What Does It Cost?

This can be tricky and we don’t post our rates online for competitive reasons. The most expensive shoot we’ve billed was $4800 for a single shot, but we can also provide you with ready to use catalog shots for as little as $29/shot. So you can see the details matter.

Just give us a call if you would like a quick verbal rough estimate. This can save time and we can immediately help you consider options and costs to best fit your needs.

We are happy to provide you with a verbal quote so you can determine if our services fit your budget and sense of value. I can state here that our rates are competitive and I believe offer you the best overall value you will find. That said I’ve had clients at both ends of the spectrum in which one has said I’m an absolute bargain and another said I was more expensive than his lawyer (maybe he has a cheap lawyer?). These were both for the same exact rate, so sometimes it’s a matter of perspective.

The Old Model

Traditionally commercial photography rates were based on a production cost plus usage fees. This makes sense when the work is contracted by an advertising agency for a major corporation and both the production and the use may be tiny in comparison to the media buy required (the cost of magazine or billboard ad space). Multiple uses of an image might be billed multiple use fees and those fees may have to be renewed after some time.
An example might be a soda can photo to be used in a magazine ad, on a billboard and later on a vending machine. Multiple use fees in this example are completely reasonable to all parties involved.

Production costs also had to account for significant film, Polaroid and printing costs, however investments in cameras were relatively low as a camera system’s cost could be spread out over 10-20 years because the technology changed very slowly.

The New Model

In contrast to the above model most of our clients would like to get as much use out of an image as they can and many times plan to use our work for both print and web. The images we produce are based on the full amount of time required to see the process through but do not add additional fees for use by the principal customer. This is called “All Use” as opposed to limited use or specific use. The quote may be all inclusive of travel, insurance, assistant, production fees, post production retouching and limited archiving or if special equipment, supplies and staff are required those may be added to the quote as line items as needed.

With digital technology we no longer have the added line item expenses of film, processing, prints and the like, but our investment in computers and camera systems requires a much more frequent and costly ongoing addition to our overhead. I will be the first to say that it’s the photographer that makes the image, not the camera, but quality equipment does contribute to the overall quality of the results and as such the difference in two photographer’s rates may not just reflect their experience but also the level of equipment they use in create their images.

In some cases we can split the costs between two or more parties if they agree that one party will act as the principal customer and all parties agree to a slightly higher rate before dividing the costs. In other cases an associated party may wish to license the shots produced after the fact. This option is available only if the principal client agrees plus there is typically a significant premium for the right to pay per shot after the fact. Some examples of this type of arrangement are with a general contractor, an architectural or engineering firm and perhaps subcontractors or materials manufacturers. We are happy to quote a program like this for your project if it makes it more affordable for all parties.

Call us today to review your specific needs to work up a tentative budget for your project.