Fire Department Group Photo Pricing

ARKreations

Background:
We're a young startup business that primarily shoots dance and sports events, but are branching out into portrait work. We've been asked to submit a quote to a local volunteer fire department (small municipality - pop. ~8,000) who is looking to update their department photos for firefighters, EMT's and Explorer troops. There is also the possibility of individual portaits as well. We don't have any details on how many people, settings, shots, etc. And they have not indicated what they will be wanting in the way of prints. The advantage we have is that the request came from a friend in the department.

I want to price this competitively so we don't appear desperate, but would also be willing to sacrifice a little on the price to get this shoot for the portfolio.

Question: How would you suggest responding to this request for quote?
- fixed session fee
- hourly session rate
- higher session / discounted print margins
- lower session / increased print margins

Sam

Ross,

There is no way I could even begin to quote this. You need some idea of what they want.

Basically they want a quote to build a wall without any information as to the materials, height, thickness, location or the intended use of the wall.

I would contact them and schedule a visit. Find out everything you can about their expectations. Help them define what it is they want and need.

Then and only then can you provide a meaning full quote.

At this point you don't even know if you all the euipment nessasary or if you will need to buy or rent additional equipment. Will you need an assistant?

Sam

System

Back when I was a volunteer firefighter, they had a photog come in and shoot the entire department. There were about 60 FF's there. He had all the officers in the front row with the rest of the department behind on risers, which he brought. Then he shot each engine with the members assigned to that engine. Next was individual head shots. This was a big job. It took several hours to shoot.
As far a cost goes...Like Sam said. You need to find out exactally what they want done. How many people in the picture, will you need some sort of stair step risers, will there be individual head shots, do they want shots of the engines....
Figure out how much time you will have invested in this job, both shooting and printing. I'd figure on at least $10 per hour with a minimum plus whatever you charge for each print.

ARKreations

The department has already said they can bring risers in for the shots. I do have an assistant (more of a partner, actually). And between us, we have equipment covered.

I realize the big unknowns are number of people, shots, desired prints. I guess that's why I was looking for suggestions on how to price the session. I'm thinking a moderate hourly rate ($30-50/hr) .vs. a fixed session fee ( $100-$150 for a 2-4 hour session? ) with commensurate print prices. In the bigger picture, I guess I'm torn between quoting a front-loaded session with cheaper prints .vs. a discounted session with back-weighted print prices and unsure which approach would increase my chances of getting the shoot.

msf

ARKreations wrote:

The department has already said they can bring risers in for the shots. I do have an assistant (more of a partner, actually). And between us, we have equipment covered.

I realize the big unknowns are number of people, shots, desired prints. I guess that's why I was looking for suggestions on how to price the session. I'm thinking a moderate hourly rate ($30-50/hr) .vs. a fixed session fee ( $100-$150 for a 2-4 hour session? ) with commensurate print prices. In the bigger picture, I guess I'm torn between quoting a front-loaded session with cheaper prints .vs. a discounted session with back-weighted print prices and unsure which approach would increase my chances of getting the shoot.

You could ask what the last person charged, and what their budget is for this.

Dont forget about the calendar royalties.

ARKreations

Their last department photo was 9+ years ago.
Calendar royalties? Can you elaborate, please?

msf

ARKreations wrote:

Their last department photo was 9+ years ago.
Calendar royalties? Can you elaborate, please?

You could call the other departments near by to see if they had someone recently, and waht they paid. And if they havent, ask if they need one.

It was mostly a joke, some fire departments make a calendar to raise money for one thing or another. they are usually half dressed I believe.

ARKreations

Oh - never considered that angle. I was thinking in terms of annual licensing agreement. (Guess I need to get out more...)

However, I do have a neighbor on a local police force who might be able to provide similar info. Thanks,