Do you get the occasional request to complete an assignment for one of your existing wedding/portrait clients, or as a referral? This request usually comes in the form of an assignment involving people, be it headshot, corporate or group photography, for a business venture. It's been my experience that wedding and portrait photographers are asked to photograph this type of assignment because the client knows they are experts in the people photography field will get a great photograph. Sometimes there is an ulterior motive as well. The savvy client also knows that a lot of portrait/wedding photographers won't charge them the commercial rate, but rather a session fee and a la carte print price.

As a commercial photographer I usually get calls from my wedding/portrait colleagues asking me how to respond to the request, especially how to charge the client.

While this takes some time to discuss, it please me photographers are now asking and not giving out a "ballpark" figure. When you enter the realm of commercial photography you need to keep in mind the end product/use will probably be to increase the client's bottom line, whereas a portrait is used as a personal keepsake.

When discussing this assignment or usage with your client you need to educate them about the pricing for the use of the image. How do you charge for this usage and for your time?

With commercial photography a fee is established for the initial photography, it can be a day rate, creative fee, specific assignment fee or even an hourly rate. Many different photographers have different structures. The main thing here is to have a fee separate from your portrait session. Expenses are in addition to the fee. This can include film, processing, travel, mileage, shipping, burning to CD, image optimizing, etc. These expenses are added to the fee for a total price. To be able to calculate a photography fee you need to know what it costs you per week/day/hour to be in business. Once you have established this cost then that is the lowest fee you should ever charge. Anything under that and you are working at a loss. Remember to include things like pension, health insurance, profit margin, etc in your calculations.

What do you charge for a specific use of the image? This is like asking, "how long is a piece of string?!" Image use can be generally placed into one of three categories - Advertising, Corporate and Editorial, and each of these main categories can have many sub-categories. Advertising usage is usually the largest usage fee. Your creativity and expertise is going to allow the client to advertise their "widget" in the most outstanding way and customers are going to flock to that business to buy the "widget". Without your photograph the "widget" will stay on the shelf. Corporate usage fees are almost on a par with advertising. Corporations need to let their shareholders know how well they are doing and why they should invest even more money in the company. Editorial usage is on the lower end, this will include text books and non-advertising photos for magazines.

There is no one definitive fee for any type of use. That would be price fixing. Everything is negotiable with the client. Bearing in mind what your bottom-line fee is, start out by asking for "what you want and settle for what you need", negotiating along the way. If the client chokes at the fee, ask why and discuss ways the fee could be adjusted if necessary, this is a two way stretch, negotiate a change in assignment structure or a time constraint, or a different type of usage. Remember the client chose you because you are good!

For many years now I have subscribed to yearly updates of "Fotobiz" software. This was initially "Fotoquote" and is still available, used for stock photography tracking and pricing.

The program will give you all the information you need to calculate a fee that is neither "out of this world and unrealistic" or "gives away the ballpark". For more information go to www.fotobiz.net or call 800 870-2650. The software is available for Mac and PC platforms.

I hope this article will be of help to you who are grappling with the commercial assignment. Just remember it's all negotiable and takes time and experience. Don't give out a "ballpark figure". Let the client know you will get back to them within an hour with a good solid estimate. Find out from them how they will be using the image, if it's in a magazine get the name of the magazine. For brochures and catalogs get the print run. What size will the image be in the final use, how many images do they need to use and how many insertions? What licensing rights do they need - one-time non-exclusive or world rights? One thing that is NOT negotiable with me is my copyright. I will not sell copyright, but that's my own idiosyncrasy!

Roger B. Daines, PPA Certified M. Photog, Cr., API, F-PPC, S-PPC, F-PPSDC, S-PPSDC, is a commercial photographer based in Escondido, California; he specializes in advertising, industrial, architectural and aerial photography. He can be reached at rdaines@aol.com