The 8 Critical Issues of Pricing Every Client Needs to Know About
1. Usage
2. Geographic Location
3. Lighting
4. Timeline
5. Cheaper Photographer
6. Post Production
7. Deliverables
8. Sales tax
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What do you want to use them for?
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Fees are adjusted based on how the image is being used.
A common mistake in seeking a price to photograph a project is to ask what the Photographer’s “Day Rate” is. Architectural Photography Creative Fees are priced according to the nature of the client’s Usage requirements. When the Images are used to document and promote design services, rather than advertisement, the Creative Fee structure is lower. As the use broadens, so does the Photographer’s Creative Fee associated with the specific Assignment.
Creative Fees vary among Photographers. Factors in addition to Usage that affect the Creative Fee include the Photographer’s creative talent and experience. Services in addition to the photography itself, such as Pre- and Post Production, must also be covered by the Creative Fee.
Prior to contacting Photographers for a quote, consider how the photographs will be integrated into your overall marketing plan.
• Are the photographs for your archives only?
• Will they be used in your internally produced publications?
• Will they be submitted for competitions and outside publication?
• Will they be published in trade journals or books?
• Will they be used in trade or consumer advertisements?
• Will the photographs be used by others who worked on the project, and perhaps by your client?
By identifying your goals and needs, you will be thoroughly prepared to discuss your specific requirements for Usage of the Images with the Photographer. Do you have an Existing Site, Model, Rendering, or Construction View that you want matched? Images (Photos) showing the Project both “Before”, and “After” in a sequence of two or more, are powerful.
Other factors affecting the production of the Images (Photos):
• Will Client want a lot of control of the Images on site, or leave the location and composition of Image selection up to the Photographer?
• Want Well-Dressed Models or Quality Cars in the Images?
• Flowers, Books, Food, or other “Set Dressing” Items?
• Banner Signs or other Distracting Elements removed prior to, or after Photographer “snaps the picture” on the camera?
• Resident Engineer or Custodian to turn off/on Lights at Electrical Panel for mixed lighting situations?
• Estimates for Photoshop before the Images (Photos) are actually “snapped” on the camera are Very Rough. Photoshop cost required to “Fix It” can only be truly Estimated after the Photographs have been taken, requiring a Change Order to the Estimate prior to proceeding.
Clarifying objectives and discussing them at the outset will lead to selecting an Architectural Photographer who is right for you and the project to be photographed. This information will also assist the Architectural Photographer in preparing a written Estimate consistent with your needs.
Unless only for the Archives and Records, common Usage for Architectural Photography for a given Assignment has been:
• Non-Exclusive License for Period of One (1) Year
• Corporate Brochure, Mailer, or Insert (Limit 20,000 max. Circulation) or Web Site
• National Trade Magazine Multi-Page/Cover Editorial Publication (One-Time)
• Office Use-Unlimited Time (Display, Portfolio, Slide Shows, Power Point)
Advertising Usages required might be:
• National, Regional or Local Trade Magazine
• Newspapers
• Free Standing Insert
• Single Sheet Print Pieces
• Direct Mail Envelopes
• Catalogs
• Billboard
• Point of Purchase Banner or Mural
• Duratrans or Display Transparency
• Kiosk/Bus and Transit Shelter
• Taxi Card
• Bus Card or side of Bus
• Side of Building
• CD Cases
• Hang Tags
• Point of Purchase Displays
• Corporate Annual Report
• Magazine Reprints
• Electronic Uses
• Television Commercial
Many of the above Advertising Uses generally are not required for the average Architectural Photography Assignment (e.g. Television, Billboard, Building Side). However, when requested for a “Buyout” or “Client to Own the Copyrights”, the Experienced Architectural Photographer will include all of these Usages when asked to quote Creative Fees for “Unlimited Usage” - the value of which might be $100,000 or more.
The “Period of Time”, and the “Size of Placement in Print”, must also be covered by the Creative Fee as part of Usage. Longer “Period of Time” or Larger “Size of Placement” will likely lead to higher cost. However, Architectural Photography generally has limited lifespan for marketing due to the need for Clients to show their most recent work to their prospective Clients. In addition, the sizes of the reproduction are generally rather small in 8 ½ x 11 format with text, compared with Billboard or Sides of Busses. As a result, the additional cost of the Creative Fee for these elements ordinarily do not tend to be very high.
