Event Rates

[bijuphotography]

Hi Folks, just wanted to know what is the current market rate for covering a 4 hr event which includes approx 300 images.
I just have to present a quote and look forward to your response.

Regards
B​

 

[Agetan]

Hi Folks, just wanted to know what is the current market rate for covering a 4 hr event which includes approx 300 images.
I just have to present a quote and look forward to your response.

Regards
B​

There is no market rate... some charge $300 for the 4 hours, some charge $300 per hour, some charge higher and some charge lower... so how much can you sell your service?

Hart

 

[Cowseye]

When someone tell you a market rate, it's only a rate for his/her market, not yours.

 

[catchlights]

Depends on what types of market you are going after...
Some is $50 per hour, some is $200 per hour, some is $500 per hour.
If you have no ideal at all, just charge a rate that makes you happy, after all you don't have depend on this job to make a living.

 

[JasonB]

Hi Folks, just wanted to know what is the current market rate for covering a 4 hr event which includes approx 300 images.
I just have to present a quote and look forward to your response.

Regards
B​

You are just another one of those recent registered member with few posts and asking industry sensitive questions on a public forum and expecting to get answers?

Actually I can give you answers there indeed are market rates and common standards that dont stray too far but it is client profile dependent, region and photographer dependent too. Sometimes seasons. If I tell you the market rate for a certain genre of events photography is really $200 to $300 per hour do you really think you can charge the same? No, unless you are known in the industry for such rates and until people know you are there to stay and can provide value to them.

So end of the day you really should ask yourself how you want to do business. It's not about photography, which is just a small part of the process. Perhaps if you gave more info people may help more. Good luck.

 

[bijuphotography]

Thank you for responding. Appreciate the support here. Though some answers were quiet sarcastic but some were helpful. I am not competing with anyone so its just for me to better understand whats out there so i dont underquote the average rate thats floating around and affect the photography community. I dont get the feeling that everyone here believes in growing together .. Thanks to Jason, catchlights ( actually like that name) cowseye, Agetan. Appreciate your time. Yes i have seen newbies here asking such questions but even if i share my rates and they underquote a client just to get the work, i am sure that work wont match up with what i can offer in terms of work in my eyes. So everyone is different and unique in their own way. I am glad i joined this forum. Great way to understand how things work. Cheers, B

You are just another one of those recent registered member with few posts and asking industry sensitive questions on a public forum and expecting to get answers?

Actually I can give you answers there indeed are market rates and common standards that dont stray too far but it is client profile dependent, region and photographer dependent too. Sometimes seasons. If I tell you the market rate for a certain genre of events photography is really $200 to $300 per hour do you really think you can charge the same? No, unless you are known in the industry for such rates and until people know you are there to stay and can provide value to them.

So end of the day you really should ask yourself how you want to do business. It's not about photography, which is just a small part of the process. Perhaps if you gave more info people may help more. Good luck.

 

[Agetan]

Thank you for responding. Appreciate the support here. Though some answers were quiet sarcastic but some were helpful. I am not competing with anyone so its just for me to better understand whats out there so i dont underquote the average rate thats floating around and affect the photography community. I dont get the feeling that everyone here believes in growing together .. Thanks to Jason, catchlights ( actually like that name) cowseye, Agetan. Appreciate your time. Yes i have seen newbies here asking such questions but even if i share my rates and they underquote a client just to get the work, i am sure that work wont match up with what i can offer in terms of work in my eyes. So everyone is different and unique in their own way. I am glad i joined this forum. Great way to understand how things work. Cheers, B

I hope you don't find my answer sarcastic, the truth is in this business of photography is, no matter what others are charging, if you want to get the work, unfortunately, it comes down to how much you can sell your work. Sounds funny but one can charge what they want, but if they don't sell anything, then just another number to be honest.

Hart

 

[ellery]

Be thankful for sarcasm at least you got an answer. Most forums have a problem now that too many new people want pointed answers that are only gotten thru working in the business for a while. Most people who give advise are feeling over used. where all those who got advise earlier ? You know the ones that make the "Let's all grow together" sound when asking their questions ? Once they got what they need, they throw away the tissue (the forum). Do we ever seem them give forward - well it is a case of frewwwk to u I busy making money , tell the new guys how to do this right and have some one trying to eat my pie.

The simplest yet hardest thing to do in a business is set/quote a price. It is not an art nor a science more of a guess plus the same way to arriving at the answer is different for different persons. The american professions love the I con you to over price till you will never bet me approach - that is what I now call all the sites that tell you how to costs of a job. While they are not wrong, the fundamental basis is not longer holding true - i.e. that a client will pay because the supply of service providers is limited. When there are hoards and hoards of new enteries who do not care about costs, they will work for free how do you compete if you add in all your costs plus the fact you are new or at least not established with some kind of performance record. Plus clients are now mostly trying to squeeze vendors to give discounts; even established vendors.

