The delicate art of quoting, and how to win your next big assignment
Working as a professional photographer today comes with many challenges. And, in an increasingly competitive market, the ability to effectively quote so that you get the green light for an assignment remains one of those challenges. Lisa Saad presents some effective solutions and strategies.
Ask any professional photographer today, and quoting seems to be a common source of concern. It also seems to be a significant issue for emerging photographers, let alone “semi-professionals” who are perceived to be undermining the profession, as their idea of the dollar value attached to an assignment is entirely different to those experienced in the industry.
Photographers are notorious for keeping their rates, quoting and invoicing experience close to their chests, believing that this gives them a competitive edge. And while this appears to be the norm for so many professionals, it’s impacting the next generation since there is little education on what is appropriate in terms of an approach, let alone establish industry-wide standards.
In the industry’s current climate, time-honoured professional photographers who are noticing the new photographers undercutting them are not aiding the situation, but assisting it by keeping quiet. By doing so, they are inadvertently impacting the relevance of professional photographers as all the undercutting simply means that they get overlooked.
The assignment
Assignments vary widely depending on the client and the specifics of the project. Each assignment should be treated individually, taking into consideration how much or how little production value is associated with it. This will in turn impact your quote/estimate and how long it takes to prepare.
According to advertising photographer, Julian Watt, an excellent starting point in the process is to ask the client what their budget is, as well as discuss the desired photographic treatment. “I then sit down with the layout and brief and list everything I might need on the shoot,” he says.
A simple assignment, such as photographing different, well-known athletes for a spread in a magazine, on a regular basis, will require very different planning requirements to, say, an advertising campaign with multiple promotion and advertising uses, or covering, say, a food festival where you are required to shoot a combination of food, people, logistics, editorial and key imagery over the course of several days. All of these scenarios will require a slightly different approach, and breakdown of costs.
The brief
Much of the information you require will most likely come from a, hopefully, detailed brief from the client. Josie Amato, executive producer and co-owner of Coco Productions, in Melbourne, suggests seeking as much information as possible from the client, including a visual brief/mood board as this helps greatly when ascertaining the requirements for the shoot. If your quote is based on the brief provided, and the brief subsequently changes, you need to make it clear to the client, on your initial quote, that such changes may affect the final amount charged.
In getting a clear picture of the assignment, it’s in your best interests to ensure that you gather as much detailed information as possible during the brief. The approach taken by Melbourne-based fashion photographer, Bronwyn Kidd, is to have a conversation, preferably in person, with the agency creative or art director, or directly with the client, soon after the brief with layout, where mandatory deliverables and the timelines are agreed.
If anything is unclear, be sure to follow up promptly. You’ll also want to make sure that the client differentiates between what is optional and what is necessary, in terms of deliverables, in order to give both parties some flexibility. Also clarify the deadline and the preferred delivery method.
The quote
Whether you call it ‘quoting’ or ‘estimating’, this element of an assignment is crucial. Pay insufficient time or care to the task and you could either be needlessly missing out on commissions, or earning much less than you should be, and paying for things – both with your time and money – that should be the client’s responsibility.
Your approach to quoting should reflect the bigger picture of running a professional photography business. The start of each quote should take key fundamentals into consideration, such as your rate schedule that reflects your full-day/half-day rate or creative fee, assistant fees, pre- and post production, equipment, retouching, studio, location hire, and so on.
Before you can actually put a quote together, you’ll need to gather a great deal of information from the prospective client. The more information you have, the more precise your quote can be.
The best approach to quoting is to follow a system, and, importantly, always look at it from a business perspective, rather than an emotional one. Using templates and rate schedules is good business practice, and Amato recommends always itemising your quote – never just quote a whole job under a single fee line item. And any time you send out a quote, it should always appear on your letterhead.
Rate schedule
Your rate schedule is central to your quotes, and should include photographic charges and all anticipated expenses, including pre-production. If you neglect to include an expense, you might have a great deal of trouble getting a client to pay for it after the fact. It should also reflect all your terms and conditions, and be updated roughly every six months. “We have standard day rates for most line items” says Shannon Stoddard, owner of The Kitchen Creative Management, in Sydney, “but the number of days required, the amount of pre- and post production, the crew requirements, production, and equipment requirements will depend on the brief.”
