budget Archives - Tim Gander, Photographer, Bristol

May 22, 2024 by Tim Gander

How Much Should Photography Cost?

One question which ties up too much time, energy and headspace for most businesses is, “How much should we be paying for photography?”

In the modern business landscape, we have to extend that to videography too, of course. While this article focuses mainly on stills, read to the end for my thoughts on video as well.

The shortest answer I can give is that the corporate communications photography you commission shouldn’t cost you anything. “What?! Free photography?! Where can I get some of that!!” I hear you wail, but of course that notion is ridiculous. Free stuff, as we all know, is often worth exactly what we’ve paid for it.

What I mean is, the photography and videography you commission for your business should, either fairly immediately, or over time, generate more income for your business than it cost to get done. If your photography/videography isn’t winning new clients or gaining fresh business, then you need to look at why it’s not working before deciding you’re paying too much. It could be how you’re deploying the work, it could also be that you’re not paying enough to get the quality you need.

A useful exercise is to start from the other end of the process. Ask what it is you want to achieve with your images, then work backwards to find the solution. That is to say, the photographer you choose is more important than what they charge. Ask yourself if the photographer’s style fits your brand and whether their quality adds a perception of high value to that brand. What they charge should reflect the outcome you’re aiming for. It needs to reflect the quality of their work, the uses to which that work will be put (the Licence to Use) as well as the standard of service they offer.

Just to explain the Licence to Use a little more deeply, a set of photos destined for a one-off press release for a small business won’t command the same fees as a high-production single image used in a national advertising campaign for a global brand.

There are many scenarios between these usage examples, but if you’re open with the photographer about who and what they’re shooting for, they can give far better guidance on the likely fees. And when it comes to the shoot itself, they can plan their own approach and deploy their resources far more effectively for a more successful outcome.

Oh and on that last point, be VERY wary of any photographer who doesn’t ask how the images are to be used. This should be an alarm-bell-moment. If they don’t care what you do with their work, it means they don’t care about your goals. This will be reflected in the results and that’s when photography becomes really expensive, regardless of how cheap it was to acquire.

A blonde female in a black top writes on a whiteboard which has multi-coloured postit notes stuck on it.

If you're planning a photo or video shoot, start with the goals and work your way back to the budget.

Much the same approach applies to commissioning video, albeit the costs associated with that tend to focus more on post-production time than on aspects such as licensing. However, if you’re going to commission video, you still need to think carefully about your goals.

Identifying who you’re trying to reach, what their expectations are and how you’re going to win their business should be considered long before commissioning a videographer (ie me!) to press the record button.

If I’m shooting video for a client, of course I want to understand my client’s aims, but I also want to know who they’re trying to win over. If they’re aiming at people who might do business with them, the content, message and production values all need to be of a high quality. There’s no point spending money on a video which is aimless and poor quality. That’s just a waste of money and a drag on valuable resources. It might grab audience attention for a brief moment, but will soon be forgotten in the constant stream of online content marketing. Poor quality production will also harm your brand and cost you sales.

The main message of this post is to think quality first, then work out your budget based on the value you’re likely to gain from the results. Setting out with an unrealistic budget plucked from thin air isn’t going to get you where you need to be, which is why I’m happy to spend time working through these questions with clients before they commit to working with me.

I would be delighted to discuss your stills and video needs, so drop me a line and let’s get your photography and videography making money, not costing it.

February 2, 2023 by Tim Gander

Video Budget Breakdown

Ok, so you’ve read my previous articles and decided your business absolutely NEEDS video. What next?

Let’s just assume you’ve mapped out the whys, whats and wherefores of jumping into video. What you need to do next is start thinking about budget.

Originally I’d drafted a long-winded post about the various options and costs associated with video, from the DIY approach to the full production company treatment, but a) it was turning into a novel and b) there are too many variables to do the entire subject justice.

Instead I’ll concentrate on how you should think about budget when working with me. I hope that’s more useful!

A Breakdown of Costs

Of course every project will be different and require its own considerations of cost, but as a rule I generally work to my standard photography rates when it comes to planning and shooting video. Where stills and video diverge in terms of cost is when it comes to editing and delivery.

