commercial pricing

Please contact me at info@jenmckenphoto.com to discuss your ideas and for an estimate. Below is a more detailed explanation of what commercial photography may or may not include. If your business is in need of new and fresh photography for your website, blog or social media outlets, please feel free to contact me so we can discuss all of your ideas.

Commercial photography is work done for commercial purposes, such as for magazine advertising, corporate publications, brochures, websites, blogs, head shots, social media etc. to promote themselves or their business. In most cases the digital files are needed to make reproductions so these sessions are priced differently from portrait or weddings. One of the simplest reasons for this difference is the usage of the image. In the portrait job, the client buys a printed image, and the copyright law legally prevents the client from reproducing the image. In commercial photography the client buys usage of an image to sell a product or service. Therefore, the image will be printed multiple times for advertising, which calls for a different pricing structure. Since the image is still the copyright property of the photographer, the client needs to purchase the image, according to use…a.k.a. commercial assignment

A commercial assignment can be broken down into 3 parts:

• Production Fee
• License Fee
• Expenses

The Production Feeis known as a “photography fee” or “creative fee”. It takes into account the photographers experience, creativity and professionalism and is the cost to the client for Jen McKen’s photography services. This fee also includes the session fee, as well as additional hidden hours that are unique to commercial photography, including digital time, and pre & post production time. The photographic services extend beyond the day of shooting.

• Session Fee: Similar to the Portrait “Session Fee”, this is the cost of the photo session.
• Digital Time: Proofing, color correcting, retouching, digital filing & back-ups, sizing, file conversion & photo transmitting, are all included in “Digital Time”.
• Pre & Post Production: Pre production is very often the most important part of a great photo shoot and is often over looked. Time spent beforehand arranging and organizing everything will greatly help the shoot to run smoothly and quickly, saving you time and money in the long run. Post Production time is the time spent breaking down a set, and the follow-up to complete the job.

The production fee is calculated by the information you provide about your project.The License Feeis for the license to use the images we create for you. Per U.S. copyright laws, each image is copyrighted to the photographer. Meaning, the creator of the image is also the owner of the image.Licensing photo usage from Jen McKen photography is simple. Generally, photos are licensed to the client as one-time, non-exclusive, North American rights. Other rights are licensed as needed by the client. Such rights are, or can be, quite involved with many combinations of rights granted.The range is great because no two jobs are the same and the costs to photograph any particular job varies a great deal. In general, a small business owner who only has a single subject to be photographed and only needs the photo for a short amount of time in a local market will pay a relatively smaller fee. This is contrasted with a large multinational corporation which may need many subjects photographed and will use the photos for a long time, in a national ad campaign. The larger company will be expected to pay a proportionally higher fee for the service. In either case, the quality of our photography will be the same and the service will be outstanding.Factors which affect the cost of the license fee include:

• The size of the photo.
• The kind of use (editorial, corporate/industrial, promotional/advertising).
• The region the photo will be used (local, regional, national, international).
• The number of times the photo is copied for distribution (circulation size, print run or number of hits on a web site).
• The length of time the photo is needed.
• Exclusivity (Do you need to be the only one to use this photo in your magazine, company publication, advertising campaign?)
• Location where the photo will be used (Inside page, cover page, home page, banner, package, poster, billboard, etc.).
• How the photo is to be printed (Color or Black & White).

The Expenses can include, but are not limited to the following (when applicable):

• Mileage and other travel costs
• Digital imaging costs
• Shipping costs
• Printing costs
• Photographic assistants
• Purchasing or rental of props
• Rental of camera and lighting equipment
• Hiring models
• Parking and tolls

After discussing your project and ideas with you, I will research and provide you with an estimate. It should be signed and returned before work is undertaken. Estimates are based on information received and are therefore subject to change if the job changes at any stage.