J R BERNSTEIN

I’ve run into a problem several times now…getting paid residuals for work already done, in the digital age.

Back “in the day”, residuals were easy money, sort of.  Let me explain.

Let’s say you do a head-shot.  How much can you charge for a simple headshot?  $100?  And how long does it take you?  Well, there’s studio set-up (or workspace set-up if you’re not in a studio), that might take you 20 minutes (more if you need to find a location), there’s time going back and forth on the phone and on e-mail arranging dates, advising what to where, giving direction, blaa-blaa-blaa, that might take another 20 minutes or more, there’s the shoot itself which should last at least 30 minutes if your client is to feel happy about the shoot, and then there’s everything done in post, like file transfer, picking the best shots, doing colour balance, removing dust spots, retouching, etc.  That could easily be 90 minutes.  So all totaled, that’s 2 hours and 40 minutes…and that’s if nothing goes wrong.  That works out to be $37.50/h, or, not a whole hell of a lot!  Factor in your costs for your camera, computer, location, etc., and it’s MUCH less.  You might even be losing money! Continue reading →