As many of you know, my standard stills packages include some pre-planning, the shoot rate, post-production and delivery as well as the end-user’s licence to use the images. Video works a little differently.

In the case of stills I have a fair idea how many shots can be realistically achieved in a half-day or a day, and from this I know how much post-production time is required. With video, the post-production is by far the longer process. If I spend a day shooting video, depending on the end requirements it could take a full week to finalise an edit. As with all things, there are many variables along the way such as whether I’m generating titles and graphics from scratch, researching music soundtracks and liaising with the client on those, or having to make multiple re-edits according to the client’s wishes before delivery. For this reason, video editing fees are set outside of the shoot fee.

To keep those fees sensible, I offer an hour or two pre-planning time with the client to work out the storyboard and logistics. At this stage I’ll also be putting together a plan for graphics, titles, music etc so that once I have the footage, I can get straight on with the edit. This way, before I even start shooting, you’ll already have a good idea of the scale of costs.

See the Video link above for examples of my work

Real-World Examples

I can offer a recent case study where I’ve shot a 15-second reel for the client to use across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and so on.

After initial consultation time and hammering out the brief, it took me a couple of hours to capture enough variety of content to make a mini narrative work in such a short clip (it always takes longer than you think!)

I then spent time editing, liaising with the client on pacing, researching a suitable sound clip, bouncing edits between myself and the client before they were 100% happy, then delivered the clip in upright format. I then re-edited to square format and delivered again.

The total edit time for that clip was three hours. Sometimes the edit will go quicker, sometimes slower – it’s all down to the client’s requirements.

The fee came to £450.00 for the video, though this was discounted from a standard half-day fee because I was shooting stills at the same time, for which I charged a half-day.

As you can see, all kinds of factors can swing the fee up or down. Had the above example been a half-day of video only, the fee could have been more like £900.00 for the same end result. Here the stills fee, which was £590.00, meant I could reign in the video costs a fair bit.

Bear in mind when combining stills and video shoots in a single session, this will often limit how much attention to detail can be paid to either. As a rule, I prefer to separate the two.

Typically a full-day video-only shoot with pre-planning, research, editing resulting in two or three different edits can easily top £1,600.00, so hopefully these figures help when planning a budget for video.

Crucial Element to Budget Planning

This part’s easy. Talk to me. Tell me what you want to do and how you see it working. We can discuss content, logistics, timings and more. From that I can work out an outline estimate. If fees look as though they may have to rise, I’ll always flag this at the earliest possible stage.

Unless you want to go the DIY route, you’ll need to be realistic about the cost of video. I cannot stress enough how important it is to know what you want your video to do before committing the cost to making it happen. A good video should at least pay for itself, either in terms of direct sales, or in terms of brand enhancement and of course the time you’ve saved by getting me in to do it for you.

So drop me a line and let’s get the ball rolling on your video journey!

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August 9, 2011September 5, 2014 by Tim Gander

Don’t be the bird that swallows the plate.

I’m a huge fan of Black Adder, and there are many hilariously memorable scenes, but the one which springs to mind as I write this week’s article is in Black Adder II when Percy enters Black Adder’s chamber wearing an outrageously large neck rough. On seeing it Black Adder remarks that Percy “looks like a bird who’s swallowed a plate!”

Why is this relevant to anything I have to say about photography? Well it’s simple really, dear reader; When a business plans its photography in small, manageable chunks throughout the year it can cope with getting what it needs without too much drama, but leave it for a year, two years, five years, and the project becomes rather like a bird swallowing a plate. Trying to ingest the ingestible, and risking some kind of injury in the process.

I’ve said before that photography should be treated as part of the over-all marketing plan, not as part of the web budget, because photos can be used in print as well as web. Try printing a website as a brochure, and you’ll start to understand what I mean – they’re separate budgets within the over all marketing budget.

By keeping your photography fresh and up-to-date you might very well spend a little more over time, but at least you won’t have a colossal expenditure to make in one go if you’re trying to start from scratch, having neglected the photography for some years. And since business people like to say “cash is king,” doesn’t it make sense to make smaller investments that add up to a solid image library than to trying to buy your entire photo library in one huge gulp?

