# Headshots for large company



## jdgus (Oct 20, 2011)

I've been asked to take headshots of a large (around 200 people) company. I'll have to transport my equipment, etc., and furnish JPEGs for them; probably not a lot of editing. I have no idea what to charge for this. Any suggestions?


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## tirediron (Oct 20, 2011)

$2000


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## ghache (Oct 20, 2011)

okthxbye


NPPA: Cost of Doing Business Calculator


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## Bitter Jeweler (Oct 20, 2011)

tirediron said:


> $2000



I would double that for this job, though.


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## CCericola (Oct 20, 2011)

I would charge per hour. Time to take the pictures, edit them and make a disk. An hourly rate will protect you from any extra editng or retakes that the company may want. Plus a licensing fee for the finished jpegs.  ASK what their budget is for this project. In my experience, if a company does not want to disclose a budget then I know all they are looking for is the cheapest price. They are usually the "problem" customers I end up firing. If they are hesitant with your quote you can always "discount" the licensing fee. It is all about negotiation. Because really,  What are you going to do with 200 photos of mostly unattractive employees?

In any case, this should all be hashed out and in writing so you both know exactly what is going on and what the expectations are. Good luck, sounds like a relatively easy job for a nice chunk of change.


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## Bitter Jeweler (Oct 20, 2011)

CCericola said:


> ,  What are you going to do with 200 photos of mostly unattractive employees?



:shock:


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## tirediron (Oct 20, 2011)

Bitter Jeweler said:


> tirediron said:
> 
> 
> > $2000
> ...


Actually, assuming that this could be done assembly-line style, and that I didn't have to wait around for Mr. Jones or Mrs. Smith to show up, I would estimate around $3100 - 3300 (plus printing costs if applicable) to be what I would charge for a job like this.

Edited to correct estimate; apparently doing math on only two cups of coffee is NOT a good plan!


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## tirediron (Oct 20, 2011)

Double post - ignore.


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## tirediron (Oct 20, 2011)

Bitter Jeweler said:


> CCericola said:
> 
> 
> > , What are you going to do with 200 photos of mostly unattractive employees?
> ...


Maybe she's measuring them against herself? :er:


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## Diddy2theJJ (Oct 20, 2011)

I do headshots for a company as well and I charge $60 per person including two 8x10 prints. So that's $12,000 for you LOL. Might be a bit excessive for that one but I'm sure you would take it if you could!


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## imagemaker46 (Oct 20, 2011)

jdgus, are you a full time professional ordid someone discover you own a camera and ask you to shoot this?  It all depends on what kind of head shots they are looking for, if they want formal portraits done,that is one thing, if they just want "stand there and smile" for web use or internal publications then that is completely different.  If it is the just simple head shots, you should be able to run through 200 people in two hours.  Formal portrait  shots of 200 people, you're looking at several days.  I'm guessing  itsthe staight forward shots  Tellthem a $1000 plus $100 for the post computer work. Burn them to a dvd and you're done.  It shouldn't take you more than 2 hours for the edit/crop/colour correction if needed. This job shouldn't take you more than 4 hours from start to finish.

It all depends on how organized they are,how skilled you are and it'll be a quick $1100 pay day for an easy shoot.


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## tirediron (Oct 20, 2011)

imagemaker46 said:


> ... 200 people in two hours.  ...This job shouldn't take you more than 4 hours from start to finish...It all depends on how organized they are,how skilled you are and it'll be a quick $1100 pay day for an easy shoot.


200 people in two hours?  120/200=.6 min/person, or, less than 40 seconds a person to shoot?  That seems VERY optimistic.  Assuming that you're going to take at least three images of each person, I would base my estimate on the assumption of at least two minutes per person, and about the same for processing.


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## imagemaker46 (Oct 21, 2011)

I've been doing head shots for years, if they are simple walk up, stand in front of the backdrop, it is 2-3 frames per person, I tape down foot spots on the floor so they know exactly how to stand, they are in and out between 15-20 seconds.  I ran though 45 people two weeks ago in 15 minutes. I use the same formula setup each time, after the first few people see how the ones before stand, they follow, it's all about being prepared, and communicating with the subjects.  If they are sitting, that changes things, it does take longer, but taping the stool to the floor so it can't be moved makes the difference.  I use  a 70-200 to shoot, that allows for quick camera crops.  If it's done right and exposures are correct, all that may be needed in post is a slight crop and level adjustment.  These type of head shots are the easiest things to shoot.


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## BlairWright (Oct 22, 2011)

I would do that for $4,000.00 or 20 dollars per jpg. Prints would be more. 

I try not to charge much for time, clients don't care about how much time you spend, they only care about the finished product which in this case would be the jpg files.


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## imagemaker46 (Oct 23, 2011)

BlairWright said:


> I would do that for $4,000.00 or 20 dollars per jpg. Prints would be more.
> 
> I try not to charge much for time, clients don't care about how much time you spend, they only care about the finished product which in this case would be the jpg files.



In situations where alot of head shots are being done and there are  people that don't like being in front of a camera, it is up to the photgrapher to run them through quickly, if people have to stand around waiting then time does become a big factor.


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## tirediron (Oct 23, 2011)

imagemaker46 said:


> ...and there are people that don't like being in front of a camera, it ...


Those are the people who are going to take the most time.  They are the ones who you are going to have to spend five minutes instead of one minute on because they won't stand still, won't stand on the mark, won't....  My experience shows that around 20-30% of people don't like to have their photo taken and of that group, about 15-20% REALLY HATE to have their picture taken.   That's when you lose a LOT of time.


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## imagemaker46 (Oct 23, 2011)

I have found the opposite, when people don't like to have their pictures taken they are happier to get in and out, and remembering these are just informal head shots and not portraits.  I take a quick look for the eyes but don't show them their photo unless they ask, that's where the time is lost.  In alot of occations I am given a very short amount of time to get the pictures done, before or after a lunch, before people are hungry and want to get it done, after lunch they are heading back into meetings.  I work within the time alloted, quicker the better.


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## BlairWright (Oct 25, 2011)

Sorry, I did not mean that clients don't care how much time you take. What I mean is that they do not value a photographers time in most cases so charging by the hours is not always the best idea.


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## KmH (Oct 25, 2011)

Looks like the OP will be a one post wonder.


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## jdgus (Oct 28, 2011)

Thanks, everyone, for the helpful information.


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## Bitter Jeweler (Oct 28, 2011)

KmH said:


> Looks like the OP will be a one post wonder.



Proved you wrong!


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## KmH (Oct 28, 2011)

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