 Ron Evans |
Charging for Product Shoots???? A family friend has opened a printing business and he has asked that I assist with some product photography. The pictures I take will be used for catalog, brochure, and web. I have zero experience related to this work and he and I are trying to come to an agreement as to a good rate of reimbursement for my time. We are trying to establish the market value of such a service and then we will compromise from there. The products I am shooting are surgical instruments. These have some extremely small intricacies which must be captured for the inserts along with the full instrument pic. If anyone can help it would be greatly appreciated!!! I'm on a deadline with this one. thanks
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Thom Schoeller |
Ron, If its any help and Im not too late I hope this helps. I do a bit of commercial "on site' photoshoots for businesses in a local touristy area near my home. I'll shoot exterior, interior or whatever for them. Images wind up on their business website, or even the local "chamber of commerce" website. Heck, even made postcards for two of them! Anyhow, charge is for $120.00 per hour. I dont play around with the time, shoot about 5 compositions and Im gone. Usually done within 1/2 hour, 45 minutes. Dont charge extra for post processing, as I make sure they know its included in the per hour fee.
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John H. Siskin |
Hi Ron, I think there might be a problem here. You say you have zero experience with this sort of work. I would think that this would reduce the value of your services here quite a bit. I’ve done product shots of surgical instruments, and a lot of other things. I get a lot done in an hour. I have met people, beginners in product photography, who couldn’t make a really good shot in a whole day. I would suggest that you get a few samples and see if you are suited to this project. I know wedding shooters who can’t do a decent product shot, and personally I’d rather have root canal surgery than shoot a wedding. Thomas’s pricing is fine, but ONLY if you get a lot done in an hour. If you’re shooting less than 10 products in an hour you aren’t worth as much as a guy who does twenty. Thanks, John Siskin
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Thom Schoeller |
I missed that VERY important detail. My bad, even after re-reading twice my eyes dont seem to want to rest on the second paragraph by Ron. (zero experience related to) Anyhow, John is absolutely right. Market value would be for someone who has the experience and delivers the goods. This is a good opportunity however, and I would be pretty excited in your shoes after at least doing research on techniques and applying them. I've never done "product photography", much less surgical instruments so even I would be hesitant about how much to charge or maybee I wouldnt commit to the photoshoot. Agree with John on the weddings as well :) Been there, done that and never going back.
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Ron Evans |
Thank you both for your feedback. As it turns out, I provided some initial sample of 4 instruments which were very well received by my brother-in-law, and more importantly, the customer. We secured the contract based on that initial test and I did a full shoot for there brochure last weekend. It definitely took me longer than it would a seasoned vet, but the outcome was excellent as I was able to provide usable photos for all of the instruments. After doing some further research online I found that many product studios base their fee simply on the # of pics used for the final product. We went this route, $25/pic. This actually works out pretty well on an hourly basis (as long as I get more accustomed to setup and settings). Weddings... done a few and it's stressful but I like the end results... not sure if I'm going back there again though...
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Thom Schoeller |
Congrats! Glad that worked out. Coincidentally, I charge $25.00 per image for use on websites for local real estate companies. (To use one of my images in my portfolio as a banner for theit site)
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