United StatesHow would you price a big (for me) executive portrait shoot?Hi all -
I just got a voice mail to price an on location executive portrait shoot for 140 employees. All my previous executive portrait shoots have been 1 to 10 employees. In the past, I've just done an all inclusive $100 per head. I know that's not the right way to do it. So... how would you price this? How would you layout your line items? Per head? Or would you break out more traditional line items like creative fee, post processing, assistant, etc?
What kind of price range should I be considering?
Thanks!
-Thomas
It may seem like it's a lot, because it is a lot of money. For the amount of work involved however, its not.
At the studio where I assist, it would break down to something like this:
Shoot: 6@2,000$/day: 12,000$ CDN
File packages(includes retouching of 1 file delivered on a CD/DVD):140@200$/ea: 28,000$ CDN We deliver one hi-res TIFF, One hi-res JPEG and one low res JPEG.
Assistant is included in the sitting fee, and a "day" is 8 hours.
Think about how much you would charge if you shot this many people individually... At the rate you are charging, you're leaving a lot of money on the table.
You're right...you're still around your $100 per person fee. I think your number is fair for this type of work. Personally, I'd go in a little bit higher (10-20% higher)...I always go in thinking that they will come back with a slightly lower number, so if you go in at your rock bottom price you don't have any flexibility.
For us, this would be a 4 day shoot (10 minutes per person, 40 people per day), so we would net more than you. However if this is your first gig of 100+ people it's best to make the days "easier" (i.e. longer sessions).
I would eliminate 2 edited files per person.
If 1,600/day is your regular fee, I would give them a discount, a nice one, on all the other charges
I don't really have a "regular fee" for this large of work. Like I mentioned before, I typically do $100 a head. Which this comes out to be pretty close to that. At $100 a head, I'm usually only setting up and breaking down once and I work by myself and it includes post. So... in a sense... I am giving them a significant discount. They are essentially getting 5 set ups and break down time, an assistant, DVD's, and delivery for free.
Interestingly enough, BlinkBid's estimator suggested about 6 times this fee.
May I ask... why do you suggest that I give them a discount on the other charges? Is that common?
Ok... I needed to get the estimate out quickly, so I went ahead and pulled the trigger. Here's what I estimated. I'd love to hear feedback:
Fees: Photographers Fee @ 1,600.00/day for 6 days: $9,600
Post Production: $3000
Assistant @ $200/day: $1200
Parking/milage @ $20/day: $120
2 DVD's of final edited images @ $125 each: $250
Delivery: $24
Grand total for the job: $14,194.
This is the first time I've estimated a job like this or estimated a job this expensive. So, I'm a bit nervous that they are going to freak out. But hey... it is 6 days of shooting and 2-3 days of post and other work. So, I guess it's not off the mark.
Thoughts?
commented:
May 26, 2011
Thomas Lester
Professional