Budgeting Workshop

Angus Fraser one of the lecturers at UWE, spoke to both 2nd and 3rd years about the importance of understanding the finical side to the photographic industry, stating that the photographers who make it have not only a creative mind as well as a business mind.

Pre-production – Planning

Important once getting a commission or job to plan what you will need for the job and how much it will cost. Planning in the pre-production stages will save you time and help organise yourself, appearing more professional to the client, in turn they are more likely to hire you again, if you work efficiently.

Estimating – production – invoicing:

-Work out and ascertaining production costs.

-Ability to price costs efficiently and effectively.

-Getting the value for the money given.

-Being able to book keep and account for income.

Important:

-PO number (Perchase Order number) – confirms they are using you and going to pay you, important to get as soon as possible, for reassurance.

- The work you produce can be used to builds up your portfolio

-Making contacts when working on a job allows new potential clients and links to form, creating work and promoting yourself.

Money:

-Different fees for different areas. Editorial – £50, (lower pricing), Wedding and Coporate £500 (middle), Advertising £1,000 (Highest)

-Working out a day rate – £400 a day is the aim for newest photographers.

-Hold onto licensing and copyrights, more control over images, and this allows you to publish the work in the future.

Syndicating:

-what images will sell in different places.

-Where the image is ending up – changes things – the camera used – for file sizes, composition.

Client

- Be polite – its the small details such as, making sure everyones fed and has everything they need on set.

Suppliers:

-Pro Centre,

-Direct, Metro,

-Team work,

-Flash Centre,

-Calumet.

Hiring or Leasing equipment

-Photolease

Insurance

-Employers Liability Insurance,

-Public Liability Insurance,

-Professional Indemnity Insurance.

- There are only a small amount of photographic insurance companies out there.

Lastly:

For unknown costs, always have a 10% contingency rate.

From this workshop I learnt, it is not just about building a good relationship between yourself and the client, but also, the suppliers and different companies that will help you save money in the long term.

Also, writing down all the costs of everything you spent for the job will prevent you from losing any money, so by being aware and preplanning how to organise the finical side to photography, will benefit you and allow you to continue creating work from the money made through these jobs..