How much to charge landscape photography per picture of building?


enysc

New Member
Jul 29, 2009
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Hey,

I'm currently helping a company take pictures of their building, may i know how much should i charge them per photo?
 

Hey,

I'm currently helping a company take pictures of their building, may i know how much should i charge them per photo?

Before you submit your quotation, find out more details from your clients as these will pretty much dictate how much you'll quote.

Usage of photos? Publication? Documentary?
Size and type of building?
How many photos are expected to be delivered?
What are the deliverables? CDs? Prints? Book?
Time frame given for the entire assignment?

This is the time when you really have to get to know the building you are photographing so that you can work out an efficient schedule for the actual shoot. Which side of the building is getting the morning sun, which is getting the evening sun? What are the angles you need to cover to meet the client's requirements? Some recce work had to be done. Then you've got to consider the amount of time you would take to photograph each shot, including post editing time.

The actual working costs aside, you've also have to consider things like transportation, patrol, ERP, parking, etc which could come under a lump sum but has to be added into the quotation to cover your cost.

After all that comes the question of how much do you think your photographs are really worth.

I usually charge in the range of $150 to $200 per photograph but for documentary works which usually requires more photographs, this will not apply anymore since the quotation will scare most people away. In this case, I just quote a lump sum which will cover my costs + profit.

Its not easy to advise without more details.
 

Some cheapo clients think its just snap and go so easy and may even expect photographer to quote like a few dollars per photo with the promise of many more buildings and photographic opportunities to come...what a joke.
 

Be cautious there are cheapskate clients who will bargain and chop head because they can download images from stock side at 15 Cents.
 

Be cautious there are cheapskate clients who will bargain and chop head because they can download images from stock side at 15 Cents.
building shots in stock images site all need property release, unless is close up building or shot together with many buildings like city skyline.
for TS case is unlikely, is the building by itself and own by his client. if they able to find their building images in any stock site, probably already have many photos in their own photo library.
 

Kit's advice is sound, if the client get shock of the cost and want to bargain, you weigh is this job worth your time and effort, and decide from there.

hope this help.
 

Kit said:
I usually charge in the range of $150 to $200 per photograph but for documentary works which usually requires more photographs, this will not apply anymore since the quotation will scare most people away. In this case, I just quote a lump sum which will cover my costs + profit.

I've lost touch with the photography for many years now. Is that the "market rate" now $150-200? ;p
We use to charge $800-1000 for 3 4x5 inches slide for 1 building shoot. Some may charge upto $2500. However those were the post digital day. :cool:
 

Hey,

I'm currently helping a company take pictures of their building, may i know how much should i charge them per photo?

just dun charge them a couple of bucks per photo and spoil the market. :bsmilie:
 

I've lost touch with the photography for many years now. Is that the "market rate" now $150-200? ;p
We use to charge $800-1000 for 3 4x5 inches slide for 1 building shoot. Some may charge upto $2500. However those were the post digital day. :cool:

Nobody will stop you from offering those prices today. Then again, nobody's going to stop your potential clients to look for someone else too..... :bsmilie:
 

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Nobody will stop you from offering those prices today. Then again, nobody's going to stop your potential clients to look for someone else too..... :bsmilie:

For a large format film architectural shoot, it could meant weeks of shooting and reshoot. Because to do a simple digital touchup could cost upto more then $10k in those day.

Even with today's technology, I still think it is too low to charge $150-$200 per shot. It required lots of time to get a good shot and to do the PS jobs. What about overhead cost, transport ......... :dunno:
 

There are people who charge $80 to shoot an entire house.

There are people who charge $2 per photo.

You might want to speak to them.....


Tell you what..... the next time someone approach me for a quotation, I'll let you submit your quote and if they agree, the job's yours. How's that? and FYI, people nowadays usually won't wait a few weeks for a single photo. You'd be lucky to be given 3 to 4 weeks to deliver a set of say...... 10 to 15 shots.
 

There are people who charge $80 to shoot an entire house.

There are people who charge $2 per photo.

You might want to speak to them.....