Recommendation to reduce costs is by purchasing only the Usage Rights, Time Period, and Size of Placement actually required at the time of commissioning; and projected for the foreseeable future. Specify only the requirements you need in order to obtain Estimates that are consistent with your Budgets.
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Where the Project is located? (State, City, Street Address)
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The direction the building is facing (North)
The Geographic Location of a Project possesses a number of different criteria that need to be considered for the Photographer to prepare a written Estimate for an Assignment.
Perhaps least obvious is the Location of the Building Main Entrance in relationship to directions of the compass (N, S, E, W), as well as the distance the Project property is from the Earth’s Equator. Other considerations include the time of year or season (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer) the Photographer has to make the Images.
These criteria affect the amount of Time that the Sun Lights up the Front, Side or Windows of a Building. The amount of time each day there is Sun Light contributes substantially to the number of Shooting Days that the Photographer will need in order to properly execute the Assignment.
The amount of Sunlight available is critical because:
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The Exterior sides of a Building look 3-dimensional when there is light on one side, and shadow on an adjacent side.
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The Exterior side of a Building that has direct Sunlight draws the attention of the Viewer first. This is interpreted as the area of most interest.
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Interiors of a Building that have windows that bring in Sunlight create technical problems for the Photographer to address since Cameras do not see Light the way that the Human eye does.
Factors that affect how much Sunlight is available to work with include:
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Days are Longer in length the farther North the Project Site is from the Equator.
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Days are Shorter in length during the Winter months than they are during Summer.
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Sunlight falls on the North Side of a Building only at Dusk or Dawn of the summer months.
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The sun moves East to South to West as the day progresses.
Here are some examples how these criteria all contribute to the number of Days required to for the Photographer to execute the Assignment:
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Assignment is for 1 Exterior of the Main Entrance that faces Southeast – Sunlight is almost always on the subject either at mid-morning or mid-afternoon. Execution should only require Part of 1 day.
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Assignment is for 6 Exteriors involving all sides of the Building – Photographer can work during the course of 1 Full Day following the Sunlight as it moves from East to West, Morning to Afternoon.
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Assignment is for 6 Exteriors, Overall and Details of the Main Entrance that faces North – Sunlight is only on the North side of a building for brief minutes at Dusk or Dawn during the Summer Months. The Assignment would require the Photographer commit 3 days to Shoot.
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Assignment is for Interiors of 3 Rooms, each with Windows - Amount of time Photographer requires to set-up Studio Lights to balance the relative brightness on the inside to the outside, involves 3 to 6 hours, or more for each Room. This would take up to 2 Full Days.
The distance a Photographer will need to Travel from his Studio to a Project also involves criteria that contributes to the Production Costs of an Assignment.
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Is the Location within 10 miles of the Photographer’s studio?
Travel should be by Automobile without the need to stay overnight for Multiple Days shooting.
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Is the Location within 100 miles of the Photographer’s studio?
Travel would likely be by Automobile, and would need overnight stay(s) in a Hotel for Multiple Days shooting.
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Is the Location Out-of-Region, or Out-of-State?
Travel should be by Airline, with excess baggage charges for up to 10 cases of lighting and camera equipment.
Travel days both before and after the shoot would require to be included in the Creative Fee to allow for both Scouting before the Shoot Day(s), and packing up Equipment for Transit to the Airport after the shooting is complete.
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Supplemental or mixed lighting is involved
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Film or digital both see color from each light source (daylight or light fixtures) differently than the human eye.
It is possible to completely Light up the Exterior of a Building with many large Studio Light fixtures involving many man-hours to set-up and take them down, if there is not sufficient Sunlight available. This usually involves literally truckloads of equipment and many people, just like the Hollywood Studios make movies on location.
However, the subject of Lighting more often involves making Interior Photographs. The Experience Professional Architectural Photographer knows that Film, or Digital Cameras do not see Light in the same manner as the Human Eye does:
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Fluorescent Lights are Green
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Incandescent Lights are Yellow.
