this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2023
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Photography

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Do you charge for hours not worked when on a business trip? (alien.top)
submitted 10 months ago by loneuniverse@alien.top to c/photography@viewfinder.pro
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For the first time I recently took a trip to another province as a contractor for a business that needed some photos. I was required to shoot various locations (cities) over a span of 5 days (Monday thru Saturday) say 8 hours a day - I will obviously be charging them my regular rate, cost of photos, all expenses etc.

My question is mainly around fees for time spent away from Home, on the trip and planning. Would you charge for any of the following?

  1. Time spent on preparing the Itinerary for the 5 day trip, researching, purchasing airline tickets, planning, booking Airbnbs etc
  2. Time spent getting to the location (a day ahead of schedule, time spent at the airport, on the flight, at the Airbnb.
  3. Time spent away from home at the Airbnb after regular business hours.
  4. Time spent travelling to various locations / Cities
  5. Time spent on flight retuning back home.

This question is mainly for those who travel for photography or business purposes and how they normally charge for such trips outside their regular fees and costs

Thanks

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[–] CopeSe7en@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

If you look through here you can probably find some examples. https://aphotoeditor.com/category/pricing-negotiating/

You would want to bill for a production day that includes travel logistics. Then bill for each day of travel. To be paid for each day away from home just build that into your “on location day rate vs local day rate”. Less line items always looks better. Be mindful of the client tho. If you bill/negotiate with a small local company like you would an ad agency you’re going to lose a job.

[–] ApatheticAbsurdist@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Logistics and planing: Charge

Travel time: Charge but possibly combined with related travel costs.

Time away from home at hotel/airBnB: only charge if you never want to work with the client or anyone the client talks to ever again. "Get this... this photographer wanted to charge me for the time he was sleeping, eating, and watching Netflix in the hotel."

[–] 0000GKP@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

1 - no 2 - yes, half day rate for a travel day 3 - no, I’m exploring & sightseeing like a vacation 4 - that’s happening during business hours, part of my day rate 5 - yes, half day rate for a travel day

[–] SnooMaps8103@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

No.

[–] fullyvaxxed2022@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

You do not charge for the job?

When I do work like that, I charge for the job. How many hours I spend does not get revealed to the customer.

[–] Skvora@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

Easiest way to do it, but thus everything gets factored in.

[–] wordfool@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

I charge day rates and depending on travel requirements they can be long days, but the same day rate still applies. A good comparison is the film industry where union day rates apply regardless of travel time to set or other time-consuming requirements of the jobs.

if you want to negotiate expenses reimbursement then that's a separate thing IMO. If I had a gig that required flying to and staying in remote cities then I'd certainly try to negotiate a deal to get reasonable expenses reimbursed (flights plus a reasonable nightly room rate), but that would be separate to my photography day rate.

[–] oldskoolak98@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

I always quoted per diem, traveling expenses with incidentals markup, plus day fees of not at actual event. It would be like 100+100+150 USD for any day that x'd my calendar.

[–] flabmeister@alien.top 1 points 10 months ago

I just took a trip to Thailand. Client paid for flights, hotel, transfers etc.

I charged my regular day rate plus some for work days (6).

I also charged for travel days (4). For this I charged basically about 2/3 of my regular day rate as it was otherwise lost time.

I charged for edit days even though I never normally do so. It’s usually factored into my day rate. Again charged 2/3 of normal day rate.

I also charged a fee for miscellaneous costs such as airport parking, travel insurance etc.