do i charge by the image or job?

Q) I’ve been approached by a publishing house to produce some new imagery from a remote area of southeastern Africa that will be used both in a picture book as well as for postcards and calendars. While they are a large company for this area, they are not that large on an international scale and they have stated that they can pay reasonable-but-not-lavish rates. They are offering different payment options (per image or per job) and want to know how I want to proceed.

A) As in most all cases, I recommend talking with the client and finding out what their budget is, what they would normally pay for something like this.

Get an idea as to how many images they are looking for and put together a shot list, then put that to a map and a calendar. Work out the logistics of what you’d be shooting and how you would be shooting it. Then you can start to get an idea as to how much effort is going to be involved. You also need to know what kind of turnaround time they are looking for, and how much post-production work you’ll be responsible for.

You also need to know what type of rights they are looking for. Do they want exclusive use of the images? If so, for how long? Do they want unlimited use of the images? Or, would you be able to do your own thing with them, including licensing them for stock?

The thing is, you are going to be in a position to capture images that are not that easy to come by. Not just anyone is ready, willing, and able to take on such an assignment. There’s value in that.

In addition to the value of your work, you have to know what you need to be paid for the work. If you had a regular, decent job, how much would you expect to make for the period of time you are going to have to put into this project? Add the licensing value to that, and that should give you a starting point.

There’s a huge difference between lavish and reasonable. Just don’t be taken advantage of…

Q) Thanks! I’m planning on researching all aspects of the logistics of the work. I’m still on the fence as to how to charge. I want to make sure I get paid if the project gets sacked before going to production, but I don’t want to sell myself short if it turns out to be a huge run.

A) This is a tough call, but I think you’re on the right track. Definitely do all your research, because, at the end of the day, it’s going to come down to simple numbers – and those numbers have to be something that you can live with.

Keeping it simple, look at it like this. You’ve got to get enough to cover your time and effort, as well as cover the value of what you are producing. They’ve got to balance you and a whole host of other costs in determining what they can afford to spend and make a profit. They have to look at you in terms of your ability to produce and you have to look at them not only in their ability to pay, but their ability to sell what you produce. Include in your research (as best you can) their past performance: how many books, how many runs, how much distribution. Try to track down other photographers that have worked for them and see if you can get some ideas from them.

After covering your short term costs and value, the main thing is to manage your rights. It’s very easy to wind up in a situation where you’re getting paid ok to simply feed their inventory. I have a hybrid arrangement with a number of my clients where I get paid for an assignment, shoot as much as I want, only turn in the images necessary (usually 1-5, but sometimes 15-20), and I keep the rest; the client has exclusive use for 90 days of what I turn in (this is known as an ‘embargo’ period) and I have immediate use of the rest. (Also, I make sure I turn in the best of what they need so they don’t come back to me complaining about me holding back on them!) This is why having a shot list is critical: you and your client will be on the same page as to what to expect when you come back. This also has the added benefit of you being able to fill your own stock inventory with off-the-list images (you just have to be careful that you don’t make available to others images similar to what you turn in until the delivered images are no longer under embargo).

Lastly, do not over-complicate your conversation with the client – that will make you seem difficult to work with. As I mentioned, at the end of the day it will come down to simple numbers: someone will produce a certain number of usable images and will be paid $xxxx.xx for their work, regardless of how the payment is structured. That $xxxx.xx just has to be acceptable to both parties…

Good luck!