Re: Why Some Photographers Hate Creative Commons

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

 



There's a story about an engineer who was forced to retire early. He was called back as a consultant to advise the company about a problem with a malfunctioning compressor. After he looked at the problem, he took a piece of chalk and made an X on the errant part of the machine. Fix this he said. Subsequently, he sent a consulting bill of $50,000.10 to the company. Queried about the strange amount, he said, "It's 10 cents for the chalk and $50,000 for knowing where to place the mark." So, it depends!

But much of Emily's list (Not the famous "Emily's List", a movement of Democratic women in the US committed to promoting the election of women to political office.) requires amortization, and the assistance of a one-armed economist to figure it out!

Roger

On 22 Dec 2007, at 8:17 PM, Emily L. Ferguson wrote:

A hundred pounds a day - lessee.  That's 50 bucks a day.

Don't think so. More like $100 bucks an hour for weddings where I live. And that's per person. Most weddings are done with a photog and a couple assistants who are at least $350 a day. And that's an 8 hour day.

So let's see how that plays out:

Equipment:
camera bodies, at least 2 required $1300 to $2400 each - $2000 average each camera
lenses, at least 2 required $600 to $900 each - $1500 each camera
flashes - $150 each, need three or four for portrait shots, along with light stands etc.
Memory cards, at least 8 Gigs required for a wedding $350 each camera
Total: $5500 ever couple years

Computer, possibly 2 if assistant is regular worker, $2000 (incl monitor, keyboard etc)
External drives for computer $200/500Gig, maybe one per computer
misc computer stuff - $300 for tablet, DVDS, cheap printer - each computer Computer application license - Photoshop costs $675, need Office and Quickbooks too
Total: around $8000 for two computers

Equipment insurance: ???

Auto expenses:
car insurance, depending on jurisdiction, around $900/year
car maintenance, depending on age of car, around $1200/year but don't need tires, or brakes, or suspension
Gasoline, depending on mileage, about $35/week
Total: around $4000/year for cheap, efficient car.  Don't get a truck.

Car - $12,000 on the cheap.  Every 4 years or so.

Business Education - conferences, weekends and weeklong - $2000/year

Rent on living space - around here it's $1300/month for 3 bedroom house
 or Mortgage for same - around $800/month
Health Insurance - ha, ha, ha - $550/month with $1000 deductible
House maintenance - $4000/year
Home insurance - $800 on $300K house
Real estate Taxes - depending on valuation of living space - $1700/ year on $300K house Utilities - around $3000yr if you don't have a cell phone, and what wedding photog can be in business without a cell phone.

Fed and State Taxes on net income: $30-40% maybe $2500/yr.

Retirement savings????
Married?  Have kids?
Savings for children's education???
savings for when you don't have any work???
Food - haven't figured that in yet.  bare minimum $100/week.

So:

$50 bucks a day every day of the year = $18,000/year.
That's assuming you have work every day of the year and never get sick or have to take time off.

Your rent alone is more than half that. Your food is $5200/year. That's $14,000.

Hmm.

--
Emily L. Ferguson
mailto:elf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
508-563-6822
New England landscapes, wooden boats and races
http://www.landsedgephoto.com
http://e-and-s.instaproofs.com/



[Index of Archives] [Share Photos] [Epson Inkjet] [Scanner List] [Gimp Users] [Gimp for Windows]

  Powered by Linux