acceptable working rate

[Mayfair710]

i am looking for advice for my niece who has been asked to photograph some horses she trains. she uses a nikon d60 (yes she is a digital girl) and is just 16 years old. she has been taking photographs for a couple of years for herself but has never had a paying job. the horses owner insists on paying her for the service...she asked ME what an acceptable rate is for her time and effort. never having been paid for anything, i have no idea what to tell her.

if anyone can advise me on this sort of thing i would greatly appreciate it. she doesnt want to over charge but still would like to ask for reasonable compensation for services...

thanks for any help...

~~marianne

 

[Ian Grant]

It's not really an APUG question

But she shouldn't under price herself, why not ask $50 an image, see what they say, she should ask what they thinks fair.

Ian

 

[jovo]

Consider whatever the cost is to her for each image (is she making the prints herself, or having a service do it), add something modest for her time as she's new at this, and make an offer. She (or you) could also call a local photographer and inquire about his/her rates for an on location session and see what is considered a fair price in your area. I would imagine that such fees are very localized and wouldn't expect what might be the going rate where I live (north of NYC) to apply where you folks do.

BTW, I don't think this subject is alien to APUG since the question is about how much to charge, and not about how to make the images.

 

[Mayfair710]

yikes..i didnt mean to cause a problem. had no idea it wasnt appropriate for apug. nevermind....thanks for the input anyway.

 

[Ian Grant]

It may not quite be APUG material but what the heck at least she's making images

Ian

 

[sidearm613]

When people ask to pay me (I'm also sixteen) for digital work, I usually charge $15 per image, plus cost of all materials. Also, have her charge $10 per hour spent photoshopping.

Having said that, I have a better idea. Have her demand (er, ask nicely) that instead of monetary compensation, the horse owner should buy her an F5, or some other high end film camera, so she can come to the dark side of the photolab. Or even better, have the guy buy your niece a darkroom setup!

 

[Aklens200]

Hi,
The general formula is as follows:
+20% over the cost of supplies. (ie film, etc.-film cost $2.00 + 20% = $2.40)
5x cost for print (print cost $15.00 X 5 = $75.00)
Hour rates or day rates are localized, ask around.
As a student I wouldn't go for top dollar. (maybe half or a third)
Don't under sell yourself!
Rich

 

[Paul Jenkin]

Also, tell her not to sign over the rights to the images. Ultimately, the images are hers and if they want to use (license) them again, they should pay again.

With the money she makes, she could probably get a Nikon F80 or F100 and use the same lenses as her D60 (assuming they're not the yoghurt pot cheapo DX kit lenses sometimes supplied) and do like many of us and have fun with both analogue and digi.....!!

 

[haris]

2x material expences (processing costs, transport to place, food she eat during session, etc...)

Average hour/day rate or average day sallary/hour sallary in area/state, or federal average.

I would use that as starting point, the she can add or substitute by her wish. She should not underprice but also not overprice.