Sooo, I got some questions for photographers and Graphic Designers.
The Company wants to update their logo. Nothing too fancy. Basically they want to give it some "wow".
Same company wants me to travel to DC to take photos of the company in action, for their website. DC is about an hour and a half away. I could charge mileage, but what about the photos and time spent? They wont need any prints. I've never done a paying job before so any advice would be helpful.
You should charge according to your standards and expectations.
Don't be afraid to negotiate, but don't be afraid to charge for your experience and talent either.
Example....
If there were two Director of Photography applying for a job, bot had the same resume, both had the same experiences, the DP that has the highest rate usually wins the job.
I know this sounds weird, but in my industry, which is similar to what you are doing, per se, the DP that charged more is considered more valuable to the production than his counter part.
Not valuable because he knows what he is doing, which is assumed, but, valuable because he can deliver the production on schedule, within the vision of the writer and directors ideas, and give the most bang for the most buck.
Does this make at all any sense?
In other words, if you under charge for your skill sets, then you will be looked upon as an average artist and your client can get another average artist for the price.
If you charge more than the average person, you client may look at you as a serious contender. You are now not an average artist, but the cream of the crop. As long as you can deliver within the clients vision.
What Brother Horse says is right on. Back in the day, we didn't think we were getting enough work (as architectural photographers) and didn't understand it because we were good, and less expensive than the competition. So we raised our rates, doubled 'em actually, and had to start turning away work within a couple months. Go figure...
