Comments on: What To Charge – Advertising Photography

By: SullySullivan Photography » Blog Archive » stop the car…

SullySullivan Photography » Blog Archive » stop the car… — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:45:28 +0000

[...] all of this help us photographers would be lost. I know this, as a full time assistant as well. Here is a little insight for what help is worth in our industry and the amount of work that goes on [...]

By: A look into advertising and charging

A look into advertising and charging — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:40:13 +0000

[...] look into advertising and charging – Today, 03:38 PM A Photo Editor – What To Charge – Advertising Photography Registered members do not see these ads. REGISTER today for your free membership and [...]

By: André Weigel

André Weigel — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 10:43:29 +0000

Very interesting… thank you, for this blog post !

By: Wie sehen Kostenvoranschläge in der Werbefotografie aus? » Magazin für Fotografie

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 09:47:05 +0000

[...] In anderen Ländern ist das oft anders. Rob Haggart, bekannt als “A Photo Editor” stellte im letzten Jahr drei reale Kostenvoranschläge online. [...]

By: Judy Atlanta

Judy Atlanta — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:06:04 +0000

@Charlotte,

I second that emotion. what planet does this woman live on?? I remember now why I stopped looking at one of the other photo
websites….Debra Weiss….why such arrogance?…are you going thru the change?
take some wellbutrin and chill a little.

By: Daniel Rechel

Daniel Rechel — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:07:38 +0000

I’m lucky if I make $500 per week. Hmmmm

By: Heath Korvola » Blog Archive » on a roll with pricing + more

Heath Korvola » Blog Archive » on a roll with pricing + more — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:14:57 +0000

[...] laying out examples + keeping it real – if you get into the discussion part of the ‘what to charge‘ piece you’ll see what i mean – thanks [...]

By: Two Cents

Two Cents — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:22:12 +0000

Regarding the estimate:
There is a huge disconnect here that reminds me of email.
The face to face emotion and nuance is lost.

Unless I missed it in the above posts this discussion seems out of context.
The missing link is the human connection,that of trust, and face to face understanding.

It certainly is a LOW FEE
Looking at this invoice at face value you might assume correctly, that the images produced will be appearing in many major magazines for 24 consecutive months at an estimated media buy of say 20 million.
100,000 dollars is not alot of money for that many reprints of your image.
(less than .5 of 1 percent of the buy)

It is a very HIGH FEE
But in a face to face meeting with a midsize brand marketing rep. the photographer/Agent knows that they have a budget of under 1 million allocated for the media buy. AND
The Clients Marketing Department wants the flexibility to change direction and place ads on a whim in an emerging market. Do you face them down knowing full well the chances of them growing exponentially and using the image to the above extent is very unlikely.
(In this case your fee is over 10 percent of the buy)

By: Charles

Charles — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:26:00 +0000

@Charles, reach me at charles_chuck69@yahoo.com

By: Charles

Charles — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:24:48 +0000

I am starting to become a photographer and would like to do something like this. Can you give me some information that would help me get ready for something like this. Thank you

By: Terry Thomas Photos

Terry Thomas Photos — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 08:32:13 +0000

@Steven Currie:

Could you explain the section that discusses 4×5 equipment? What is the “4″ in reference to? Why then no charge for film and processing. What’s the point of this section if no 4×5 gear were used?

If 4×5 gear was taken along then the Excess Baggage fees seem low. (I still shoot 4×5 for some clients.)

Thanks.

Terry Thomas
Atlanta, Georgia USA

By: Photography costs how much? « BarlowProse

Photography costs how much? « BarlowProse — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 15:10:24 +0000

[...] primarily of professional photographers and photo buyers. Read the full story here. And know that the discussion that followed this revelation was not how expensive these $12,500 [...]

By: Robert

Robert — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 04:14:13 +0000

@Robert, Ok. I was wondering why “Advertising Agency Art Director” was capitalized and “award winning fine art photographer” wasn’t. I could quote Erykah Badu and tell you, “I’m an artist and I’m sensitive about my shit.” but the truth is I am just a sh*t disturber. I’ll pick on anybody. I’ll even pick on Debra.
Debra has catered to my shallow sensitivities and capitalized Fine Art Photographer on her blog. I would have liked for her to de-capitalize Art Director as well but that is just because I tend to wallow in my shallow victories.

By: Robert

Robert — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 02:41:42 +0000

@whoever If he is an “award winning Advertising Agency Art Director” why isn’t he an “award winning Fine Art Photographer”?

By: frickin idiot she is

frickin idiot she is — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 10:46:53 +0000

@Peter,

No that was me, the commentator. thinking that I am an idiot for commenting

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 18:18:48 +0000

@Frickin Idiot she is,
Idiot? How so?
(Rob, is that you?)

By: Peter

Peter — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:07:40 +0000

@Robert,
Amen brother. Amen.

By: Hasnain Dattu

Hasnain Dattu — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:34:30 +0000

Hey Marco. Absolutely right, There are no dumb questions.

A producer by defacto of the name produces the job for you. He or she will figure out how to get the job done for you, allowing you to deal with the creative side.

A good producer will take the nitty gritty out of the shoot, buffering you from the things you do not need to be involved with like travel plans. They are your partners in getting the job done.

