Assignment Questions

Hang in there Shawn, I know that starting out there is a lot to absorb at the same time. It takes a bit of time to learn what the right questions to ask are.

As Tapia and Jim are suggesting, most photographers determine the fee based on where the photos will be used and how often. The idea being that if the client uses the pictures often and in prominent places, it's because it has more value to them and therefore, should have more value to us.

Determining whether or not it's a headshot (to me that means that it's against a plain background and is generally a vertical or square image cropped at the middle of the chest) or an environmental portrait (showing office space or similar in the background) makes a huge difference in price. In my opinion while headshots do take quite a bit of skill to do well, they don't take as much creativity as an environmental portrait. You don't have to adjust to the variables of ambient lighting, location, foot traffic, etc. Because of this, I charge considerably more for environmental portraits and they take more time to execute.

If you are shooting this for a small company it's very likely that they have no idea what to expect for these services much less what a reasonable fee would be. I would suggest that you take control and tell them the best way to proceed. 

If you say, "In instances such as this it's best to do the group shot first and the portraits afterwards. That way employees can go back to work once their portrait is finished and they won't have to wait around," you become the voice of authority. They now turn to you to tell them how things should be. Let them know, standard headshots are easier to do and more affordable (IMHO, based on my reasoning, above) so if budget is an issue you would strongly suggest that they go that route. Tell them in your estimate that the license for the images covers X, Y, and Z. For me personally the standard headshot covers publicity but no advertising placement– basically if they have to pay someone else to put the picture in an ad, billboard, etc., than they have to renegotiate at that time. (NOTE - I'm not an expert in British copyright law so consult a reliable local source first.)

So, what you were really asking about was pound sterling. Rules on sites like this tell us that we cannot tell you what you should charge because it's supposedly considered price fixing. (I'd argue that point, but not here.) What I can do is tell you what I would charge, and what I would charge if I were in your shoes.

For headshot photography in Washington DC, I charge a set-up fee and a price per portrait. The set-up fee covers and hour of photography, with an additional hour being charge separately. Each subject selects the image on the spot from either the LCD screen on the camera, an iPad or a laptop and is retouched. I would price the group shot separately. My set-up fee is generally around $325USD and each portrait is around $100USD, depending on the usage. The set-up fee covers the price of me getting there. The per person fee allows them to add or subtract people and know exactly how it's going to affect their price. The usage fee is also included in this per person fee. The additional hourly fee discourages them from making me wait around all afternoon. 

As far as the group shot goes I would probably charge around $400USD for that (assuming that I was already on location for the individual portraits) with an additional fee, if necessary for serious retouching work like switching heads, complicated removal of background images, etc.

So, what I would charge for something like this (business headshots and group shot for publicity use only) would be around the $1200USD mark or roughly 740 GBP.  I find that that is what I can charge and get a reasonable amount of work. Sometimes I think that it's not enough, sometimes it's the easiest money I'll make all week.

Looking at what you thought it was worth and after describing the circumstances I would certainly expect that the job couldn't fetch that much. Not that it shouldn't, but someone will be likely to do it for less. If I were in your place and hungry for clients like this my first offer would be around 500 GBP and see if they bite. If not than ask yourself how much you want to do it and go from there. Keep in mind that it will likely be more work than you're expecting. 

Also keep in mind:
  * The internet makes them big. If they put these on their website than potentially thousands of people will see them every year. This can mean a lot of value to them. 
  * Local does not always mean poor. My local "business" here is currently trying to negotiate a $14 trillion credit card bill. My "local" client back in Boston has over a trillion dollars under management.
  * Small does not necessarily mean poor either. I had another client that had a core office of 3 but outsourced extensively and billed well into the millions for their services. All from a 1200 square foot office in a second rate building near the dodgy side of town.

Good luck!
matt