How much to charge?

ascent_studios

ascent_studios

Active member
I just got my first aerial photography job photographing real estate today and I was wondering how much I should charge per hour.

Time Spent: 30 minutes flight, 20 driving (Round Trip), 1:30-2 hours editing in Lightroom

Gear Costs:

DJI Phantom 2

GoPro Hero 4 Silver

Adobe CC
 
topic:ben_collins said:
I just got my first aerial photography job photographing real estate today and I was wondering how much I should charge per hour.

Time Spent: 30 minutes flight, 20 driving (Round Trip), 1:30-2 hours editing in Lightroom

Gear Costs:

DJI Phantom 2

GoPro Hero 4 Silver

Adobe CC
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how good are your photos/how much do you think your time is worth?

Then factor in the costs of gas and gear (not full price of gear obviously, probably like 5% or 10% maybe something around that, whatever it'd cost for them to rent for a day I guess)
 
13688465:nutz. said:
how good are your photos/how much do you think your time is worth?

Then factor in the costs of gas and gear (not full price of gear obviously, probably like 5% or 10% maybe something around that, whatever it'd cost for them to rent for a day I guess)
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Thanks a ton
 
100/hr

commercial industry standard is 800/day for a filmer or DP. So roll with that.
 
13688635:TallxT said:
100/hr

commercial industry standard is 800/day for a filmer or DP. So roll with that.
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Oh damn lol

I sent the realtor the bill for $25/hour haha

I'll change it up next time. Thanks a ton tho, realest answer out of them all altho Nutz's was pretty good as well
 
13688635:TallxT said:
100/hr

commercial industry standard is 800/day for a filmer or DP. So roll with that.
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13688676:ben_collins said:
Oh damn lol

I sent the realtor the bill for $25/hour haha

I'll change it up next time. Thanks a ton tho, realest answer out of them all altho Nutz's was pretty good as well
Click to expand...

commercial industry standard varies a lot depending on what gear you're running too though (rental costs and all), the production house I'm at's day rate is a lot higher than that depending on the gear used and what crew they need (lighting grip etc) etc.

I'd say 100 an hour is way too high for a phantom 2 and a gopro 4 silver, but it depends on what you're delivering I guess.

that said, it also depends on what your deliverable is, 5 images vs 100 images is a big difference.
 
13688748:nutz. said:
commercial industry standard varies a lot depending on what gear you're running too though (rental costs and all), the production house I'm at's day rate is a lot higher than that depending on the gear used and what crew they need (lighting grip etc) etc.

I'd say 100 an hour is way too high for a phantom 2 and a gopro 4 silver, but it depends on what you're delivering I guess.

that said, it also depends on what your deliverable is, 5 images vs 100 images is a big difference.
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Thanks

I took like 600 photos (.5 seconds time-lapse) and got about 25-30 good ones that I edited and sent
 
I factor in cost of gear, cost of travel, and have a base price basically its 85 bucks to even get me to show up and then I charge between 20-40an hour depending on how hard the work is. Then 10-25hr for editing

Now that's for 1 person project, for example my wcs work its unpaid but I needed to film 8 peoples parts in a week and then edit it all, If I was gonna charge for that I would charge 200 for me to show up and then decide if I charge per part or per hour of work. With this one I've already spent 20hrs editing and 18hrs filming not even on to the color grade or final stuff yet so you can see how expensive it could get. Prices will really change depending on your output needs and how much it costs you to produce the product. You want it to cover your gear costs at 5% but also make a profit to make it worth your while. Google some realtor photo companies or other videographers and portraiters ask them their day rates and just be like thanks I will let you know. Compile a list of the ones you feel you are close to on skill level and base your prices around that. Be confident in your pricing but not ridiculous, you as the artist behind the camera are providing a service that they cannot replicate.
 