Tell you what..... the next time someone approach me for a quotation, I'll let you submit your quote and if they agree, the job's yours. How's that? and FYI, people nowadays usually won't wait a few weeks for a single photo. You'd be lucky to be given 3 to 4 weeks to deliver a set of say...... 10 to 15 shots.

This is why I left the photography industry when digital start to take over films photography. The incident that spark me to leave the industry was when a colour separation company quote a digital photography job $1,600 when I quote $8,000. It lead me into going into lots of thinking and end up decide that it is time to leave the photography industry before digital completely take over the films.

How these people make a living out of such pricing. Even shooting 24/7 per day everyday would hardly allow you to make a comfortable living. :bheart:
 

Well, expectations differ I guess. I think of it this way. If you charge an average of $2500 per project and say..... you get about 3 to 4 assignments a month. That's close to $10k of income. After deducting the costs, I'm still better off than a lot of folks out there. Of course, I keep my business small and operate from home, not need for any studio space, etc. I'm sure everyone dream of better income but the past will not come back for the foreseeable future.

You chosed to leave. Others chosed to adjust their expectations.
 

Kit said:
Well, expectations differ I guess. I think of it this way. If you charge an average of $2500 per project and say..... you get about 3 to 4 assignments a month. That's close to $10k of income. After deducting the costs, I'm still better off than a lot of folks out there. Of course, I keep my business small and operate from home, not need for any studio space, etc. I'm sure everyone dream of better income but the past will not come back for the foreseeable future.

You chosed to leave. Others chosed to adjust their expectations.

Well, there's always a taker what ever the jobs are paid. Good luck! Kit.
BTW: You got a nIce portfolio of pictures in your web site. Cheer!
 

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> building shots in stock images site all need property release, unless is close up building or shot together with many buildings like city skyline.

Not true. Building shots for editorial use don't need to be property released. Only if the photo's to be used in a corporate brochure, on a company website, in an ad, and so on. However, if a building's property released, then it can used more widely, potentially increasing your revenue.
 

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> building shots in stock images site all need property release, unless is close up building or shot together with many buildings like city skyline.

Not true. Building shots for editorial use don't need to be property released. Only if the photo's to be used in a corporate brochure, on a company website, in an ad, and so on. However, if a building's property released, then it can used more widely, potentially increasing your revenue.
yes, only a few stock agencies start accepting images licence editorial usage, don't need a proper release, but the usage of buildings also is very limited, most buildings are simply not worth the efforts to shoot and upload, cos unlikely will have any download for few years.

I think TS is approach by some property agents to shoot some residential properties they are selling, unlikely able to find the photos from any stock image agencies.

anyway, it would be very nice that I can walk into Raffles Hotel and tell the owner, "excuse me, I just took some photos of your hotel, can you sign a property release for me so I can sell the photos". and he replied "sure, no problem, where do I sign?"
 

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this is a one and a half year old thread and TS didn't follow up, has not log in since last September,

a typical shoot and forget thread.
if have nothing else to add, I would like lock this thread.
 

Well, expectations differ I guess. I think of it this way. If you charge an average of $2500 per project and say..... you get about 3 to 4 assignments a month. That's close to $10k of income. After deducting the costs, I'm still better off than a lot of folks out there. Of course, I keep my business small and operate from home, not need for any studio space, etc. I'm sure everyone dream of better income but the past will not come back for the foreseeable future.

You chosed to leave. Others chosed to adjust their expectations.

I agree with kit. Expro, you have a wealth of experience. You could always try switching to digital. You have MF 645 d wiht 80 m pixels at much lower cost per print. Quite a waste, to leave when others, as kit says, adjusted and more than survive. I could only think your income now is better than your old days as a professional photographer.;):)

marcus
 

I am curious to know how willing are property agents to pay? Developers might have a deeper pockets? For big projects like good class bungalows or whole condo blocks maybe? I think if spending a 4 figure sum on photos can help them move a big project a lot faster and smoother to profit 5 or even 6 figures, it sounds reasonable. But for small resale units I would think rather unlikely?

Also for new projects which haven't even completed the building process, many are actually CGI images rather than photography?
 

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