Ask an Agent / Extra Fees for Night Shoots.

Ask an Agent is a regular monthly column answering your questions about the business of photography– the photography industry’s first Agony Aunt!

If you have any questions you’d like to ask a photographers agent please send them to askanagent@lisapritchard.com. Questions can be on anything to do with the photography business, such as photoshoots, marketing, professional practice, pricing, contracts, legal stuff – anything!

This month we're looking at shooting for overseas clients.

Dear Ask an Agent,

A advertising agency client of mine has asked if I can shoot from midnight to 8 a.m in the morning for an upcoming x 3 day commission. Their client is based in Malaysia and want to be in contact and approve shots as the shoot is happening. So my question is, should I charge extra for this?

- Peter Wood

Thanks for your question, in general it is usually expected that a photographers fee will be more for shooting in 'anti-social hours'. We actually have the following clause built into our terms and conditions:

ANTI-SOCIAL HOURS. A normal working day is 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. and any time before or after these hours may be classed as anti-social hours. Photographer’s fees after 6 p.m. but before 10 p.m. will be 1. 5 times the photographers agreed daily fee including usage. Photographer’s fees after 10 p.m. and up until 8 a.m. will be charged at twice the photographers agreed daily fee including usage. Third party fees will be as their terms impose

© Julian Love / Shooting at night for Canon (for illustration purposes only)

So yes I think it's perfectly fair to charge extra for working the night shift! If you are responsible for any crew- assistants, models, stylists and so forth- don't forget to check what their 'anti-social' fees are, as well as any location or studio hire additional costs.

Having said that, take each job as it comes and do what is fair and reasonable, it may be a very long standing client who is paying you a handsome usage fee, in which case you might want to be reasonable and not charge extra (although the rest of the crew might not agree to work for their usual rates which is fair enough). However, it might also be the case that the whole shoot doesn't need to be in the dead of night and the client might be able to approve the shots in their own working hours after each shoot day - don't be afraid to ask these questions, you might even save them some money.

Whether you’re a creative director or a student, a photographer or a designer, an art buyer or an assistant, if you have any questions you’d like to ask a photographers agent please send them to askanagent@lisapritchard.com and we'll answer as many as we can!

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Lisa Pritchard, LPA and guest bloggers take no responsibility for any omissions or errors.

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