13688854:Hoodliving said:
I factor in cost of gear, cost of travel, and have a base price basically its 85 bucks to even get me to show up and then I charge between 20-40an hour depending on how hard the work is. Then 10-25hr for editing

Now that's for 1 person project, for example my wcs work its unpaid but I needed to film 8 peoples parts in a week and then edit it all, If I was gonna charge for that I would charge 200 for me to show up and then decide if I charge per part or per hour of work. With this one I've already spent 20hrs editing and 18hrs filming not even on to the color grade or final stuff yet so you can see how expensive it could get. Prices will really change depending on your output needs and how much it costs you to produce the product. You want it to cover your gear costs at 5% but also make a profit to make it worth your while. Google some realtor photo companies or other videographers and portraiters ask them their day rates and just be like thanks I will let you know. Compile a list of the ones you feel you are close to on skill level and base your prices around that. Be confident in your pricing but not ridiculous, you as the artist behind the camera are providing a service that they cannot replicate.
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thanks a ton!
 
13688635:TallxT said:
100/hr

commercial industry standard is 800/day for a filmer or DP. So roll with that.
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lol, your PT school really taught you a lot about the work of commercial cinematographers and photographers eh?
 
13690579:hawaiiansteeze said:
lol, your PT school really taught you a lot about the work of commercial cinematographers and photographers eh?
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AT school, but nah I'm just rollin with what I thought I knew. was I way wrong here?
 
Many artists' first instinct is to see what others are charging and to emulate that, but this is backwards (I'll admit that I'm guilty of doing this when I started). Instead you must first calculate what you need to earn a profit, then actually be good enough to provide that amount of value, as well as market yourself to get people to pay that amount. Simply speaking, the calculation looks like this:

(Annual living expenses + annual overhead + desired profit margin) / number of days you can feasibly work in a year = minimum day rate needed to break even.

E.g.

Let's say you do the above calculation (don't forget "sneaky" items like depreciation expenses and emergency fund contributions) and find out that you need to earn $1,000 a day just to break even. Does the quality of your work compete with other artists who charge that much? If not, you need to find another source of income to support yourself while you hone your craft until people are willing to pay $1,000 for your work.
 
13691689:lIllI said:
= minimum day rate needed to break even.
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Whoops. For some reason this keeps showing up as an equal sign. Whatever, you get the idea.

Keep in mind that most people greatly overestimate what a realistic profit margin is, and end up factoring in something ridiculous like 20%. For reference, the median margin for 212 industries in 2015 was 6.5%. Wal Mart made 3.1% in the last quarter of last year.

Above all, be realistic and you shouldn't have any surprises.
 
13690606:TallxT said:
AT school, but nah I'm just rollin with what I thought I knew. was I way wrong here?
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I'd say you were pretty close for the day rate of an operator on a full blown commercial shoot. However working as an operator on a 25 person crew as opposed to a solo gig flying a drone for an hour is a completely different ballgame.

If this person was flying a cinema camera I would say your rate would be on point, but with the gear and job type I would say $100-$150 for the delivered photos would be pretty fair.

$50/hr for the hour of being on site and shooting.

$25/hr for the hour or two of media management and editing.

Then you leave yourself some wiggle room for travel and everything else.

I have found that clients don't want to pay more for the same product if you have to travel an hour and a half or 10 minutes to location so thats something to factor in also.
 
I started with $25/ hour last week and when I did a job for the realtor a couple days ago I charged a little more because she loved my work so I charged $30
 
Bump because i'd rather just ask this in here than making a new thread.

How much should i charge for a music video? It's probably going to be between 1-2 minutes. I've made music videos before for school classes and some friends of mine but never charged for it.

I'll be using a gh3 with an array of lenses, glidecam and tripod for it. What would you guys suggest? I was thinking like 150?
 
13696323:Chubz. said:
Bump because i'd rather just ask this in here than making a new thread.

How much should i charge for a music video? It's probably going to be between 1-2 minutes. I've made music videos before for school classes and some friends of mine but never charged for it.

I'll be using a gh3 with an array of lenses, glidecam and tripod for it. What would you guys suggest? I was thinking like 150?
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how long are you going to be shooting for?
 
13696379:nutz. said:
how long are you going to be shooting for?
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it will probably be over the course of a day or two, probably 3-4 hours per day. Really not sure. The last time i'd put this much effort towards a music video was back in 4 years ago in my media class in HS lol.
 
13696381:Chubz. said:
it will probably be over the course of a day or two, probably 3-4 hours per day. Really not sure. The last time i'd put this much effort towards a music video was back in 4 years ago in my media class in HS lol.
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Use those old videos as a reference that you have done this work in the past and are confident in the product you will give them. Tell them your day rate is around 150-200 and offer a 2 day deal for 275 with the edit included that'd seem fair.
 