A base rate schedule is a good way to start a quote and should also become part of your business practice. It should be the minimum that you would work for, but also take into consideration your business overheads and your monthly/quarterly budgets for the year. It can help you determine your projected turnover/income needed to stay in business, and importantly, help take the emotion out of quoting.
Charging for photography
As a professional photographer, you may find yourself being more than just the creator of a vision and the executor of a brief. In part, you are a production manager, producer, lighting designer, camera department, data wrangler, crew and client point of contact, logistics department, casting director, location scout, catering department, retouching expert, and, sometimes, courier. How you charge for your photography will depend on these factors, as well as the market sector/s you work in. “Generally, I have a full or half-day photography rate, Kidd says. “I also have a fee for a treatment which is waived if I am awarded the job.” Julian Watt, however, takes a different approach. “I charge a shoot fee/licence fee based on the media that the image will appear in, the length of time for its use, and what countries it will appear,” he says.
Editorial and media photographers tend to have rates dictated to them by publishers which are very much based on time; per half or full day (up to 4–5 hours for a half day and up to 8–10 hours for a full day).
As a professional photographer, so much more is undertaken than just pushing the button and taking the photo. On the flip side, photographers that have producers/agents usually have all the production requirements taken care of and do not have to worry about managing the booking or payments for any of the extras, so they can just concentrate on the shoot and client.
As agents and producers, Stoddard and Amato both handle all the production requirements for their photographers. “As a full production agency, we take care of all aspects of the job,” Amato says, “from photography, styling, makeup, talent/casting, props and wardrobe, catering, retouching and location searching. We also charge a production fee to handle the processing of these payments.” One area that Stoddard suggests is worth paying close attention to is that of the settling of invoices for talent and crew. “While paying talent and crew based on a tax invoice is competitive, it is may not necessarily be correct and/or meet the ATO obligations with regards to PAYG withholding, workers’ compensation insurance and superannuation obligations,” Stoddard says. One alternative she mentions is to retain the services of a talent payment agency, such as Talent Pay, to handle these obligations.
Base Usage Rates
The Base Usage Rate (BUR) is a fixed-figure sum set by the photographer, or their representative, and used to calculate the fees, or any additional use of the commissioned work, over and above the original rights granted with payment of the original invoice. The BUR should be clearly stated on a photographer’s original estimate or quotation. A single BUR may be set for a whole commission, or individually for separate images.
As much as possible, Stoddard advocates avoiding the term ‘buyout’ as it’s an imprecise terms which means different things to different people. “Always clarify what the client wants when they ask for a buyout, and be as descriptive as possible in defining the usage,” she says. Confusion around the term comes from the fact that to some, a buyout is the transfer of copyright, while to others, it is unlimited use for an unlimited time. But the term could also mean all media usage. Something else to avoid is providing clients with ‘unlimited use’. Seldom, if ever, will they be prepared to actually pay for such extensive usage, and clients rarely, if ever, require unlimited use. If a client does ask for unlimited use, instead try and negotiate, say, a three-year period with a three-year rollover.
The work before the work
Every job entails time spent on pre-production, regardless of its size, and a fee for this should be factored into your estimate, preferably as a separate line item. This shows the client that your time is in fact valuable, and that you should be paid accordingly.
Pre-production typically involves client meetings, including phone calls to the client, sourcing various assistants and crew, props and equipment, casting talent, researching various aspects of the assignment including logistics, searching maps and satellite views online, location reccies, booking a studio and equipment, and organising catering. It’s your time and it all needs a value attached. It is common practice for your pre-production rate to be lower than your photography rate. Some photographers also have producers on staff or hire them freelance on a per-job basis, so make sure you factor these costs in.
Giving it the treatment
Treatments have always been around the advertising and magazine industry, and serve a dual purpose. First, they help the photographer demonstrate the idea behind what they perceive the final outcome of the commission should look like. They also illustrate the photographer’s interpretation of the brief, and are valuable to help with quoting. Secondly, they help the client/agency ascertain whether the photographer has understood the job’s requirements, and also provide them with an understanding of what they will receive as a final deliverable.
