[khardur]

Yes but I'm going to do it...

Over the past few years I've made a little extra money selling prints here and there to coworkers and friends, mainly nature scenes I've taken over the past few years. Because they're all close friends, I never charged enough, but it did pay for my last two lenses and the K200D. Through that I landed a job for a few engagement portraits last fall for a couple, they loved the photos but already had gotten a photographer to do their wedding. (Which honestly I'm not very interested in doing weddings anyhow)

So I get a message from the woman the other day, she's got a photo idea. She basically wants to comission me to do a panoramic picture of the view from the wedding venue sometime during the fall when the foliage is nice, basically so they can have someone else superimpose their wedding images onto it, in the event it rains all day long and they don't get the lovely outdoor ceremony shots they were hoping for.

That and she wants some basic fall shots they can maybe do similar treatment to. For all of the pictures they just want a cd or dvd with the images so they can have someone else work on them. What should I charge for this?

Other details: The place is a 45 min drive away, I'd do a set of images to create a panoramic, come home and stitch them together, then provide them with a cd and maybe 5-10 other "stock" images I've already taken that they can use as well.

[MJB DIGITAL]

costs: gas seems like the only cost right? but you have to pay that car payment and insurance and you are putting mileage on it and a bit of depreciation so...figure that in as well. your cameras are going to get some 'miles' on them too, so depreciation there as well. Batteries have cost as well...even those rechargeables have to be replaced after so much use.
Think about the time going into it. I charge $125/hr on 'special coverage'. You will probably have about three hours of shoot time (guessing). Add four or five hours of post work there....I cost $50/hr on that.
Materials you will have to buy if they need prints, if you are going to mail them anything, if you are going to burn a disk, etc.
gas
car usage and fees to drive it
camera depreciation
labor/time
cost of sales

I would probably tell a client that wanted a large pano $500 (includes a big print) and then mention that I would have to figure costs more carefully to suit the job, and that cost may go up or down a bit...

If you think that price is too high, don't worry about it. We both know that five hundred bucks can't stretch very far these days. You'll be spending a fair amount of time doing the job when you could be ...... making money, taking care of kids(if you have em), kissing your wife, drinking a margharita.

...can you pass me a margharita?

8)

[MJB DIGITAL]

dont forget to raise prices every so often, either 8)

[khardur]

Thanks for the advice, MJB. True enough points on all the expenses, though I doubt they would pay me $500 for photos only to be used as a backup plan.

That said, I just talked with the lady again, and she gave me a contact for the event manager at the country club.
Now, while I have a feeling I'm not going to be able to squeeze that much money out of one single photo - perhaps with a little talking with the staff I could get a golfer out there for a shot as well - a pano with a golfer on a green toward one of the sides (in the fall in the Berkshires, which is the peak tourist time) could make a good sale to the resort itself...
I'll keep you posted on how things go, but this is a project which is months away (mid-September at the earliest)

Thanks again,
-Dan

[MJB DIGITAL]

$500 is chump change to the country club. The difficult part is SELLING. There needs to be a reason for them to pay you even ONE CENT. So take that reason.....and run.


run like the wind!! all the way till the rent is paid!!

get my drift?

8)

[MJB DIGITAL]

ok i re-read your post and i think there is something fishy. this lady wants a big bad pano of her wedding venue.....JUST IN CASE????

i dont think so. keep in mind that photographers are an easy target to be taken advantage of. i.e. he has a cam...all he has to do is click and thats free so why pay....

I have a feeling that your $500 pano is going to be a marketing shot so that they can advertise their venue.

You should make a license contract.

Oh yeah. And if this is a marketing thing...you might have to boost the price a bit.

Good luck.

[khardur]

no, the woman is getting married. She wants a panoramic pic of the venue, in case the outdoor ceremony is rained out - so that she can have some of the resulting indoor ceremony shots of her and her husband photoshopped into the pano. (that will be done by someone else)

I don't doubt her story, because she had to change venues at the last minute but she was originally thinking the same idea. She doesn't work for the country club thing. But she did give me contact info for this lady at the country club.

No doubt, I will be having her sign a contract that this photo to be used for personal use only, for the exact use she described, combining a few of her wedding pictures with that, and strictly no other use.

I just threw in the idea after, that since she gave me a contact number at the country club, I could at the same time try to market some shots to them.

[George Lama]

I'm with MJB here - you need to be careful as to the licensing of your photo.

Everyone knows photoshopping someone into a photo isn't exactly a piece of cake. I can tell you unequivocally that photoshopping someone whose picture was taken in completely different lighting (interior lights + flash) into a bright, sunny landscape and making it look believable is going to be insanely difficult.

Also - a pano of the venue will probably be by definition very wide. How big will the people be in this doctored photo?

So when you create your licensing agreement, make sure you not only put what she can use it for, but also make sure you put on therewhat she can't do:

For example:
a) that it cannot be used for commercial purposes or to be exhibited in commercial venues without your express written consent
b) that it can't be passed on to third parties for their use
c) that it cannot be modified from the original, except perhaps resizing. Your choice here whether you want to restrict modifying color, cropping,etc.
d) that any use not specified in the agreement requires your express written consent
e) that you have a right to use the photos for your portfolio, self-promotion, or other use.
f) that you retain all rights to the photo(s) and that the agreement is only a limited use license.


There may be other considerations so you might want to do some research as to photo licensing so you can make your agreement as solid as possible.

[MJB DIGITAL]

no, the woman is getting married. She wants a panoramic pic of the venue, in case the outdoor ceremony is rained out - so that she can have some of the resulting indoor ceremony shots of her and her husband photoshopped into the pano. (that will be done by someone else)

I don't doubt her story, because she had to change venues at the last minute but she was originally thinking the same idea. She doesn't work for the country club thing. But she did give me contact info for this lady at the country club.

No doubt, I will be having her sign a contract that this photo to be used for personal use only, for the exact use she described, combining a few of her wedding pictures with that, and strictly no other use.

I just threw in the idea after, that since she gave me a contact number at the country club, I could at the same time try to market some shots to them.

oh ok. miscommunication. sorry bout that. i thought you were going to do some work for the club. i'll go back to kindergarten and re-learn how to read.

[khardur]

I'm with MJB here - you need to be careful as to the licensing of your photo.

Everyone knows photoshopping someone into a photo isn't exactly a piece of cake. I can tell you unequivocally that photoshopping someone whose picture was taken in completely different lighting (interior lights + flash) into a bright, sunny landscape and making it look believable is going to be insanely difficult.

Also - a pano of the venue will probably be by definition very wide. How big will the people be in this doctored photo?

all points taken as far as the licensing goes. Trust me there will be no exceptions they can use it for their own personal use with their wedding pictures, and that's it.


as for the otherp art, I honestly don't care about how big the people are in the doctored photo. I'm doing the pano, not the photoshop work, someone else they know does a lot of photoshop work apparently, and they are going to have him (or her) do it.

[MJB DIGITAL]

OK I've recently made a new price list. I'm selling 20x30 luster finish for 60 bucks. If you are making a pano-double the width @ 20x60, call it $120

However, from the way it sounds, they just want a digital file. Will your wedding client have the resources to print that? eh probably they can find somewhere online.