13696396:Hoodliving said:
Use those old videos as a reference that you have done this work in the past and are confident in the product you will give them. Tell them your day rate is around 150-200 and offer a 2 day deal for 275 with the edit included that'd seem fair.
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honestly in the real world, I would never do it for close to that cheap. $275 including the edit is worthy of a cell phone music video edited in iMovie. I'd like to see the finished product, but if it's anything polished it should be much more than that.
 
13691691:lIllI said:
Whoops. For some reason this keeps showing up as an equal sign. Whatever, you get the idea.

Keep in mind that most people greatly overestimate what a realistic profit margin is, and end up factoring in something ridiculous like 20%. For reference, the median margin for 212 industries in 2015 was 6.5%. Wal Mart made 3.1% in the last quarter of last year.

Above all, be realistic and you shouldn't have any surprises.
Click to expand...

Are you actually comparing profit margins of large retail companies to freelance work? Freelance work can be as high as you want if your good enough whereas retail companies aren't changing anytime soon
 
13700492:Lucas said:
Are you actually comparing profit margins of large retail companies to freelance work? Freelance work can be as high as you want if your good enough whereas retail companies aren't changing anytime soon
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Yes, in the sense that most people have wildly inappropriate ideas of what a sensible profit margin is. Personally, I feel that if your profit margins as a freelancer are super high you're doing something wrong because it means you're not reinvesting that money into your business.
 
I think putting so much emphasis on what to charge isn't what should be focused on.

The added experience is what is most valuable IMO.

It is experience that truly allows you to increase what you charge. Sure, gear adds a bit of value, but largely someone is paying for you and your experience.

Obviously, don't sell your soul or work for free, but if this isn't your primary income, don't say no just because you're not making a large profit on the work. Finding your rate and what to charge happens over time; you grow into it. Also, so much of this industry is connections and getting out there and just working is how you are going to make those connections.

Hope this helps.
 
Analyze locals that offer the same service, talking about quality, compare yours to them and other things that you can add to the charge, and get the estimated thinking on a potential client
 
13701132:goodiepocket said:
I think putting so much emphasis on what to charge isn't what should be focused on.

The added experience is what is most valuable IMO.

It is experience that truly allows you to increase what you charge. Sure, gear adds a bit of value, but largely someone is paying for you and your experience.

Obviously, don't sell your soul or work for free, but if this isn't your primary income, don't say no just because you're not making a large profit on the work. Finding your rate and what to charge happens over time; you grow into it. Also, so much of this industry is connections and getting out there and just working is how you are going to make those connections.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

It does help and I 1000000000% agree with you. I've done a bunch of films for free so I know what you're talking about but the realtor offered to pay me so I said yes and I was just wondering what would be a fair price for her and me
 
13701132:goodiepocket said:
I think putting so much emphasis on what to charge isn't what should be focused on.

The added experience is what is most valuable IMO.

It is experience that truly allows you to increase what you charge. Sure, gear adds a bit of value, but largely someone is paying for you and your experience.

Obviously, don't sell your soul or work for free, but if this isn't your primary income, don't say no just because you're not making a large profit on the work. Finding your rate and what to charge happens over time; you grow into it. Also, so much of this industry is connections and getting out there and just working is how you are going to make those connections.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

It does help and I 1000000000% agree with you. I've done a bunch of films for free so I know what you're talking about but the realtor offered to pay me so I said yes and I was just wondering what would be a fair price for her and me
 
13701132:goodiepocket said:
I think putting so much emphasis on what to charge isn't what should be focused on.

The added experience is what is most valuable IMO.

It is experience that truly allows you to increase what you charge. Sure, gear adds a bit of value, but largely someone is paying for you and your experience.

Obviously, don't sell your soul or work for free, but if this isn't your primary income, don't say no just because you're not making a large profit on the work. Finding your rate and what to charge happens over time; you grow into it. Also, so much of this industry is connections and getting out there and just working is how you are going to make those connections.

Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

It does help and I 1000000000% agree with you. I've done a bunch of films for free so I know what you're talking about but the realtor offered to pay me so I said yes and I was just wondering what would be a fair price for her and me
 
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