Help needed - Commercial automotive quote
Discussion
Hi everyone, I'm in need of a bit of help. I'm in need of a price/time quote for a freelance photographer who has commercial automotive experience, preferably for an OEM, as well as studio experience. I'm not looking for a £/hr quote, but rather a step-by-step breakdown of how long you'd need to do the tasks properly, as well as a budget quote for your time plus equipment hire etc, whether you'd need assistants (plus a best guess at their rate if so).
I must stress that there isn't a paid job in this for you. If you can help me, please email me (Rogue86Photography@live.com). You could well save my job!
I must stress that there isn't a paid job in this for you. If you can help me, please email me (Rogue86Photography@live.com). You could well save my job!
As I say, I don't really want to air any dirty laundry in public, I'm just after some impartial costings and timings to see which one of us is being unrealistic. I wouldn't be hanging up the camera out of spite, more because I don't have my own kit (both previous jobs kit was provided), so if this job fails the chances of me buying suitable kit will likely be beyond reach. Not that explaining any of that has helped me in any way particularly.
Simpo Two said:
Well as no professional automotive togs have appeared, I'll hazard a guess at £3K/day.
:wave:It could be done for a good bit less than that, assuming this doesn't include cost of studio rental. Or a good bit more. Like most things in life, it depends how good you want them to be, and how experienced. Assuming it's to justify your own costing, comparatively you'll be talking the bottom end of the scale (I assume you don't have (much) similar experience yourself already, and are looking to offer a 'budget' solution). Tbh there's just not enough detail to give a reasonably accurate figure. And we haven't even mentioned licensing.
I would have thought that most aspects of a cost breakdown is fairly easy to obtain. Even if you're not using your own equipment (many pro's hire in cameras and lighting gear etc as and when required) so you can check rates from places like calumetrental.co.uk.
Same with studios - most automotive equipped studios publish rates on their website.
Assistants - 200-300 per day for non specialist photographic assistants maybe less for trainees/amateurs. Assistants with specialist experience a bit more???
Retouchers - theres specialist automotive retouching studios though I only know of the ones stateside - and guys like Dale Martin who offer automotive retouching services - perhaps get in touch with them to get some quotes?
Location management - again just check on the location management sites for guide rates for hiring/access to locations and their costs
The main issue you would consider is how you value your time and expertise - you as a business want to profit too, so its your time costs + business operating costs/overheads which need to be covered and on top of all that a profit needs to be made too.
Same with studios - most automotive equipped studios publish rates on their website.
Assistants - 200-300 per day for non specialist photographic assistants maybe less for trainees/amateurs. Assistants with specialist experience a bit more???
Retouchers - theres specialist automotive retouching studios though I only know of the ones stateside - and guys like Dale Martin who offer automotive retouching services - perhaps get in touch with them to get some quotes?
Location management - again just check on the location management sites for guide rates for hiring/access to locations and their costs
The main issue you would consider is how you value your time and expertise - you as a business want to profit too, so its your time costs + business operating costs/overheads which need to be covered and on top of all that a profit needs to be made too.
Thanks for the responses. I have very little experience of freelance work as I've always been staffed, so in terms of arguing my worth I'm struggling to get my hands on any concrete figures to say "this is what it would cost to freelance out these particular jobs as an example and here is how long they would expect it to take". This is also my first full-time automotive and commercial job (previous was PR based). The work we do here is featured alongside commercial work in advertisements for car mags (Top Gear, Evo) and lifestyle mags (Ritz etc), as well as being used in brochures, news articles.
What I'd like to do, if anyone is willing, is to send them an example of a typical weeks work and get their professional opinion on how long they would expect to be given to complete the lot, as well as the pay they would like to receive for doing it. I'll ignore licensing for now as my contract effectively waivers ownership of any copyright on my behalf (drawback of being staffed I suppose). There's no trick question, I'm not looking for you to price competitively or to exaggerate anything, just an honest opinion. I can even send you an example of the work I did for some of them to give you an idea of the level of which they're expecting, as well as the basic kit you would have access to.
What I'd like to do, if anyone is willing, is to send them an example of a typical weeks work and get their professional opinion on how long they would expect to be given to complete the lot, as well as the pay they would like to receive for doing it. I'll ignore licensing for now as my contract effectively waivers ownership of any copyright on my behalf (drawback of being staffed I suppose). There's no trick question, I'm not looking for you to price competitively or to exaggerate anything, just an honest opinion. I can even send you an example of the work I did for some of them to give you an idea of the level of which they're expecting, as well as the basic kit you would have access to.
Freelance editorial photography (location work) for car magazines averages up to around £400 per day. This rate is for the larger well known publications. Less well known magazines pay less. Rates include all post production. Obviously to be able to freelance you need to have your own kit.
Hope this helps, let ,e know if you need any more info
Hope this helps, let ,e know if you need any more info
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