So keep headshots up to date regularly, don’t wait until there’s a week’s worth to be shot unless you’re prepared for the cost. Keep on top of product, site, process and PR images. Consider planning a shoot every three months (or whatever suits best, so long as it’s regular). Or at the very least, review what you have and what you need on a quarterly basis.

You’re buying the coffee, not the cafe. Buy in stages and don’t insist on all copyright.

To extend the subject a little, think more carefully about the image rights you need. Consider restricting your requirements to (for example) a three-year time limit. Certainly avoid all-rights or full copyright buyouts as it’s extremely rare for a business to actually require these rights, and most sensible photographers will charge more if you demand full copyright because they’ll assume you wish to allow other businesses use of your images, when the photographer might reasonably expect to be able to re-licence the images to those third-parties (with your permission, of course).

Certainly it’s normal for editorial images to be bought on licences that are limited by print run, territory/language and duration of use. Commercial images tend to be sold on wider licences, but limits can help in the negotiation process and you can always top-up the licence later.

If you have any questions about anything I’ve said here, or have a favourite Black Adder scene, feel free to comment below.

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November 16, 2009November 4, 2014 by Tim Gander

“How much?!” A guide to photography rates.

Welcome to my blog-type thing, I’m glad you could make it.

Having convinced you in my previous blog of the terrors and pitfalls of using micro-payment stock photography for your corporate website and brochure (in short, every time you use istockphoto, a fairy dies), this time around I was going to lay out what level of investment is required to hire a real photographer to take genuine photos that will make your business stand out from the generic stock crowd.

Unfortunately it’s nigh on impossible to condense all possible fee structures into a single blog article, so I’ve come up with a much better answer.

Basically, what you need to pay for photography falls somewhere between you being embarrassed at expecting so much for so little money, and the photographer being embarrassed at charging so much for something they’re professional enough to make look easy.

There, I think that covers all the bases.

Well ok, there’s a bit more to it than that, so I will try to guide you and leave you better equipped to work out what your budget should be.

The first considerations are the quality, style, creativity and experience of the photographer you’re looking to hire. Also, what the photos are to be used for and for how long. These elements will almost certainly be the most influential in setting costs.

Many photographers will quote a time rate, but others like myself will work out a project rate based on the brief and what the pictures are to be used for. This tends to reflect the true value of the work produced, while also avoiding sneakybeaky add-on charges that can crop up when a project is priced on a menu basis.

One element which is often overlooked by clients is the post production time. Post production is what gets a digital camera file into shape ready for either electronic or print use. The file straight from the camera is no use for either, so the photographer has to spend time after the shoot preparing the files for publication, including adjusting colour, exposure, resolution and many other time-consuming and rather dull tasks.

As a guide, a day’s shoot can easily equate to a half day’s post production, though this also varies from project to project. Again, in my case I’ll generally include a certain amount of post production so there are no nasty surprises later.

Ok, so you really want some hard figures? Speaking for myself a project can be as little as £190 for a locally shot PR event with a limited shelf life. At the other end of the spectrum, I have charged £1,500 per picture for complicated national projects with multiple, ongoing uses, vast coverage and a lot of planning involved.

lloyds tsb cheque presentation to housing association © Tim Gander

In that first example, the client might be slightly abashed to know that I’ve brought 20 years’ experience, £20,000 worth of equipment and free exposure in local newspapers for less than it would cost to hire a plasterer for half a day. In the latter case, I felt suitably scared of screwing up the client’s expensive campaign that I made damn sure the results exceeded their wildest expectations.

When considering the budget, try to take into account the financial return you hope to get from the exercise. If you want a good return, you’ll need top-notch pictures. Rather than trying to find the lowest talent that will do the job for your budget, it might be better to spend extra so that your project punches above its weight. Better to spend a little more and find you’ve got pictures that really project your message than find you’ve spent too little and the project fails. Ha’peth of tar anyone?

For further guidance on typical prevailing fees, see:

“NUJ Freelance Fees Guide”

Finally, if you like this lion photo I have a free A4 digital print I will send to the first UK-based reader of my blog to email me their name and address.

Until my next blog, when I’ll help you through the process of choosing a photographer, take care, and I wish you all the best with your business.

“Tim Gander is a press, PR and commercial photographer based in Somerset, who likes to talk about himself in the third person”

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