Help with photos for a website.

thinkfloyd · 08-03-2009

Someone is asking how much my rate is for photos he will be using in his website. I will be shooting photos and uploading them to a flickr account so he can backlink the photos to his site. Low res pics only, and I still retain my rights. Similar to stock photography, but for a single client. How much should I charge per photo?

Oscar Levant · 08-03-2009

Depends on the client and how much money he has.

Is it a vanity site or a large commercial site?

If someone had financing, they wouldn't use Flickr as a host. You're going to get very little for your photos.

FrankS · 08-03-2009

Hmmm. Just throwing out an idea: How about 1cent per image per site hit?
(If just one image is used and there are 100 visitors to his site, you get $1.)
This may be way off, but I think that a per site hit is a good idea.

Al Kaplan · 08-03-2009

Is he hiring you to shoot the photos? Charge an hourly or day rate plus expenses for the shoot, mileage, hotels, meals, film and processing if you use any film. You might also restrict useage to a particular project so the client can't use them for something else, or sell any rights to a third party. Also charge for your computer time.

I don't think that this is a situation where a per photo price will be enough to make it worthwhile

Oscar Levant · 08-03-2009

He's going to charge himself right out of a job.

The days of huge budgets with expenses are almost gone, especially for some small website that wants to host it's photos on Flickr.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Al Kaplan

Is he hiring you to shoot the photos? Charge an hourly or day rate plus expenses for the shoot, mileage, hotels, meals, film and processing if you use any film. You might also restrict useage to a particular project so the client can't use them for something else, or sell any rights to a third party. Also charge for your computer time.

I don't think that this is a situation where a per photo price will be enough to make it worthwhile

thinkfloyd · 08-03-2009

Yes, it's a pretty small website and obviously, the guy is on a tight budget.

How will I keep track of the "image per hit site" thing? I doubt the website has a large volume of traffic, but still, I'm exploring my options.

I doubt an hourly or daily rate is feasible, so how do I go about this? All he needs are ow-res images, but still, I will be actively looking to shoot images that fit his criteria so the rate should reflect services rendered right?

Thanks for the all the help! (I need to give a rate within the day btw)

Roger Hicks · 08-03-2009

Shooting for much under $500/day + expenses (negligible with most digital) relegates it to 'paying hobby' and at much under $250/day + exes you might as well give it away and reckon that he owes you a (big) favour.

Whether it's low-res or high-res doesn't much affect the rate until someone wants over about 10 megapixels.

Cheers,

R.

FrankS · 08-03-2009

The thing is, you are out and about and shooting pics anyway, so you just keep an eye out for things he may be interested in. His website should have a hit counter and if it doesn't yet, it's easy to install.

thinkfloyd · 08-03-2009

Asking for an hourly or daily rate is not feasible, since it's not a proper project per se. What FrankS is saying is more like it, with me going about my daily routine, shooting whatever finds my fancy, but on the lookout as well for what he needs... so if I propose to charge per site hit, .01 is ok? What if he uses the pics on a different site I don't know about? How will I keep track of that?

thinkfloyd · 08-03-2009

BTW, I just emailed him, asking if he prefers a per site hit charge, a per photo rate or a monthly retainer fee (wherein I shoot a quota per month for a lump monthly sum. Meaning I WILL go out of my way to shoot what he needs)? How do I charge for these options?

shadowfox · 08-03-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by thinkfloyd

Yes, it's a pretty small website and obviously, the guy is on a tight budget.

How will I keep track of the "image per hit site" thing? I doubt the website has a large volume of traffic, but still, I'm exploring my options.

I doubt an hourly or daily rate is feasible, so how do I go about this? All he needs are ow-res images, but still, I will be actively looking to shoot images that fit his criteria so the rate should reflect services rendered right?

Thanks for the all the help! (I need to give a rate within the day btw)

For him, since he "discovered" you, give him a one time fee per image that he's comfortable with, but encourage him to recommend you to anyone he knows, that's part of marketing your photos.

Building a good relationship with your first client is always a good way to get your second, third, etc.

NOTE: This only applies if you aim to promote your photos commercially. If not, ignore this post.

thinkfloyd · 08-03-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadowfox

For him, since he "discovered" you, give him a one time fee per image that he's comfortable with, but encourage him to recommend you to anyone he knows, that's part of marketing your photos.

Building a good relationship with your first client is always a good way to get your second, third, etc.

NOTE: This only applies if you aim to promote your photos commercially. If not, ignore this post.

This looks like a good idea. How much do you reckon a one-time fee per image would cost? (I shot animals in a shelter for free, and they referred me to lots of pet owners, in the process making me known as the first pet portrait photographer in the country. So the idea makes a lot of sense.)

Oscar Levant · 08-03-2009

Charge him $50 per photo or a package price of $1000 for as many as he needs.

If he balks, negotiate.

thinkfloyd · 08-03-2009

Hmmm, $50 per photo looks like a nice starting point. For the $1000 charge, this is for the whole website photo needs? As many as he needs? Correct? Or only for a limited time?(like for a month, three months, etc?)

Oscar Levant · 08-03-2009

$1000 for the whole thing within reason. Use your judgement. That's for enough for him to launch his website and reasonable changes for a period of, say, three to six months.

You must have some idea of his budget and what kind of website he wants to create.

Oscar Levant · 08-03-2009

PS: I just paid over $25,000 to have a website developed by a company in Malta. My website needed extensive ecommerce scripts, plus a "Facebook" kind of gallery.

But if I have graphics or design work done in India or Philippines, the prices are much lower than in European countries. The recession makes the prices even lower.

My website involves user-uploaded worldwide food photography and linked forums, restaurant reviews, plus camera/photography hints for beginner to midlevel photographers.

thinkfloyd · 08-03-2009

@Oscar: Thanks. Will think it over, a lump sum for everything seems like a good idea as well. I'll wait for his reply to his my last email and try to negotiate.

$25000 for a website is huge! Here in the Philippines, I have website developer friends who can do that for 25000 pesos (which is about $500-550) or about $600. Graphics and design work are also as cheap here. Outsourcing companies hire these developers and graphic artists/designers, pay them about $300-500 a month, $1000 if he or she is expert enough and has extensive experience, and give them about 2-3 websites to develop a month. That's the reason why these developers moonlight for extra cash, and charge the equivalent of a month or two of their basic salary for a project, not knowing that their bosses charge waaaay more... now with me being a lowly writer and photographer, you can imagine how much less I earn in month

kxl · 08-03-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by thinkfloyd

... $25000 for a website is huge! Here in the Philippines, I have website developer friends who can do that for 25000 pesos (which is about $500-550) or about $600. Graphics and design work are also as cheap here.

I think that is the most salient point to consider. You need to ask for fees that are consistent with your local market. Asking on RFF will yeld you responses from US or European based markets with prices that could very well be well beyond reach for your client.

Example: $50 is probably an average dinner for 2 (sans drinks) in the US. My understanding is that the average monthly wage in the Philippines is $200 to $250.

shadowfox · 08-03-2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oscar Levant

If he balks, negotiate.

That's the key. He's your first client, his comfort level is an important equation.

If you leave it to him to tell you what's his budget for photos, that will give you two things: 1) his comfort level, 2) what kind of budget a typical website (like his) will have to pay for your photograph in the future.

These will give you food for thought to strategize for your next opportunity.