Fair pricing?

[robpendragon]

Well I have the opportunity to do some photography for an annual event being held in my home town, Salsa Night in Flemington NJ. The event last year brought in well over a thousand people, food, Salsa dancing, bands, etc...Anyway it looks like they have some big sponsors this year & apparently I was highly recommended by someone, the event creator needs shots for their new web site & I have to attend a meeting this week to tell them how much I will charge.
Now tell me if this sounds unreasonable...If this event has a huge budget because of the corporate sponsors does $350.00 for full day & $250.00 for half day sound out of line? I don't think I'm going to shoot RAW (as much as I want to), probably high end Jpeg so I can take lots of shots without switching out to often & cut down processing....I'll touch up & correct ant photos & burn to disk for them & ask for photo credits on their site. I'll be taking photos of dancers, bands, local sponsors & people attending the event. What do guys think?
Thanks for any input.
Rob

[frank abramonte]

Unless you are doing this for experience or publicity consider the following:
Your day fee sounds awfully low for such a big responsibility.
Your talking about "a thousand people, food, Salsa dancing, bands, etc". Just the coordination alone would require you having at least one assistant.
How much time will you spend correcting the photos? How much is your talent worth?
Have you put a limit on the number of shots you will take?
$350.00 for let's say a 5 hour day is only $70.00 per hour, for an 8 hour day it's $43.75 per hour. If you spend an additional 2 hours correcting the photos the rate becomes $35.00 per hour.
I would check with a wedding photographer as to the problems, responsibilities and coordination required in these large gatherings.

[robpendragon]

Thanks Frank, I'll have more info tonight after I talk to one of the coordinators such as the length of the event & what kind of shots they are looking for & I think you are right about the assistant especially if they need shots of local sponsors & definitely getting shots of attendees.
I'm really looking forward to it especially some night time dancing shots.
Thanks again for the input.

[JulieM]

Rob, I don't know a darn thing about pricing but I suspect you are underestimating how much value the event producer places on quality images for his website. Your images are going to be a really important part of his new site and the site in turn is crucial to the success of future events. I would think he'd be willing to go significantly higher.

[Whiplash-GT]

pics for their website?
so do they own the images or do you, or is it a shared copyright?
cut 'em a break if your after the exposure or experience, BUT don't cut yourself short either
the next time they'll expect the same "deal" and you'll have a hard time explaining yourself regarding the increase

i'd be looking for easily $3000 (2 shooters) for something like this with shared ownership
i won't tell you what the cost was for an associate my wife shot for a couple of weeks back (4 p/t shooters over 4 days..average 6-8 hours per day per shooter) but even $3000 looks like chump change :D

[kImages]

Rob - I think that you are really on the low end of the scale. Your photos are great - so charge a good price for them. For a wedding (5 hours of photography) I'm charging $500 as a single shooter. Prints, CD of images albums etc are all in addition to that fee.

Whatever you charge, make sure you have a contract outlining what you will do (discuss the shoot content in advance), that you are the exclusive photographer for the event, copyright (shared exclusive or non exclusive) and that they will give you photo credit on their website. Outlining the details in advance will save you headaches after the event. PM me if you want a copy of my wedding contract for reference.