Hourly rates....

[D.P.]

I was chatting to the events organizer of my wife's university and it turns out she is looking for events photogrhers so I told her I would be interested, especially since some of the events would be attending anyway.

I don't have much of an events portfolio but I showed her some of my wedding works which she loved. She just needs to know my hourly rate... Which I have never thought about before.


I have numbers in mind if I was to shoot a whole wedding but basic events are a very different breed.the thing is it is often fine to think of $300 for and event but stating $150 an hour seems a little odd. One thing to bear in mind my hourly rate also has to include processing time, of which I tend to do minimal work but even spending 2 mins per a photo is short but quickly adds up.


Looking around the area is we profesionals charge $100-300 an hour, with or without processing on top. I won't be added to the professional list because I can't do weekday daytime eventsso I will be added to a semi-professional list to which it is hard to gage prices. I'm ow the non-professional students get min wage ($10) so that is also a useless price point to look at.


The thing is unless the money is reasonable then there is little purpose in doing it for the money. I get paid around $55 an hour for my day job but that is full time and I get all the benefits like sick, holiday, vacation.

So I was thinking going with $75 an hour as half way between the students and the pros. That is certainly reasonable money but I can't help but think I would get almost no work because the students would only cost $10 an hour. And then I am also not that fussed about the money, I wanted to help the event manager out a little and I was cringing watching the student with a Canon 500d with 18-55 kit lens and no flash in the dark basketball VIP lounge. On the flip side I don't want to end up doing lots of events because I am cheaper than the pros.


If you were asked for a hourly rate for semi-pro work (due to not being available during the week day times) what would you set given these parameters.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Don't charge for hourly rate, quote for the job.

Hourly rate clause is in the contract in case job on the day runs over time and is added on top.

You don't really charge "work at home processing time". This isn't an office job. Clients see the time you are on site and do the work, what you do at home processing is irrelevant, hence you need to streamline your workflow. So when they ask you what your hourly rate, they are only thinking the time you are on site. So if the event is 6 hours, that's it. You can't bill them another 6 hours sitting at home processing when you deliver the photographs. That is not going to happen.

Don't charge "half way between" prices between pro and semi pro. You either charge money or you are not. You have the same legal responsibility as soon as 1 dollar change hands so charge what you think you are worth, not what status you call yourself. If you are so good that you can command $30,000 per shoot like some fashion photographer then you charge $30,000 regardless whether you do that 5 days a week or 5 days a year…if you can command that much then you don't really need to work 5 days a week.

So basically…how much do you think this event you like to earn?

 

[D.P.]

I know the processing time has to be including in the hourly rate and I would prefer to give a quote for the event but that is not how it is done at the university. The events manager has a table of photographers and hourly rates and will hire a photographer based on the event type and budget. Some events might have a $30 budget for photography in which case a student will be hired, other events have a higher budget. She doesn't ask each photographer for a bespoke quote for each event, the price is simply determined by the number of hours of shooting.

I am happy charging comparable rates to other profesionals but this likely means I will get zero work or experience because my prices will be compared to other semi-profesionals. The quality of my work isn't determining my status here, it is the fact I have a Monday-Friday 9-5 job so cannot be included in the list of professionals. The events manager has already warned me that she might not be able to afford me if I charge professional rates. The fact is that many of the events are fairly low key, these aren't weddings, birthdays or special occasions. These are things like hired a new faculty member, faculty social event to welcome people back after summer, faculty student graduation celebration. She has unlimited students at $10 an hour and many professionals $100-300 an hour. She needs more people that fall between the 2.

If I charge $150 an hour then I will have the pro rates but will be in the semi-pro list who's rates I don't really know but I presume are between $10 and $100 an hour.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Even as a professional every job you give a price for is at risk at the potential client finding you too expensive. There are even the opposite, there are people who associate price with quality and would only entertain photographers at a certain price bracket, if you are too cheap, you must be rubbish.

So, just think how much you care about the money for this, if you are not concern about a few hundred dollars and just want the experience then price it at a point that you know it will secure the job. If you value your time then price it at a level where you are willing to give your time for the job.

The question is how much do you want the experience for shooting this event?

 

[D.P.]

I don't really need the money but if I am going to have to plan, prepare, act professionally, deal with any stress and nerves (not really an issue for these low key events but I always want to give my best effort), and spend time processing then I want the money to be worth it, not peanuts.

I definitely don't want to do the work on the cheap to secure lots of events, I prefer to earn more and do less events due to pricing myself out of the budget end.


I will probably suggest $75 an hour and see what she says. I can increase my rates later although that isn't ideal. She may have a figure in. Ind which is much lower, in which case I will likely tell her to forget about the money, if she needs someone in an emergency I will help out. She is a friend of my wife's so part of this is more to help a friend than to make money.


Edit: I appreciate the discussion and views!

 

[ElDude]

Do you happen to know anyone that works in that uni or has done work for them before, even in non photography terms? Having an in-road or inside person may help you find the pricing they usually pay people in general.

A LOT of my friends are teachers, lecturers in a local Uni and I've no idea what it's like where you are (where ever that is!) but here they are EXTREMELY tight fisted, to the point of even making their lecturers pay for things to enable them to teach the courses they're hired for, then coming up with disgraceful reasoning to not reimburse them. With that in mind, most Uni's will almost certainly look for the cheapest option, be extremely vague and hope you lower your worth to them, in the hope of being 'their' photographer. Add to that most Uni's have their own film/media platform/facilities and you're on to a hiding for nothing.

My local Uni has a team of photographers that constantly churn out, lets say work to be polite, and people use them rather than hire people with a better eye, equipment, or skill level. It all REALLY annoys me.

 

[D.P.]

My wife is faculty and is friends with the event manager. My wife asked around but only managed to find out that the student rate is $10 an hour.

It is a private university with decent money to spend when needed but they won't pay $200 an hour for little social get together between faculty. E.g. Last week the management school bought a load of basketball tickets and we had wine, beer and snacks in the VIP lounge of the court. They had hired a student for photography. At the other extreme they hire professionals or have national film crews in when big events happen (president Obama visit, big sports events that are televised live). Somewhere I between are events that they want someone more than a student but don't want to pay $200 an hour or more for.


So e of these events I might be invited as a guest anyway, so I suggested I dont mind bringing my gear. I had in mind doing it for free as a kind gesture to a friend but realized I might as well charge when offered.

 

[ElDude]

That's a tough call then! I suppose you could go down the way of thinking, as you seem to be, $75 to make them use you and if they really like the product when completed, if they ask you for more events you could ask for more, based on the fact that additional events may stop you from earning much more doing a wedding shoot, for example, that you could no longer do as a result.

 

[D.P.]

Indeed, if I was already set up and advertising weddings then I would give them my standard rate but this is more helping a friend with events with a more mediocre budget.


Last October I did a lot of research on wedding rates because it was looking like I would be unemployed by now. Things have turned more positive with my employer so I don't need to shoot weddings as a professional job but I would still like to push my Photography more. Some paid formal events would be nice experience without the stress of a wedding.

If they go well and I end up unemployed then I will give weddinghotorahy a more serious attempt but I don't want to use my limited free time to earn more money when I have a baby on the way.