«

The local community college has asked me if I would be willing to
photograph events for them and they are willing to pay for my time.

Up until now photography has been strictly hobby so I really don't
know what a reasonable rate range might be.

It's a fully digital operation and all I'm doing is the photography,
they will handle any printing etc.

Thanks
Drifter

set an hourly rate that you think is appropriate, and charge them with how
long you think you'll be there, and how long you'll be editing on your
computer.

if you're not going to be working hard, an hourly rate of $50 would be kinda
stupid. But, if you're getting 5 good shots every minute, and keep it up
for 2 hours....

good luck

--
Jerry
www.whatevah.com / jerry at whatevah dot com
(spambait )

"Drifter" <> wrote in message
news:...
> The local community college has asked me if I would be willing to
> photograph events for them and they are willing to pay for my time.
>
> Up until now photography has been strictly hobby so I really don't
> know what a reasonable rate range might be.
>
> It's a fully digital operation and all I'm doing is the photography,
> they will handle any printing etc.
>
> Thanks
> Drifter

"Drifter" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Up until now photography has been strictly hobby so I really don't
> know what a reasonable rate range might be.


Phone your local photographer and ask how much he would charge to do a
similar job - that's your starting point.
--
For Welsh Military Flying visit .......
www.groups.yahoo.com/group/V-A-S/

On 11/9/03 3:12 PM, in article
, "RustY©"
<> wrote:

> "Drifter" <> wrote in message
> news:...
>> Up until now photography has been strictly hobby so I really don't
>> know what a reasonable rate range might be.
>
>
> Phone your local photographer and ask how much he would charge to do a
> similar job - that's your starting point.
Are you serious? Call a Pro and use his rates? That's a little brash for a
person who is still "wet behind the ears" amateur as he admits. Did you not
factor in the cost of the pro's equipment, studio rent, insurance,
maintenance, etc. Not to mention years of acquired skill and knowledge.
About 1/3 of what the local pro rates would probably be too much. What a
poor answer...


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"George Kerby" <> wrote in message
news:BBD414D5.24E2E%...
> Are you serious?

Deadly. As I said that's the starting point. You just need to work out
from that how much to knock off to tempt them to hire you instead of the
pro.
--
For Welsh Military Flying visit .......
www.groups.yahoo.com/group/V-A-S/

On 11/9/03 4:16 PM, in article
, "RustY©"
<> wrote:

> "George Kerby" <> wrote in message
> news:BBD414D5.24E2E%...
>> Are you serious?
>
> Deadly. As I said that's the starting point. You just need to work out
> from that how much to knock off to tempt them to hire you instead of the
> pro.
And about 25% of that. So the previous poster's estimate ~$50.00 hr would be
correct in major markets. Less in the boonies...


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>Are you serious? Call a Pro and use his rates? That's a little brash for a
>person who is still "wet behind the ears" amateur as he admits. Did you not
>factor in the cost of the pro's equipment, studio rent, insurance,
>maintenance, etc. Not to mention years of acquired skill and knowledge.
>About 1/3 of what the local pro rates would probably be too much. What a
>poor answer...

I don't know if it is as poor of an answer as you would lead. Personally I
would agree with you though, to the extent of calling a pro and asking what he
would charge. I have never done that but I have heard that many others do, and
it could be valuable, AS A STARTING POINT. But largely, it is irrelevent. As
you state there are variables that are the real issue that might be different
in your situation.

However, just because one is an amateur, which from Websters is defined to mean
2 : one who engages in a pursuit, study, science, or sport as a pastime rather
than as a profession, that doesn't mean that a person is less experienced or
poorly equipped than a professional. That also doesn't mean that one has to
relegate oneself to a substandard wage for the same work or product that
another earns, just because the other guy is doing it as a profession. For the
most part you can charge what you require or what the market will bare.

Right now, I am engaged in Photography more as a pastime or hobby than a
profession. I hope to develop my work to a profession but that is more an
issue of business organization and time to devote to it. Not one of experience
or talent or ability. Nor is it one of equipment. I do similar work as is
described. I do it for a local high school when I am taping sporting events
for the coaches or other specific projects that the school might require. I
use fairly expensive equipment to do my work and bring with me about 10 years
of experience and education in Radio and Television Production. I also go out
and photograph projects for individuals and businesses for such things as trade
show exhibits, websites.... I have a computer and software, (Photoshop) a
photo printer, 35mm SLR and Lenses, Film and Slide Scanner, NIKON DSLR w/Nikkor
Glass, Flash, and all the same that many professonal photographers have. As
for still photography I have far more experience than the video listed above.
Going back to 1978. All totalled, I have accumulated over $10,000 worth of
equipment, maybe even far upward, when you consider computers, cameras, video
recorders, lenses, and so on. I do work out of my home so that is a savings
that a larger professional might be paying. However, not all professional
photographers work out of fancy store front studios. There are plenty that
work out of their homes too. Then there is the market you are referring to.
What one might charge in Chicago might not hold up well in rural Wisconsin or
even in some smaller towns as little as 50 miles from Chicago even. Thus to
say what you should charge here might not be appropriate for you wherever you
are.