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HID Lights are Blue-Green.
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Mercury Vapor Lights are Orange.
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Daylight is Blue.
In addition, the Human eye can see much more in the Dark (Shadows) and Light (Highlight) areas, as well as in between without much effort. Film or Digital Cameras do not have this same extensive range. They can see either:
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Range from Dark Shadows to Mid-tone without Light Highlights, or
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Range from Dark Mid-tone to Light Mid-tone without Shadows or Light Highlights, or
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Range from Light Mid-tone to Bright Highlights without Dark Shadows.
Photographs of Existing Interior Lighting with or without Windows, can be taken very quickly. However, they will involve much effort at very high cost to “Correct” the Colors and Range by extensive Post Production Digital Retouching (Photoshop).
Photographs of Interiors where the Photographer Supplements the Existing Light with his own Studio Lights brought in, will take much longer to produce while Shooting, but will involve less effort in Post Production.
The Experienced Professional Architectural Photographer has been trained to produce as much as possible in the Camera to reduce Total Production Costs for the Client.
Most less experienced, or cut-rate photographers will want to “Fix it with Photoshop”. The cut-rate photographer will usually deliver a product that is not quite as Outstanding as that which could be done if proper attention to detail had been performed initially during the Shooting, and Photoshop will not completely correct a bad Image.
Many Clients without the Trained Photographic Eye may not be able to tell the difference between the two. However, the difference is subliminal which does affect your prospects.
Good control of Lighting is crucial to produce Excellent Architectural Photography. The WOW factor can double the success of your business development.
- Will cut-rate photography end up costing you more?
- Isn’t it time to start using the WOW factor in marketing your services?
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Timeline for project the images are being taken for:
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Start shooting within a week
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Start shooting within 24-48 hours
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Start shooting within several weeks or even months
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As a creative professional, you understand that planning ahead is crucial to obtaining quality results, both internally and externally.
Preparation, and understanding the sequence of events, will contribute substantially to the success of the Images delivered to the Client.
Sufficient time should be allowed for all of the following to occur:
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Client identifies which Project(s) need to be photographed.
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Client identifies the quantity and type (e.g. Exterior, Interior, Details, Dusk) of photographs required.
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Client determines the optimum timeframe when the project(s) will be considered “ready to be photographed”.
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Client researches and selects as many as three different Architectural Photographers to come in to present a portfolio and discuss the Assignment(s). Apples to apples comparisons are easiest to be made when all of the prospective Architectural Photographers are of the same caliber of experience and capabilities.
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Client checks the background of the candidate Architectural Photographer determined to obtain the most quantity of characteristics that the Ideal Architectural Photographer should have.
5. Mention the client who wants to use a cheaper photographer, or even wants to do the job themselves – puts themselves and the project even more behind (cost doubles due to rush)
Setting up a complex camera, capable of recording the Quality Perspective Controlled Imagery expected by the Client involves much more equipment, adjustments, and readings to be taken than the consumer camera used every Sunday to take pictures of the kids.
Arranging all of the Elements in “Set Dressing”, whether Interior. or Exterior, requires much Study and attention to Detail.
Waiting for the right time of day for the Sun to be exactly at the right location for optimum Lighting and Shadows, or Setting-up Supplemental Lighting (Strobe or “Movie” Hot Lights) requires patience and precision.
The amount of patience required to produce High Quality Architectural Photography on demand is astonishing, and is usually not truly understood until the Client actually stands out on Site with the Photographer throughout the day(s) of the “Shoot”.
Doing the job yourself, or assigning the job to a cut-rate photographer most often yields poor results, and has to be done all over again, with limited time remaining, until deadline for submission, to find another more Qualified Photographer and have them rush to Produce the required Images.
Clients want a strong working relationship.
- I can give them both a strong working relationship, and High Quality Architectural Photography on demand.
- They often have photographs that are not contributing to their bottom line.
Maybe Clients are living with lesser quality Images of their project at the expense of having a good working relationship with another cut-rate photographer.
Consider how the photographs will be integrated into your overall marketing plan.
Are you mortgaging quality and bottom-line business development for a good working relationship? Do you know you can have both?
