Photo Assistant Pricing

One of the harder parts of freelancing is trying to figure out what to charge.  When starting out and interviewing it's very easy to look like a fool if when the photographer asks your rate you have nothing to say.  A good photographer will help you out by giving you a typical rate, but sometimes they could trick you by giving you a rate way below the industry average.

Below are some starting averages that might help you on your way.

Regular Assisting

Most regular assisting rates are $175 -$250 a day.  On my very first job I worked at $175 a day, offered to me by the photographer.  I consider this a good "first time on the job" rate if you've never assisted before.  This is for a 10 hour day, which usually doesn't need to be stated unless you start getting that spooky feeling that your going to get taken advantage of.

Another rate I found was $12.50 an hour.  This seems to be the standard at catalog studios and other studios that have decided they're going to cut costs.  I would try to stay away from these rates unless you really need a job and you're not having any luck.  The pay is typically bad, the hours are hard and the environment is typically not very positive.

After a year of assisting you should bring your rate up to $225 -$250 a day.  When I moved to a new city I lowered my rate to $225 a day until I could traverse the city ok.  Before the end of my first year I was back up at $250.

In some cities, especially large jobs where there are multiple assistants, your rate could be at $300 a day and i've even heard of $400 -$500 a day.  If you're able to charge that much you shouldn't be reading this blog, you've probably got it all figured out.

Why so much $.

Veteran assistants may say, why so little.  The reason is because you are considered a freelance assistant with multiple overhead responsibilities, that doesn't typically work everyday and at the end of the year needs to support him/herself.  Most assistants make about $20,000 to $30,000 a year.  This isn't very much if you live in a city.  It's fair to try and budget your life for about 70 - 100 days of work a year.  Getting more than that means your doing really well.  Also, this has become an industry standard and typically goes into a budget or estimate before you even get a call.  So, the photographer may have you budgeted in at $250 a day (a standard) and you might say your rate is $150.  The photographer might feel guilty about this and bump up your rate for you or he might just pocket the money.  This is why setting your rate at $250 asap is a good idea and no matter how inexperience you are, most photographers won't question the rate.

Digital Tech Rates

Becoming a digi tech these days is extremely difficult.

A typical rate is usually between $400 - $500 a day.  I've been seeing a lot of tech firms keeping their rates at $400 a day lately.  Most techs make a substantial amount of their money from computer and camera rentals.  This requires a lot of startup capital or a rich father.  A good starting setup is a Canon Mark III with some lenses and the fastest Mac Tower you can get.  Check out other tech firms and match their rental prices.

Overtime

With some photographers you've really got to ride them about this.  After 10 hours you may have to mention subtly at your entering into overtime.  Don't be afraid to do this.  10 hours is a long day and you deserve something extra after that!  Some assistants won't charge overtime because their afraid that it will hurt their relationship with the photographer.  To each his/her own.  To calculate overtime do this:

 (Dayrate/10 hours) + ((Dayrate/10 hours) / 2) = Overtime rate

This is basically a time and a half hourly rate based on your day rate.  This works for all rates.

Dayrate and half day

Most day rates are set at 5 - 10 hours  and a half day is 0 - 5 hours in a day.  Doing an hourly rate and a half day is usually a bad idea, if you can avoid it, because by putting yourself on hold for a half day means you have to turn down a full day job if it comes along.  I only do half days if it's absolutely necessary and there's nothing else going on. 

The code of "Holds" and "Booking"

There is a an assisting code that all people within the industry seem live by.  You can be put on hold for a job and they can cancel up to 24 hours on you (unless its the weekend than usually by friday for a monday job).  If you have another person call and you have a hold on that day you can put them on second hold.  Then you can call the 1st hold person and put pressure on them to decide, but they don't have to decide.

If a person can "book" you, that means the job is happening and if they cancel they have to pay you regardless.  If you have a 1st hold on the day that another person wants to book you than you have to call the 1st hold and inform them that they have 24 hours to either book the day or release the hold to the other booking photographer.