This is what I do for a living...sometimes I wonder if I make enough...but here goes....
There are a couple of things to bear in mind when photographing animals....first there is the matter of anciliary usages. Stock work with animals is a lucrative market in and of itself...and in the USA....copyright, and privacy laws favor the photographer's subsequent right to use the images in other markets.....I personally have made over $50K in some years in book work...and this is an area of very real concern to me...and I think it should also concern any good photographer who ever wants to achieve any fame/acknowledgement for his craft....and for me it does allow me to pay all the bills.
In some years 50% of our income has come from publishing...
I photograph cats at cat shows. We have structured our original market with the idea, that we will be earning additional income from the sale of images to publihers...and have structured out sessions with this in mind. In other words...we expect the publishing to at least somewhat subsidize the fees we charge the clients at the shows.
We used to make about 50% of our income from reprints. But since digital, and the internet, we find that many no longer order reprints....and business has been down about 40% over the past three to four years..probably a function of people using their "new" digital cameras...and the economy.
Publishing....has also taken a hit...in that many magazines, and books are today paying the same rates they were paying in 1976 when we bagan the business....considering inflation since that year..this means real payments have also gone down.
Many of my competitors have quit the business in the last three years due to the decreasing market...lucky for me...as a consequence we have been able to hang on.
First to session fee structure. It has been my experience that the monetary value of the animal relates directly to the potential profit in photography. Horse photographers earn more than dog photographers, earn more than cat photographers....and I don't think there is enough business to sustain rat/mouse/rabbit photographers...so there probably aren't any who specialize in that area....
With dog, and horses....show photography has to a large extent been characterized as a photo of the judge, handler, rider, owner, trophy..and oh yes the animal... This is because it is a political hobby, and the people are at times just as important in "bragging" rights...as the actual animal pictured...and often in "advertising" usages by the owners of the animals...are just as important as what the animal looks like.
I can't help you with pricing on these venues...as I don't do that for a living.
I do closer to what is mentioned above as shooting at a vet clinic/cat show...I do what I term "formal portraiture" of the animals...usually by themselves....and a session of shots with different poses, rather than a staged one or two shots as is done in show rings.
When I started I shot 6 shots for $6....it was a long time ago...and if we factor for inflation not that far off from what I charge today... Recently .. the past couple of years the package has been in flux due to changes/expectations due to digital imaging...but a month ago I was still charging a session for $20+$2 per shot taken....and they got one 4x6 uncropped proof of all the shots....sessions thus ranged from about $24 --$60 depending upon how cooperative, or difficult the subject proved to be...
A little history here...we used to charge a flat fee for a set number of shots...problem was...if we shot over than amount...we were taking it in the shorts financially...and if the subject would not stand for that number of pictures...cats do at times say.."I'm not going to stay here for any more of those flashes!"...we ended up charging ...say 1/2 price for 6 photos...which wasn't really good either, as usually if we only got 6 photos is meant that the subject was far more difficult than the average..and on that basis...why would we want to charge less...when we had to work much harder for the results?...also...often the owner would volunteer to allow us to finish the session with a different animal...which meant that we were working with two subjects (usually both difficult)...and getting paid for one....that is what led to the $20+2 structure we had been using....more photos pay more, fewer pay less, no set number that you have to attain...so when the cat was done with you ... you could easily stop shooting...no point in wasting time and money when you already have good shots in camera.
Very recently...two weeks ago...we decided on a new idea...we shoot as much as we want of an animal...for a set fee ($35), email watermarked proofs 650x433 pixels (all automated process) to the clients, and they pick out the poses they want paper proofs (4x6), enlargements, or "web usage images"...and even printable digital files of at additional cost.
The problem with the breeder...perhaps not at the vets...with pet owners, but with breeders definitely, is that today they advertise on the web, and in many cases they fully expect to use the photos I take of their animals to advertise their cattery/kennel hobby business....others seem to feel it quite natural that we as photographers will turn over to them images that they can print themselves.....so...how to give the client what they want..and not kill your own profession/commercial work etc..
Initially I didn't want to give them anything digital..but lets face it..scanners are ubiquitous, and copyright can be ruined by publishing on the internet, and the client is not copyright savvy...nor can we really expect them to be, and if they are unsure of what to do their expedient is to remove your signature from the images so as not to get "caught"..and "in trouble"....and as photographers suing our clients hardly sounds like the way to build new business we really don't want to be placed in a position where we have to take the client to court....so what to do.
The present scenario...subject to momentary changes is as follows:
$35 up front for session.
$2 per 4x6 picked from emailed watermarked images.
$2 per image at 650x433 signed close to animal but NOT watermarked..for use on web sites etc...along with a provision that they have to keep copyright signature, and make a copyright claim on their page.
Sliding scale ...if they insist on "printable" images...1 image $40, 3 images $50, 6 images $60 each additional image from a single session $10...these are NOT provided in native format/size, but at the same size (actually the same files we use to print their 4x6 proofs---signed and all) .ie: 1200x1800 pixels and in jpeg format at quality 8 in PSCS. Full frame...so...they can print their own small prints etc..
So what have we done...they CAN print their own prints..if they want to...a big request we used to say no to....but they do not have a real quality image a publisher would be willing to work with. We have marked the images as best we can to convey our copyright in them, and we have required them to sign a contract that stipulates that they will only use the images for their personal usage. Is it perfect? no...but is it workable? we will see...
Worst case scenario...we get $35 and they never order anything...and they have watermarked 650x433 pixel images....average scenario....they buy 6 4x6 prints and we get $47 for the session...if they want to print their own they spend $100--150 per session on average...and never order a reprint..but as when we did lots of reprints...our reprint total was still 1/2 of our income...and we make that upfront in this scenario...that is OK...as long as we at least try to protect the images, and the publishing potential from beeing given away as well....
These fees are per animal...and so do not reflect horses...where quite often there is a "farm" fee as well, or instead of a per animal fee...and quite honestly when we do a home visit we do charge a "set-up" fee that is higher than the show session fees.
Sorry this is probably a bit disjointed, and I know I probably place a MUCH higher import on the publishing end than many "portrait" photographers may....but remember these animals ARE saleable to additional markets, and that people portrait photographers do not have that aspect at all with most of their clients due to "privacy" laws that govern the usage of recognizable "people"....but we animal specialists DO have this secondary market that can make or break the business....
I have photos in easily over 60 books, and I have lost count of the magazine issues.....it is a steady market if you build a name for yourself, and worth working towards....so I implore you to not give it away without considering its potential.
Richard