An excellent treatments can help a photographer win a job over a competitor, as well as be a visual reference during a shoot, when planning, and during post production. “A treatment is my interpretation of supplied creative,” Kidd says, “and sometimes is a follow-through on my own creative, or the combined creative of mine and the stylist.”
Any treatment supplied is technically the property of the photographer, however many have noticed their treatments being used by another photographer commissioned for the shoot, and there really isn’t anything to stop a client from using a photographer’s ideas. You can copyright the execution of an idea, not the idea itself.
From her experience, Stoddard notes that increasingly clients are requesting treatments, and their standard practice is usually to provide one. The preference though, is to have the photographers discuss aspects of the assignment with the creative before providing one, to ensure that “they’re on the same page.”
Invoicing
The general consensus with invoicing is that it should occur via an accounting package, such as MYOB or XERO. Something else to consider before commencing an assignment is to seek a deposit upfront. What’s not unusual is to, say, invoice 20% once the green light is given for the assignment, then 30% during the assignment, and the remaining 50% at time of completing assignment. Watt’s approach is a little different. “I have Word document forms based on the ACMP/AIPP Better Business Bible. I then export the estimates and invoices as a PDF to send to the client,” he says. “I try to invoice promptly so I can get paid more quickly.”
Stoddard suggests never reducing your rates without a change in the licence, payment terms, or other terms of the agreement. If the client is gaining some sort of advantage in terms of a reduced fee, it should not be to your detriment alone. After all, it’s a negotiation. If you do reduce an item for any reason, list it as a separate line item, as a discount. This way the client can clearly see the discount, and it hopefully won’t set a precedent where they want to use the reduced rate for future jobs.
Eight basic rules
Successful quoting comes down to following a systematic approach, having as much information as possible, understanding your client and their needs, and not letting yourself be swayed by emotion. If you follow the eight steps outlined below, you might not always win the assignment, but it’s not going to be because you put a second-rate quote forward.
1. Establish early on whether you are the right fit for the job and if the client can afford you. There is no point spending valuable time quoting for a job you are never going to win.
2. Make sure you understand the brief.
3. Speak directly to the creative director, art director or client before starting your quote.
4. Understand and be considerate of your client’s parameters, and offer them clever, cost effective solutions. Do try and save money for the client, but not at the expense of the production.
5. Clearly define the usage rights at the top of the estimate: who the images are licensed to, the media, territory, and period of use granted.
6. Never give a verbal quote on the spot, or over the phone, and try and avoid ballpark figures - you’ll always think of something afterwards that you forgot to add. Put all quotes in writing.
7. Always include your trading terms and conditions.
8. Always get a written confirmation agreeing to your quote. A return e-mail is fine and will stand up in court if there is a dispute. A Purchase Order stating your Quote Reference number is even better.
The birth of a quote
Before sending your quote out, ensure that you’ve considered the following:
- Exact client requirements.
- What the shoot entails.
- Where the assignment will take place, and for how long.
- The number of images to be delivered.
- How the images will be used, and for how long.
- Number of shots are required.
- The desired treatment.
- The size of the crew, including assistant/s, hair and makeup, stylists, retouching, etc.
Real-world Base Usage Rates
In the example below, let’s assume a BUR of $2,500, which is based on print advertising and editorial use in Australia for 12 months. The loadings on additional use would be as follows:
- Brochures - 50% BUR = $1,250
- Digital and online - 100% BUR = $2,500
- Oceania region use - 125% BUR = $3,125
Total photography fees and loadings would be $9,375.
Quoting: a checklist
Once you’ve sent a quote out, it’s a little awkward, and unprofessional, to go to the client and tell them you’ve forgotten to include something. The list below provides an overview of important elements to consider, and include.
- Travel time and expenses, flights, accommodation, per diem.
- Pre- and post production (including retouching and oversight).
- Location scouting and fees.
- Photographer’s assistant/s.
- Models and loadings.
- Props, stylist, hair and makeup, and assistants.
- Hotels, meals, rental car, kilometre rate, tolls, permits.
- Image handling and processing.
- Equipment charges.
- Studio and equipment hire.
- Couriers, and product deliveries and returns.
- Pre-light day.
- BUR
- Digital charges including operator, file management, and digital equipment.