6. Post Production – Digital Retouching
“ Photoshop” has been used commonly as the generic description for “Post Production”.
- Digital Editing, Retouching and Preparing Image for delivery.
- Film Editing, Retouching and Preparing Image for delivery.
“Post Production” actually entails the following: General Liability.
- Editing the Images - Visually review all frames of film, or digital, that had been shot, and editing out all less desirable frames in order to select the best representation to work with for each Image.
- Processing the Images – Edited Digital Images from the Camera need to be Processed on the computer, just as Film needs to be Processed with Chemicals in a Darkroom.
- Scanning Film into Digital Images.
- Retouching – Photoshop for Digital Images.
- Local or overall color correction for mixed lighting sources.
- Removing distracting elements (e.g. fire hydrants, street lights, old cars, and power lines).
- Adding enhancing elements (e.g. Mercedes car, vignette the sky, local exposure, and local contrast).
- Retouching – Dye for Film Images.
- Local or overall color correction for mixed lighting sources.
- Adding enhancing elements (e.g. vignette the sky, local exposure, and local contrast).
- Internegative for Printing (Film only).
- Rough Prints or Contact Sheets.
- Final Finished Prints.
- CD/DVD.
- Matting, Mounting, and Framing.
Do you want to spend your money behind the camera or after the photographs have been taken, in order to get the finished product?
What amount of time will be available for the Photographer on Site or Inside the Building(s)?
With sufficient available time, much “Dressing the Set” can be done by the Photographer on Site before “snapping the shot”, often is far less expensive than “Fixing it with Photoshop” afterwards, in order to deliver a High Quality finished product.
a) What form are the Images actually to be delivered?
• Photographic or Digital Prints.
Match Color/Contrast Digital Prints (1/2 to 2 years longevity).
Type C Color Prints from Negative or Internegative (10 years longevity).
Ilfochrome Archival Prints from Transparency (50-80 years longevity).
Archival Digital Inkjet (150-200 years longevity).
• Digital Images burned to CD/DVD.
Sales Tax charged even if Electronic Transfer of Images also performed.
• Digital Images FTP’d to a website.
Electronic Transfer only with no Sales Tax.
No Match Color Prints provided yields unknown true color to be reproduced since everybody’s monitor and printers reproduce color differently from one another, unless systems are calibrated.
• Mounted, Matted, and Framed Archival Prints for Wall Hanging.
• Sleeved, Tabbed, and Labeled Binders or Archival Binders for 8 ½ x 11 or 8x10 Prints.
8. Liability Insurance and Sales Tax for photographer
Liability Insurance - There are two different types of Liability Insurance that the Experienced Professional Architectural Photographer may need to purchase:
• General Liability.
Someone might trip over camera equipment or equipment cases (Exteriors or Interiors).
Someone might trip over lighting extension cords (Interiors).
Lighting Equipment may short out house electrical panels or cause a fire (Interiors).
• Shoot Insurance or Bond.
Photographer may fail to complete the assignment.
Client may need to commission someone else to complete the work.
Sales Tax – Reference California State Board of Equalization Pamphlet No. 68, July 2007 “Tax Tips for Photographers, Photo Finishers, and Film Processing Laboratories” http://www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/staxpubsn.htm.
Professional Services Fees are for the most part taxable, unlike those for other professions such as Architect, Interior Design, Construction, CPA, or attorney fees.
As a result, the Experienced Professional Architectural Photographer must charge Sales Tax for almost every Fee or Production Charges that appear on the Photographer’s Invoice.
Sales Tax need not be collected by the Photographer in only the following instances:
• Conceptual Creative Services and the resulting preliminary art.
• Final Deliverables are shipped out-of-state. The end user who receives the Deliverables has then the responsibility to pay any required Sales Tax directly to the State they are located in.
• Sales of Photographs transferred electronically (e-mail or web site), with no hard copies (film, prints, or CD/DVD) handed over.
• Shipping Charges.
• Sales for Resale.
• Sales to the U.S. government.
Having clear understanding of the Sales Tax collection requirements of the Experienced Architectural Photographer, whose primary office is located within the State of California, will reduce the number of questions regarding Charges for Sales Tax.
