Forums > Model Colloquy > Model rates

Model

Figures Jen B

Posts: 790

Phoenix, Arizona, US

Jen B wrote:
Hello,
This is 2020 thread but I'll reply.

I also take pictures. MM is not my income.

My MM rates as model are $35 and hour for local shoots in the genres I shoot, (this portfolio style and art modeling.) Hours, dates and other logistics are agreed upon prior.

If the photographer is getting paid for the shoot then it is different.

If we agree to trade, then it is trade. Currently I am doing trade while I'm returning and out of practice. Although, I am not an "online professional" model just a real life, creative person who is looking to model and shoot.

Jen B

I could not afford to pay model rates for many models here. I charge my model fee here as a photographer myself, shooting as a hobby.

Granted, I am not here making an income and I do not shoot full time from here either.

Jen B
p.s.edit: top of the page. smile

Jan 19 24 04:47 am Link

Photographer

Michael DBA Expressions

Posts: 3730

Lynchburg, Virginia, US

Gold Rush Studio wrote:

Agreed. 100%.

Agreed to both. I would point out that "asking" and "getting" are quite different.

Same as bargaining over the price for a thing at a flea market. "How much for this?" (Cue seller eyeballing you to decide how much to ask) "That one's special, what say $100?" (Cue potential buyer looking for a bargain, calculating how low to go.) "That's too much, would you take $25? Cash." "No way I could let it go that cheap. Maybe I could go $75. But a guy's gotta make a profit." You get the drift.

Jan 19 24 05:48 am Link

Photographer

JSouthworth

Posts: 1807

Kingston upon Hull, England, United Kingdom

Those rates are pretty high but it's a free market economy.

Jan 20 24 01:02 pm Link

Photographer

Frank Lewis Photography

Posts: 14492

Winter Park, Florida, US

I didn't notice this thread when it was first posted, but I have been following since it has been reborn. I've been on MM since almost the beginning, Dec 2005. Back then, many models and photographers would shoot a lot of TF. What I have noticed recently, though, is that many models, new and inexperienced, and veteran models are expecting a great deal of money for their services. I typically work with traveling models and for a very long time I would pay a model $80 - $100 per hour for a photo shoot. I feel that $80 - $100 is a fair rate for a one hour shoot that would include nudity. I seldom shoot longer than an hour, maybe 90 minutes tops. Today it seems traveling models as well as local models expect $125 - $150 per hour with a two hour minimum. That's a lot of money for a hobbyist, like myself. I don't earn a living from my photography. Never have. I simply enjoy photography as a hobby, nothing more.

I understand, as JSouthworth states, this is a free market economy, and I am being priced out of this free market economy. A traveling model will generally contact me via MM to say she would like to shoot with me and I generally respond with what I am prepared to pay for a one hour shoot. Sometimes I get a positive response, other times silence.

I'm not the best photographer to ever pick up a camera. I'm not Walker Evans or Herb Ritts, but I am good at what I do. And so, this is not a rant, just a statement of fact.

Jan 21 24 02:07 pm Link

Photographer

rxz

Posts: 1094

Glen Ellyn, Illinois, US

The Reagan, Bush, and Trump administrations' tax cuts were designed to make more billionaires and more poor people.  My income status is such that I can still afford the inflationary impact of model fees along with everything else I purchase.  But I have become more selective.

Jan 22 24 02:22 pm Link

Photographer

Patrick Walberg

Posts: 45198

San Juan Bautista, California, US

Model rates depend on the location, the model, the length of the shoot and the concept. 
Your results may vary.   This has been a public service announcement.

Jan 24 24 10:38 pm Link

Model

JT99

Posts: 93

Saint Paul, Minnesota, US

Heh...for me, a middle aged male, TFP is a pretty good rate.  I've only actually been paid 4 times, and each of those were $20 per hour.  Figure modeling is a bit different though, and I have no delusions about me being special or anything.

I'm sure some models have enough experience to command some of the exorbitant rates being discussed but they'd better be good, on time, and exactly as advertised...IMHO.

Jan 30 24 07:54 pm Link

Photographer

Studios 217

Posts: 7

Chicago, Illinois, US

Feb 20 24 03:51 pm Link

Photographer

jwstudios74

Posts: 6

Bangor, Maine, US

I put on my page this saying I find to be true. "Something is only worth what someone else is willing to pay".

For a "Unicorn" - a nude preg model I am more than happy to pay $350/hour and any travel xpenses. It all depends I guess.

Apr 20 24 01:45 pm Link

Photographer

Photos_by_Stan

Posts: 292

Youngstown, Ohio, US

Did not notice this was a ZOMBIE post from FOUR years ago
( makes it even worse I guess ?  )

Sad to say, but after one model said "casual clothed" for $250 an hour ....
I gave up completely on any further work .. ever ... anywhere .... from anyone

Apr 22 24 07:08 pm Link

Photographer

Mark Salo

Posts: 11727

Olney, Maryland, US

Photos_by_Stan wrote:
Sad to say, but after one model said "casual clothed" for $250 an hour ....
I gave up completely on any further work .. ever ... anywhere .... from anyone

A kindred spirit is a rare treasure.

Apr 23 24 06:21 am Link

Photographer

Red Sky Photography

Posts: 3898

Germantown, Maryland, US

Photos_by_Stan wrote:
Did not notice this was a ZOMBIE post from FOUR years ago
( makes it even worse I guess ?  )

Sad to say, but after one model said "casual clothed" for $250 an hour ....
I gave up completely on any further work .. ever ... anywhere .... from anyone

After the Bentley Saleswoman quoted me $2800 per month lease, plus tax, I didn't give up driving, I simply found a car I could afford. I love driving.

Whenever a model quoted me a price that I didn't think was commensurate with her look and abilities, I just moved on to another model.

Apr 23 24 07:11 am Link

Photographer

Photos_by_Stan

Posts: 292

Youngstown, Ohio, US

Red Sky Photography wrote:

After the Bentley Saleswoman quoted me $2800 per month lease, plus tax, I didn't give up driving, I simply found a car I could afford. I love driving.

Whenever a model quoted me a price that I didn't think was commensurate with her look and abilities, I just moved on to another model.

EXCEPT on HERE ... any model that "sees" what other models are asking and just posts they want the same .......

I'm not paying that  for a KIA ..... or 1980 Ford PINTO

May 13 24 08:36 pm Link

Photographer

Studio NSFW

Posts: 768

Pacifica, California, US

Would it be the runabout (hatchback) model Pinto?
My first car was a family hand-me-down 74 pinto station  wagon- with the fake wood grain exterior  and an automatic transmission. 

A stick shift runabout would have been cool by comparison.

Sorry…what were we talking about?

(Not really interested in Kia at all.)

Oh- model rates.  Right.

Yeah. Top rated models can ask for top rates. 

And?

May 13 24 11:23 pm Link

Photographer

Red Sky Photography

Posts: 3898

Germantown, Maryland, US

Photos_by_Stan wrote:

EXCEPT on HERE ... any model that "sees" what other models are asking and just posts they want the same .......

I'm not paying that  for a KIA ..... or 1980 Ford PINTO

Because a model posts a rate for whatever reason doesn't mean that :

1 you have to hire her and pay that rate

2 That anyone else has to pay that rate

It's a free market and you can negotiate or not to your heart's content.

May 14 24 07:35 am Link