In addition to helping photographers build estimates from scratch for potential projects, we also offer an Estimate Review consulting service on existing quotes that photographers have created themselves. It’s often helpful to have an extra set of eyes and credible insight to polish up your bid before sending it off to a client.
Just as with our other Pricing & Negotiating case studies, we redact the names of the photographer and client, which allows us to share valuable and educational information that would otherwise be confidential.
Concept: One-day corporate portraiture shoot
Licensing: Perpetual Publicity and Collateral use of up to 24 images
Photographer: Portraiture and Corporate Specialist
Client: Large tech-focused venture capital fund
I recently worked with a photographer who was bidding on a one-day corporate portraiture project for a venture capital client. The photographer had already put together a draft of their fees and expenses. They asked me to review everything and offer any advice and suggestions on pricing, formatting, and agreement language before presenting the estimate to the client.
The project brief described the need for a single shoot day at one of the client’s corporate offices in Southeast Asia. The client wanted portraits of up to 12 staff members with 2 selects per subject. The client wanted to mimic the look and feel of the existing portraiture on its website. To that end, they requested a seamless light gray background. The client would provide references of the lighting and styling within the brief. In addition, the client requested a quote including the cost of a hair/makeup artist and a wardrobe stylist. Finally, the images themselves would be used for both a team page and individual profile pages on the client company’s website, the client’s social media, and occasionally the client’s corporate event materials.
To help add context to what we reviewed and advised on, I’ll include the photographer’s original estimate format and agreement language below:
First, I suggested some refinements to the job description. I thought it was important to simplify what the shoot would entail and help clarify the scope of the project. To guard against copyright or use issues, it was also prudent to have a more straightforward licensing language. This was essentially exclusive Publicity and Collateral use of 24 images in perpetuity so it’s best to remove any ambiguity regarding usage.
To clarify expectations, I suggested including a note to outline anything the client will be responsible for. This note would be included in the Client Provisions and incorporated into their existing Assumptions section. I also recommended clarifying whether the client wanted the stylist to source wardrobe or if subjects would bring their own.
I made the suggestion to add a Pre-Production day, separate from the Tech/Scout day, to include time for creative calls, admin, planning, crew booking, and equipment sourcing.
I made a note suggesting an extra day for the first assistant/digital tech to join the scout day to make sure they are familiar with the location, equipment needs, and could help address any issues prior to the shoot.
I made a note to include an additional budget for providing a digital tech kit and digital workstation for file management and client review.
Since there were still a number of unknown variables for this project, I recommended estimating a bit more budget for mileage, parking, and miscellaneous production expenses.
The photographer’s estimate was also missing a line item to cover the cost of insurance carried. We typically price this as 2-3% of the total project budget, which I recommended for inclusion in the estimate.
I recommended another fee for the initial edit/cleanup of the content and delivery to the client to pull selects from. It was still unclear if the client would handle retouches or leave them to the photographer. With this in mind, I felt it would be appropriate to keep this line item in case the photographer would only be responsible for an initial edit and basic color correction.
For retouching, I first suggested a slightly higher rate. I also noted that it was better to describe this simply as “24 Selects Retouched,” rather than quoting a range of 20-24 retouched images. Furthermore, to provide detail about the level of retouching the fee would cover, I recommended including a note stating that the estimate, “Includes up to 30 minutes of retouching per image.”
The photographer’s terms and agreement language were already mostly modeled after our typical format and seemed appropriate for this situation. I suggested some slight revisions and to include a “Definitions” section as it helps to outline what all of the language means, especially for licensing terms, and makes sure that the client understands how they are permitted to use the images with the licensing they pay for.
Below is a revised version of the estimate that reflects my recommendations and suggested re-formatting of its layout:
The photographer was awarded the project.
While this review didn’t entail any dramatic changes to the photographer’s existing estimate, it did provide some polish and additional consideration for a slightly larger budget and a more streamlined quote. Together, all of these minor improvements helped the photographer deliver the estimate with confidence. The client had nothing but positive remarks, and was super pleased with the final results!
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Further Reading
Specialty: Portraiture Photography
Pricing & Negotiating: Building Estimates
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