Rukundo Reloaded wrote:
Hello,
I’m in the process of starting a life coaching business that will offer professional ‘makeover’ portraits.  I am planning to hire a freelance photographer on an ad hoc basis to photograph between 4 to 10 people in a studio environment, and then select the best images. Ideally I want each customer to have a minimum of 10 images to choose from. There will be no other responsibility (unless the photographer is able to edit the images) as all marketing, follow up and collections will be dealt with by me. Commission will be on photo sales.

Is £30 per hour a reasonable base wage?

Regards,
Rukundo

is that the going rate in your area?

Rukundo Reloaded wrote:
Hello,
I’m in the process of starting a life coaching business that will offer professional ‘makeover’ portraits.  I am planning to hire a freelance photographer on an ad hoc basis to photograph between 4 to 10 people in a studio environment, and then select the best images. Ideally I want each customer to have a minimum of 10 images to choose from. There will be no other responsibility (unless the photographer is able to edit the images) as all marketing, follow up and collections will be dealt with by me. Commission will be on photo sales.

Is £30 per hour a reasonable base wage?

Regards,
Rukundo

It's not like you are doing the photographer a favor by taking on the responsibilities. A smart photographer would deal with the people directly and keep all the profits. Or, charge you an advanced fee that would be equal to what the photographer normally charges for portraits. Working on commission is not profitable for the photographer.

is that the going rate in your area?

Hello, thank you for your question.
To be honest I’m finding it hard to get the going rate in my area. I’ve contacted several high street makeover studios (I’m not sure what they are called in the US) and the answers have been very ambiguous... A few have said £120-£170 per day, but that’s for someone who is employed full time by the studio.

me voy wrote:

It's not like you are doing the photographer a favor by taking on the responsibilities. A smart photographer would deal with the people directly and keep all the profits. Or, charge you an advanced fee that would be equal to what the photographer normally charges for portraits. Working on commission is not profitable for the photographer.

Hello, thank you for your message.
I realised I didn’t make it clear in my original message that I’m planning on a set up similar to a high street makeover studio (I don’t know what they are called in the US) alongside the life coaching services.

I agree with you that a lot of photographers would charge me an advanced fee equal to what they normally charge...so I guess I really want to know what the typical wage is for photographers that work in a high street makeover studio, as I know some do work on commission.

Photography by Riddell wrote:
So while some photographers might be £300.00 per day, a single  hour may be £100.00

There's also the fact that by taking on a job of an hour or two, you might miss out on a full day one which comes along. This does not apply to staff photographers who get their full daily rate regardless.

WMcK wrote:
If you are employing someone on an ad hoc basis they always have a daily, not hourly rate, with a minimum of something like 10 hours. I worked in the video business where this started at about £350 per day minimum payment, so you could maybe base your offer on that. One hour, ten hours, a professional will expect the same payment.

Thank you for your post.  Yours and the one below have helped me come to the decision of a day rate of around £320, negotiable depending on experience/ portfolio (plus commission on photo sales). I just need to redo my profit margins and cash flow.
Thanks again.
xxx

Photography by Riddell wrote:
Unfortunately you are thinking about it in the wrong manner.

If you are working it out as a day rate then £30.00 per hour is a low, but OK-ish rate for some photographers.

But if you only want the photographer there for an hour or two, then its way too low. No professional could work on that basis. The photographer will have travel times and costs as well as setup and dismantling times for all his equipment.

Then the photographer will also have the additional time to spend sorting out / editing or whatever the photos afterwards.

Plus maybe additional costs such as having to throw away a section of the background roll etc.

Therefore the first couple of hours always have to be charged at a much higher rate to compensate for these additional times and costs.

So while some photographers might be £300.00 per day, a single  hour may be £100.00

Thank you very much for your post. I have a better understanding now.  I didn’t take the additional time before and after the shoot into consideration, therefore I’ve now decided to go with a daily rate.
Thank you xxx

Bravo Magic Images wrote:
Learn to use a camera and you take the pictuers much  more cheaper plus you lear a new skill.

That is a good suggestion, but I’ll wait and see as I don’t like to pursue things I’m not fully passionate about. Next on my list is training to be an image consultant/stylist. However I have a feeling photography may follow in the future.
XXX

Rukundo Reloaded wrote:

Thank you for your post.  Yours and the one below have helped me come to the decision of a day rate of around £320, negotiable depending on experience/ portfolio (plus commission on photo sales). I just need to redo my profit margins and cash flow.
Thanks again.
xxx

That sounds quite reasonable.