3 event photographers needed in April 2010

[hori]

I'm looking for three (3) photographers for an exhibition/conference photo coverage from 20-23 April 2010. Experience in exhibition photography is preferred, but experience in event photography will be considered too.

The coverage will be four full days (0900-1900h). However I will need the photographers to arrive early (set up and daily briefing) and possibly to stay for 1-2 hours to cover any fringe events (e.g. networking cocktail) the client requires. Your full day rate should cover all this.

If you are interested, please PM me with the following details (incomplete information would not be entertained):

1) Name
2) Age
3) Contact number
4) Email address
5) List of camera equipment (body, flash, lenses, etc)
6) Your portfolio (very important! and preferably online)
7) Your rate for (i) one full day, and (ii) four full days

Please do not post your questions or details in this thread. I will be happy to take your questions in my PM. I will try to answer all PMs to me.

 

[fengg]

Hi Hori,

I havr dropped you a PM.
Thank you.

Cheers,
Ryan

 

[fengg]

Hi Hori,

I have dropped you a PM.
Thank you.

Cheers,
Ryan

 

[hori]

Thanks for those who PM me. I'll reply to you individually. Please give me a couple of days to response.

I'm encouraged by the quality of the portfolios sent in. A number of quotes are way out of my budget. As the job does not require a very experienced photographer or one who has invested heavily in equipment, I won't be able to afford one such experienced photographer. If you are able to, please keep your rate quotes to below $500/day.

I understand that photographers who quoted high rates to me are usually very experienced and have top-notch equipment, hence they need to maintain their rates for their income and equipment maintenance. Therefore I would not want them to reduce their rate much lower than their usual fee. (which can be more than 50% lower)

Thanks!

 

[hori]

A quick update:

This event is a 4-day exhibition held in Expo.

I've received exactly 40 photographers' PM and will be looking through their portfolio. Some of you have already received replies, mostly with regrets as I cannot afford your quality services and fee. Hope to work with these photographers next time.

I'll reply all PMs within the next few days, over CNY.

Have a prosperous new year, everyone!

 

[irveepup]

As much as I can try to empathise with your situation in wanting to keep the rates down, be it to adapt to the client's budget or to get as many photographers with the quote given to the client, I hope you also realise the reasons behind the rates.

Apart from just the investment in equipment and experience levels, there is also a sense of dignity to maintain, and pride in what we do as photographers. I accede of course that there are many out there who love to pass themselves off as photographers just because they have the money to invest in a DSLR, but that's another matter altogether.

If you are asking for a photographer, then there should already be a minimum standard. Otherwise, just ask for someone with a DSLR who's able to take pictures of people smiling by banging a flash upwards.

Hence, if you're looking for a photographer and expecting that certain standard, then I feel that you should at least respect that other person and think about the rates you're asking people to quote. I know of course that some out there are willing to go really low, but honestly, that doesn't help the industry at all. It takes away respect from what we do, and ultimately all clients want to know is "how much ah?", or "can lower not?"

This situation is honestly bloody disgraceful, and for the amount of time and effort that a photographer has to put into the craft, it's people like you that are really not helping.

12 hours for 500 bucks? That's hardly 50 an hour, about 50% of the market rate for professionals, or even less!

Like I said, I can understand your constraints in wanting to get more bang for your buck. But if you were able to land such a huge job, I'm sure your negotiation skills with the client weren't that bad. You could at least have sold them a better deal, and still maintained the dignity of the craft.

Hope your shoot goes well.

And FYI, I have never paid my second shooters below 90 per hour. I go by an hourly rate, and not a full day rate for events. Unless of course you wanna pay them overtime of 1.5 times.

 

[hori]

Hi Irveepup, thanks for your passionate comments and well wishes for the shoot.

It's admirable that you are able to pay your photographers at that rate and still maintain your revenue.

 

[irveepup]

Sometimes it's not all about revenue. If they're my second-shooters, why shouldn't they be getting a decent wage? I've earned my wage, I think the other photographer should too. It's really about a collective mindset, something less selfish.

 

[hori]

I beg to disagree. A paid shoot is about revenue. And business is about demand and supply. I have a certain rate standard that I uphold to and my 'decent' rate and yours might differ. Just like a full-time freelancer might accept a lower rate but earn on volume. Or he might charge high and target those who are able to match his rates. There is a market rate, but it is more of a range than a fixed number. People are free to adjust upwards or downwards based on their own expectations. If you are able to maintain your own fee expectation and survive, that means your business model works for you.

I appreciate your passion in wanting to maintain the dignity of photography and respect your right to your opinions. What I don't appreciate are your insulting comments on this call for services from me. I think to maintain the dignity of photography or craft, first you need to maintain dignity of self. Perhaps then people will be more receptive to your ideals.

 

[irveepup]

I am not looking for receptiveness. I don't look to please the world and I certainly do not yearn for people to agree with me. oh i'm sorry, did I hurt your feelings?
It is your right to want to see photography as a means to an end - a business that will feed you.
I am, however, of the school that there's a lot more to this art than just equipment and low rates. Hence, it saddens me to see this industry going down that road.

Self-dignity, as defined by you, refers to someone being mindful enough of others' feelings and points of view, and not looking to challenge that. If that is self-dignity, then thanks very much, I will have none of that. That is exactly what makes this nation. And that is exactly why we're in this pathetic state of affairs. Self-dignity, really.