How to tell you a number when it ranges from $6.50 an hour to $500 an hour with experience range from zero to 15 or more years ? Where do you fit in ? Are you like GI Joe I drop you in your underwear and you can still come back with excellent event pics ? Or are you rich uncle joe who carries in 2 top of the range pro cameras, top of the range lens (2 of each), 4 flashes, 100 gig of men cards, enough batteries to shot this 4x over but still has problems with get enough good snap shots despite a shutter count of 2000 frames for a 3 hour event? Only you can answer that and decided what you think you are worth.

Now the fun part - you think you are worth say $10 an hour, well the would be client might be think WDF mine is only simple job, any monkey with camera can do wat somemore think I stupid, my people busy otherwise I give my point and shoot to one of them tell them take some pic can lor. Wat I wan is some sucker who will work for a packet lunch after all I give him chance to shoot to be famous way. I find some one who appreciates me better, blow this con man outta my face. Some jobs it is better not to quote.

Hmm maybe the moderators could come up with some kind of stock answer for this sort of question plus the line "have you tried doing a thread search before asking ?" This question has been asked in various forms more than once. It could be only second to the search for "Sex" in google - I think maybe should do some research on this.

 

[Rashkae]

Hmm maybe the moderators could come up with some kind of stock answer for this sort of question plus the line "have you tried doing a thread search before asking ?" This question has been asked in various forms more than once. It could be only second to the search for "Sex" in google - I think maybe should do some research on this.

That's what stickies are for - and we know newbies never read them, all thinking their question must be unique and nobody in history ever asked that...

 

[Agetan]

OT a little here...

To be honest guys... As a newbie in this forum, they might not know things that is available.

Just like business, different client will ask same questions, just because we have repeat it a million times to other clients mean we should not repeat ourselves to educate our service to new client.

I was renting a car from Perth, the guy at the counter expect I know where to pick up the car, though It was my first time to Perth. So in this case, he just dismiss me. So as a client I felt really stupid, and well, I won't go back to the same company.

This is a classic issue with many photographers who think they know their business well and everyone else should know too and make it like it is a crime for new clients to even ask.

Previous experiences should be used as a reference to better yourself in business but don't just assume a client is a bad client before you start servicing them.

If you think Stickies have the answer, why not just post a link for them to click through?

I thought we are here to help or rather we are here to play seniority?

We all start somewhere, so help if you want to, or just keep your comment to yourself.

I am sorry but come on guys...

Regards,

Hart

 

[catchlights]

Hi Hart,

I think the car renting experience is not a good example here.

here is the photographer asking for how to quote a job,

so he suppose to
1) tell the client a price for his service,
2) shoot the event
3) deliver the results

Now he has no answer for the first question.
how about the rest of questions?
do we know him? like he can perform the rest?
are we suppose to help him all the way?
if so, are we really helping him?


what are the best way to help people like him?
are we going to encourage and train photographers to be like these?



seriously I hope NOT.

 

[Agetan]

Hi Hart,

I think the car renting experience is not a good example here.

here is the photographer asking for how to quote a job,

so he suppose to
1) tell the client a price for his service,
2) shoot the event
3) deliver the results

Now he has no answer for the first question.
how about the rest of questions?
do we know him? like he can perform the rest?
are we suppose to help him all the way?
if so, are we really helping him?


what are the best way to help people like him?
are we going to encourage and train photographers to be like these?



seriously I hope NOT.

I understand where you are coming from. We could give them the reality minus the sinister to be honest. Otherwise, we as a season pro tend to be seen as people who is unwilling to help. We seen enough, but that doesn't mean that we should not give them some food for thought for them to understand this trade better.

It is very difficult to understand this trade so by offering our views, we could help to make understanding this trade better and hopefully (minutely...) the general public who wanted to come into the trade will have more information that allow them to grow. I believe there is an event guide on Stickies, so perhaps we could better use this to give them more info?

Obviously, I don't recommend that people buy a camera and jump straight in and charging peanuts and hope for the best. Most of these people wont have the right information to start with isn't it?

Regards,

Hart

 

[ellery]

Hart I hope you are not tell me to shut up.

Read what I wrote - I am trying to change the game here a little. For too long we have been offer some advice which IMHO is not really enough to get a new in the field up and running, being thinking about this and fear we may have get some people get into trouble. My point here is that we have what advised how many of these people - 10, 100, 1000 ? Did anyone say thank you - yes a very few. Did any of them come back to offer any advice - even rehashing out what was told to them - no. So we sit here trying to lit candles in the dark, hoping that if we lit (help) enough of them it will help make a difference. From where I sit - we are still siting in the dark, with a few pools of light where each of us who contribute sit, as for those we tried to lit their candle we see nothing of. Did we fail or did they just walk off with their candle. Without a growing population of other contributors a forum is in danger of die back. I see nothing wrong with helping those who merit it, but not to what amounts to be takers only.

