What the heck do I charge for this?

[Mike Harvey]

So I was contacted by a widow in the UK about shooting a memorial service at a local Naval Station. I have no idea what to charge, since shooting a memorial service has never crossed my mind, and I can't seem to find any sort of reference doing a Google search.

The widow wants it shot because a lot of folks in the UK can't come with but want to see the service... so the whole PAL/DVD Region thing adds a minor headache, but I'm not really worried about it. Hour long service, they want a small clip they're showing from the UK service (already converted to NTSC) edited into the final product which should be simple. I would only use one camera. Cousin in Florida is going to be handling the details.

I've done plenty of weddings and sports and everything else, but never a memorial service. Any thoughts on what to bill them for?

 

[ryan brown]

I've done a few. It really just depends on your usual rate... When you do weddings, are you on the higher end or lower? how much do you need to make? HD or SD? what gear are you shooting on?

I charged somewhere around $700 for a service like this, but I'd probably go as low as $500. That's 300-400 for the shoot itself, and the rest is in the time it takes to log, minor editing, and exporting and authoring the DVD's.

This could take up an entire day, so take your usual day rate and add another 100 or 200 for added expenses and time.