Help...Need a pricing answer

[PhotoJoeMaelstrom]

I was asked to take headshots for 200 or so people for a grants ceremony. I will be taking the pictures before they receive the grant checks as a sort of artist alumni album that will be shown to politicians to garner more money or a larger budget for grants for the next year. I have 3hrs to take the pictures so I am constrained for time to organize the artists so my assistant can get their names and I can fire the shots......OK so you got most of the background, how much should I charge for this work...I may do it again the next year and I'm hoping to get more work from this from the individual artists, but I don't want to sell myself short. Any Idea's? This is US$ also so I don't get confused with exchange rates in the advise LOL Joke!

[JDArt]

Will you be supplying digital files only?

$1500.

[PhotoJoeMaelstrom]

Actually I am gonna clean up what I can in PS before it goes in their hands and name each file with the corresponding person and prep the pictures so the printer that they use has a direct reference.

[Blinky]

$1500 would be low side if you'll have an assistant and be doing post... we're talking Alumni here, they can afford to pay a fair price.
$1500-$2500 would be reasonable for 200 high pressure shots, no prints, CD only. $3500 wouldn't be out of line for a major Alum organization from, say UCLA or Cornell.

Will you be distributing these to the individuals? that would be extra.

One thing you'll want to do is get there very early, setup and shoot practice shots, check'em on a laptop, minimize the post you'll be needing to do. Consider that some of these folks will be perspiring and shiny looking. You may want to recommend a couple of pats of powder... even for some of the men, to cut the shimmer. Specular highlights on faces are bad juju. At least have some soft paper towels available.

Anyone wearing glasses should either remove them or lift the temple pieces slightly above the ear to redirect the reflection downward away from the camera. If you want them to smile... you and your assistant should be smiling; they will mirror your expression. If you aren't smiling and just tell them to smile... you get that fake looking smile thing.

Chip

[jacksonk]

You will have to set some parameters of your own, for example: 1. shoot digital only 2. shoot two images of each person 3. standardize your lighting 4. standardize your poses 5. if you are to deliver CD based images only, make sure that the metadata has your name in it because you aren't going to get any reprint sales (UNLESS! YOU KEEP ONE CD TO PRINT FROM SHOULD A SUBJECT NOT BE ABLE TO GET IN TOUCH WITH THE PERSON YOU DELIVER THE ORIGINAL DISC TO AND NEEDS TO BUY A REPRINT FROM YOU). Schedule each subject and stick to your schedule. Practice ahead of time to see what length of time it will take to photograph each person. Have promotional materials on hand to give to each subject after their portrait is taken (THIS WILL BE A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO PROMOTE YOURSELF!)
$7.50US TO $10.00US PER PERSON (GIVEN THE WORK THIS WILL TAKE) is more than fair. We've done this for high school re-unions, sorority gatherings and churches. Now, on to SUCCESS!