Still the organizer will still make a decent mark up of 18% or $860.
I have nothing against the models making a good living, nor the organizer making a good profit, but what I see appears to be way out of line with the market.
What is important to me is not how much I pay for a shoot, but will I be able to create the images I want to create. With the amount of time and the ensuring chaos that inevitably accompanies such events, I dont believe its possible. Then the cost of this shoot is not justifiable, nor my time spent shooting.
Just my 2 cents. Melissa, I wish you luck with this event!
The Accountant
And please no need to attack me, I did register specifically to post this response, in order to protect everyone close to me.