There are also many good producers who have a great knowledge of pricing for fees and usage. You just have to find someone you can work with.

To find producers, just look at the various resource books out there. Maybe Rob has a good resource of producers he could share with us.

By: Frickin Idiot she is

Frickin Idiot she is — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:15:55 +0000

From Debra Weiss Blog. (UPDATED for the first time since March 09)

http://debraweiss.blogspot.com/2009/09/responses-to-what-to-charge-advertising.html

This is the temporary home of my blog.

Over the next few days I will be responding to comments that have been directed towards me as a result of a recent discussion of advertising photography fees on A Photo Editor.

For openers, and with his permission, I am posting an e-mail I received yesterday from a 20+ year veteran award winning Advertising Agency Art Director. He is also an award winning fine art photographer.

Debra

Just read all the shenanigans over on A Photo Editor.

What a bunch of babies.

Obviously very few of the commenters are serious photographers.

And the rest should know better.

And Rob isn’t exactly helping.

Hope all is well.

***********************

More to come.

For questions/comments, please contact me at dw@debraweiss.com

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:52:00 +0000

@Shane, Here is my take on it. Debra Weiss has been in and around this business for a very long time. She can surely remember when one had to have a very high level of skillsets to make it as Pro. Many photographers these days are nothing more than miners sent out to gather the raw materials to hand over to the photoshop jeweler to be turned into art. Once was a time when photos had to be perfect. Nowadays, the agencies often make more on “fixing” the images in their studios than the photographer was paid to shhoot it in the first place.
She has seen more than her share of talented artists who dedicated the best years of their lives to a profession only to find themselves in the end unable to send their kids to school or keep a home or ever hope of anything resembling a traditional retirement. She knows what it takes for the long term survival in this industry. Debra Weiss has earned an opinion.
These days it seems that anyone who has “earned” $1.80 from a dozen sales on istockphoto is suddenly a pro and has deservedly earned an opinion about “our” industry.
I don’t know how Debra manages to maintain her dedication to championing the highest standards for our profession to a such a bunch of whiny crybabies for all these years but I can tell you this… When we no longer have the voices of Debra and her kind pushing us to work harder and dream higher, most of us will be getting fitted for Fedex uniforms.
Because photographs will be available out of bubblegum dispensers.

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:16:52 +0000

@Erica Chadwick, It is certainly a good idea on the agencies part to pay the talent directly in order to insure that they were paid and that the releases are binding. Quite often though agency policy requires that in order for a check to be issued to a vendor, that person or representative must clear a process with the agencies accounting department. In many cases that department will not even be in your city and sometimes not even in your country. So, it is quite often much more expedient for the talent to be paid through the photographer.

By: Robert

Robert — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:06:50 +0000

@dude, I just have to ask… is this true? “A student straight out of college will do the same job as an established photographer for less, regardless of what “should” be done.”

By: Just for Fun

Just for Fun — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 19:03:22 +0000

@Brandon D.,

The only downside to the PDN reports are the peppering of names like Chase, Vincent and David throughout the text.

By: narayan

narayan — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 02:49:02 +0000

@Debra Weiss,
It would seem to make more sense to keep the creative fee and the license fees separate because the license fees are subject to state sales tax (in WA state, photographers are expected to charge sales tax for in-state clients, but there is no service tax- the creative fee is a service and the license/usage fee is a sale), so if you get audited, you might end up having to pay back taxes on the creative/licensing lump sum that you charge, instead of just the licensing fee. Of course, if applicable (that your client is in the same state that you reside), you would charge your client the sales tax for the usage fee, and it would be dishonest to tax them for a creative fee when you don’t pay that tax to the state. It seems to me like lumping the two fees together poses another kind of financial risk if you are audited. Who wants to pay, for example, 10k in uncollected sales taxes when only 5k is actually a valid sale?

By: I Heart Good Spreadsheets » Jain Lemos

I Heart Good Spreadsheets » Jain Lemos — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 01:17:40 +0000

[...] Director Rob Haggart, over at his industry must-read blog “A Photo Editor,” posted two actual estimates for recent advertising shoots (click on the Full Screen button to view). To me, they appeared fair and right in the sweet spot [...]

By: PKS

PKS — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:23:34 +0000

@jonathan beller, and even if she were the resurrection of Florence Nightingale, her tone of voice and attitude is what’s out of place here plus she was barking up the wrong tree.

By: PKS

PKS — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:03:36 +0000

@dude, precisely.

By: PKS

PKS — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 22:02:48 +0000

@craig & dude, agree, it’s not about outbidding or undercutting others, it’s about being realistic and thorough in your bid without going over board. Us AB’s have seen many bids, and know when you are blatantly overpricing something and taking the mickey. On the other hand, we are also happy to pay for quality, whilst aiming to stay within our clients budget.

By: Bob

Bob — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:11:42 +0000

@Steven Currie,

Wonderful! It sounds like there were already relationships developed between the image maker and agency/client/ or AD.

Steven, thank you much for providing important details.
This thread has been of value. Thanks to you Rob as well.

By: Advertising Photography – What some Photographers are charging! | foto Priority

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:24:53 +0000

[...] Take a look at the estimate and the heated discussion that followed! This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 at 11:24 pmand is filed under Feature Story. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. [...]