If you really believed in self-dignity, you wouldn't be living a listless life of making ends meet and adhering to the cookie-cutter expectations of the free market, and subjecting others to it.

 

[hori]

OK!!!

 

[Reportage]

hope the people hired know what they are doing.

 

[yqt]

I appreciate your passion in wanting to maintain the dignity of photography and respect your right to your opinions. What I don't appreciate are your insulting comments on this call for services from me. I think to maintain the dignity of photography or craft, first you need to maintain dignity of self. Perhaps then people will be more receptive to your ideals.

Well said!!!:thumbsup:

Respect is muture. Before one ask others to respect anyone or anything one must first respect others first.

TS sorry for the OT

 

[fengg]

To all parties caught in the situation here, please do not flare up over such an issue.
Prices of a freelancer's service will definitely be flexible according to the individual, be it of a match to his passion in photography or standard of work. I believe market value is only there for reference and not a dead fixed cost unit. Please lets not be upset here over this issue =)

Cheers to all!

 

[JasonB]

In a way I agree with Irveepup, though his delivery might not been the most diplomatic. I did not see any insulting comments though. His just being matter of fact.

It sounds to me that you are looking for a deal, no offences intended but in your post you asked for guys with relevant experience (which will cost), and wants to know what equipment they have, and see online port too. All reasonable requests but the pay must match. $500 is really way too low IMHO.

Seriously, there are LOADS of people with D700/24-70/SB900 producing crap and behaving like monkies. I wish you good luck in your selection.

In the meanwhile please do consider that there is also a group of real professionals earning a honest pay looking to work WITH you for long mutually beneficial relationships.

A basic $100 per hour is not throat cutting rates, while you need to survive, so do we, everyone and everyone business partners have overheads, and we will help you if you help us. If you cannot pay that rate, maybe consider 2 photog instead of 3.

Just humble views, no offences intended.

 

[fotoudavid]

I agreed with irveepup, the photography market deserves better treatment locally, many professionals were trying very hard to maintain the market in certain way, and it does sadden people when the rates goes down hill.

There will be no chance that photographers will combine and act together against such situation, i still hope that most will see this as an one of the act/job that drives photography rates to a low point.

There will be people who will take on the job, just for the sake of the little money and survive, which is month to month, sad but true, some really need to survive and do take on any jobs that pays.

What led to such situation? It is a round circle, and hope that one day the circle does becomes a stop, a stop for low paid jobs and a stop for photographers to accept.

It will need to start some where, some way.

 

[tenjinspen]

I agreed with both Irveepup n hori from their own viewpoints. Every market depends on supply n demand. Presume hori is able to get such similar deals across previously to arrive at his quotes. His job is to utilize whatever resource he has to get best bargain for the assignment. Unfortunately, it also shows that ppls' valuation on photography is declining. Perhaps this is due to the fact of many new photographers (be it full-time or freelance) entering the industry n willing to accept lower pricing to build up their portfolio. Recently, my company engaged a professional photographer (judge by his age, gears, and its his full-time occupation) for an event. He was being offered $200 for a 3+ hr event. Turn out his pics aren't impressive n obviously lack of post processing. To sum it up, as long as professional photographers out there do not accept underpaid job, this industry can still be revived coz the freelancer can never provide the quality of work a pro will produced and the market will realised that it does pay to engage a pro at a logical rate.

 

[nightwolf75]

people, since the TS has been upfront about how much he is willing to pay, kindly keep all OTs out of this thread. as far as the guidelines are concerned, since it is not a "something for nothing" shoot, we will let it be. it is up to the photographers to see if it is worth their time and effort to take up the job.

 

[azul123]

I think we have a fair offer (for those not too experience but still can produce good results). Kudos to TS for starting his/her search here... my posting is not in direct response to the job as I am not good enough nor can I stand the long hours.

However, I post to request TS to spell out the payment terms.. too often we see threads about non-payment after the work was completed, it would be good for TS to raised the standards by addressing how payment will be made so any CSer responding to the fair bid and getting the job would have clarity on payment terms.

../azul123

 

[synapseman]

I have shot an event for hori before. 4-day job, 10am to 6pm daily.

$50/hr. And I took it up.

Why?

Not to take anything away from other types of photography, but I think event photography is a relatively simple thing. Get the booth, get the products, get the banners, get the VIPs. I am being paid to press the shutter button, and unlike weddings, I don't need to think creatively, I don't need to manage people, I don't need to post-process and prepare album, I don't need to meet the couple beforehand or do any kind of follow up.

Four days and 32 hours might seem a lot, but honestly speaking it was quite a low-intensity, low-stress shoot. And all I need to do is shoot, dump to laptop, delete bad shots, do batch process on Lightroom, and that's it.

For all that, $50/hr is reasonable. I couldn't in good conscience ask for my standard rates (as I do for weddings) because I know I am not required to put in the same category of effort as weddings. (However, I have been offered jobs by other people that promised to pay $120 for 5 hrs for some "magazine shoot". I said no thank you.")

And as for this particular chap, before the shoot, I was briefed in great detail about what to expect and there were no last-minute surprises when the shoot started. Payment was prompt (within 30 days). No problems whatsoever.