How much should I charge a photographer to be their assistant?
Saturday, July 24th, 2010 at
9:36 am
I have been asked to photograph a wedding as an assistant photographer. I think the first wedding will be a trial but he’s asked me to think about how much I would charge for him to keep using me in more weddings.
Can someone help me with what factors I need to think about when working this out?
What would a rough estimate be? Because I have no idea..
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Tagged with: assistant photographer • rough estimate • weddings
Filed under: Baby Photography
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alot of the time you would be expected to do that for free…lots of people want to be photographer’s assistants and you do it to gain the knowledge. so don’t ask for too much.
The last time I used an assistant, I used a high school student who has a proven portfolio and is going on to college to study art/photography. Her primary function was to babysit my equipment and take the detail photos of things like the cake, invitations, flower, etc. Anything else she shot was at her discretion and was for her practice. She was responsible for providing her own equipment, though our equipment is compatible so she did use some of my equipment at times.
She was paid $20/hour plus had signed model releases to use her work in her portfolio and for stock photography.
Obviously this will vary greatly with experience, location, quality of the main photographer, the quality of your work and your responsibilities, etc.
As was already written, most of the time you’ll work for the experience of it alone. But in cases when the photographer approaches you, and wants to know your cost, you simply come up with an hourly rate commensurate with what you think he would be willing to pay. Sometimes it’s as simple as asking him. Sometimes, he may just ask to see what you’d say. Either way, you calculate your pay rates in the same way you would at any other job, for which you would be paid. So think about how an employer decides what you will be compensated for your time. It will be based in large part, on your experience level, and how much work you will be required to perform. But it is also based on what the market in your area will bear. So based on that, what should your rate be? Here’s how I would rate my time: My hourly rate is not unlike what it would be if I worked professionally in my day trade, so for my time, I’d need at least $25 an hour, no less. Since I have to travel, I would also require a per diem rate for travel and personal cost; which I will consider equal to an hour of my standard rate (unless I am to travel more than 30 or 40 miles out of my way, then I’ll factor in a per mile rate to add to the per diem, call it 37 cents per mile for the sake of thoroughness). Then I would need to understand what would be required of me, and for how long. Typically, a wedding plus reception, is an all day affair, so I’d be looking at a day rate of at least $150, plus per diem, for my time (that’s time alone mind you, as an assistant, the photographer will likely be putting in at least 40 hours for pre and post shoot work) , which is reasonable considering the photographer ought to be pulling at least $1200 if he’s about anything. You should start around in that ballpark.