When I was starting out I was told one fact, it take time for be mentored into this profession - it is not just the shooting end, there is the business and the human side of it as well. Maybe I am a slow learner but I was told it would be about ( for me ) a 2 year process but that was in the film days maybe in digital you can do it less.

I must also admit that that lovely american line - educate your clients 1 client at a time is a lie in the sense that you can raise public consciousness that way. You want to do that - it takes a very focus public education effort one that no photographers association has done, however they do spend money on ads to recruit new blood for their association. But a UK plumper association is willing to take out full page ad to say "Use only a qualified plumber" so the same associations tell us the member and non member photographers that we have to educate our customers ourselves one at a time. I do not buy that anymore call me a heretic. I (all of us) do have to show potential client what is in it for them to use me - this is one is true and is part of the consultancy to sales.

Worse part is that this is an open forum, it is not restricted to photographers I am sure a fair amount of job posters would have peeked here and there to understand something of prices and then offer the super low offer to find the desperate.

I am being to help doubts how much we can really help. Get their feet on the ground professional wise needs a lot more then a couple of sound bites. Else we are just seting them up for the fall.

OT a little here...

To be honest guys... As a newbie in this forum, they might not know things that is available.

Just like business, different client will ask same questions, just because we have repeat it a million times to other clients mean we should not repeat ourselves to educate our service to new client.

I was renting a car from Perth, the guy at the counter expect I know where to pick up the car, though It was my first time to Perth. So in this case, he just dismiss me. So as a client I felt really stupid, and well, I won't go back to the same company.

This is a classic issue with many photographers who think they know their business well and everyone else should know too and make it like it is a crime for new clients to even ask.

Previous experiences should be used as a reference to better yourself in business but don't just assume a client is a bad client before you start servicing them.

If you think Stickies have the answer, why not just post a link for them to click through?

I thought we are here to help or rather we are here to play seniority?

We all start somewhere, so help if you want to, or just keep your comment to yourself.

I am sorry but come on guys...

Regards,

Hart

 

[Agetan]

Hart I hope you are not tell me to shut up.

Read what I wrote - I am trying to change the game here a little. For too long we have been offer some advice which IMHO is not really enough to get a new in the field up and running, being thinking about this and fear we may have get some people get into trouble. My point here is that we have what advised how many of these people - 10, 100, 1000 ? Did anyone say thank you - yes a very few. Did any of them come back to offer any advice - even rehashing out what was told to them - no. So we sit here trying to lit candles in the dark, hoping that if we lit (help) enough of them it will help make a difference. From where I sit - we are still siting in the dark, with a few pools of light where each of us who contribute sit, as for those we tried to lit their candle we see nothing of. Did we fail or did they just walk off with their candle. Without a growing population of other contributors a forum is in danger of die back. I see nothing wrong with helping those who merit it, but not to what amounts to be takers only.

When I was starting out I was told one fact, it take time for be mentored into this profession - it is not just the shooting end, there is the business and the human side of it as well. Maybe I am a slow learner but I was told it would be about ( for me ) a 2 year process but that was in the film days maybe in digital you can do it less.

I must also admit that that lovely american line - educate your clients 1 client at a time is a lie in the sense that you can raise public consciousness that way. You want to do that - it takes a very focus public education effort one that no photographers association has done, however they do spend money on ads to recruit new blood for their association. But a UK plumper association is willing to take out full page ad to say "Use only a qualified plumber" so the same associations tell us the member and non member photographers that we have to educate our customers ourselves one at a time. I do not buy that anymore call me a heretic. I (all of us) do have to show potential client what is in it for them to use me - this is one is true and is part of the consultancy to sales.

Worse part is that this is an open forum, it is not restricted to photographers I am sure a fair amount of job posters would have peeked here and there to understand something of prices and then offer the super low offer to find the desperate.

I am being to help doubts how much we can really help. Get their feet on the ground professional wise needs a lot more then a couple of sound bites. Else we are just seting them up for the fall.

I am not. Your views are always refreshing.

Offering help generally don't see any return and shouldn't be any return to be honest. The fact is many of those who takes the advise might not end up to be successful enough or may not feel successful enough to contribute while others are just too successful that they don't have time to contribute.

I can only say, we can only help as much as we can and how much of those help actually make a different, there is nothing much we can do.

Anyway, I just feel that sometimes, as a season operator, we can tend to forget how we start small in the first place.

Just ranting...

Hart

 

[Dfive]

I think the newbies should read this thread first....

http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/photo-biz/1229791-so-many-ask-should-i-charge.html