Personally, my approach to what I have been charging is this. First I am
lucky that the athletic department at the high school is very fair. I didn't
have to think much about it. They set the rate and prefer to consider and pay
me as an payroll employee and I agreed to that. It was actually a low to fair
price for an independant contractor situation. However, as an employee, They
pay me as a part time employee and pay me a rate, PER GAME. They pay portions
of taxes, medicare, fica... and all. Being part time though there are no
benefits or insurance... I have found that this actually may work well in this
situation. First, I don't have to deal with the bookeeping and all. I just
give them invoices every 15 days when there is something to bill. They send me
a check. Also, being an employee, there is certain insurance issues while
doing a game. A friend who does the same work had a camera fall off of the
roof of the press box. The camera hit a fan on the arm and broke the guys
wrist. Being an employee of the school and working on their behalf, it is my
understanding that, he didn't have the liability. When working with electric
cables and all anything that can simplify the hasstles of insurance etc. is
worthwhile in the long run. As a note here, I try to keep my setups as simple
as possible to avoid such hazzards. Also I don't have the worry of the tax
implications of this job. That is all witheld. Since I am currently, taking
time away from work for family needs, working this way keeps my experience up
and keeps me contributing into SS and Medicare for my later years.

Other work that I do is of the type where I produce tapes and sell copies. For
that I consider what my expectation of sales will be. That comes more with
experience where you begin to get a feel for how many tapes you will sell. I
can only say that you need to just do it a little to see how the market, in
your area, goes. Then I price the tapes to get my return that I need to make
it worthwhile. Figure out the cost for the blank tapes and other materials for
shipping packaging etc. Then tack on what you need to cover other expenses and
for yourself. You should probably sit down and try and figure how many hours a
week you expect to work and what you need to make per hour to support yourself.
Then add on any extra expenses, materials, supplemental staff or equipment you
might need to lease or rent and figure out how much you need to charge per hour
to pay the bills and all. If you expect to sell 5 tapes, each tape will be
more than if you expect to sell 10 tapes. You might even try and get
committments for advance sales to get you going or see if someone will front
the money for you to tape or photograph and discount back based on sales.
Consider your market and see what people will tolerate. There is some basic
economics here. Price less and you might sell more tapes, or photos, and make
more profit than if you sell fewer higher priced tapes or pictures. In my area
I find that people will spend $15 to $20 for a VHS without even thinking.
Start charging more and they start thinking. The longer your buyer thinks the
less likely they will ultimately buy. When I sell tapes like this I print up
some order forms and put them out for the fans at a game or to distribute to
parents. If they fill it out and give you a $20 that is better than if they
take it home. Once they take it and put it in their pocket, it will go through
the wash, get lost, dropped, forgotten about... A few might straggle in over
time but no where near if you had the price where they didn't even think about
it before giving you the money.

So, basically, I hope you can see, figure out what your time and materials are
worth and price yourself accordingly. Are they going to pay you as an
employee? Or are you going to be an Independant Contractor and have to pay
taxes as Self Employed. If the latter you will need more since you have to
pay both portions of the taxes. In the other case they might pay you less up
front but they are also paying a portion of your taxes and retirement.
(SS/MEDICARE). Do you have to provide materials like film, paper,... (you
said they were taking care of that) or do you have to provide materials. Is
there travel involved? Your Car? Gas?...

"RustY©" <> wrote:

> Phone your local photographer and ask how much he would charge to do a
> similar job - that's your starting point.

No, that's _his_ starting point. _Your_ starting point may be quite
different, for any number of reasons.

<> wrote in message
news: om...
> "RustY©" <> wrote:
>
> > Phone your local photographer and ask how much he would charge to do a
> > similar job - that's your starting point.
>
> No, that's _his_ starting point. _Your_ starting point may be quite
> different, for any number of reasons.

Plenty of experience and expert knowledge at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/editorialphoto/

$50 an hour? That is too much for an amateurs time, especially if he
doesn't have very expensive gear. I think $20-25 an hour would be
more appropriate. Keep in mind that this is for a college, which
probably doesn't have a huge budget for things like this. I wouldn't
be surprised if they offered you $10 an hour.

George Kerby wrote:

> On 11/9/03 4:16 PM, in article
> , "RustY©"
> <> wrote:
>
> > "George Kerby" <> wrote in message
> > news:BBD414D5.24E2E%...
> >> Are you serious?
> >
> > Deadly. As I said that's the starting point. You just need to work out
> > from that how much to knock off to tempt them to hire you instead of the
> > pro.
> And about 25% of that. So the previous poster's estimate ~$50.00 hr would be
> correct in major markets. Less in the boonies...
>
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