Some though on the subject by Joe Farace
Inflation is when you pay fifteen dollars for the ten-dollar haircut you used to get for five dollars when you had hair.—Sam Ewing
These days inflation is an unpleasant fact of life. As I wrote this, the US Inflation Rate is 8.26%, compared to 8.54% last month and 4.16% last year. According to Trading Economics: The annual inflation rate in the US slowed to 8.3% in April from a 41-year high of 8.5% in March. Energy prices increased 30.3%, below 32% in March namely gasoline (43.6% vs. 48%) while fuel oil increased more (80.5% vs. 70.1%). Food prices jumped 9.4%, the most since April 1981 and prices also rose faster for shelter (5.1% vs. 5%) and new vehicles (13.2% vs. 12.5%.) According to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics on Thursday, the consumer price index for used cars and trucks jumped up by 40.5% from January 2021 to January 2022, something I’ve written about ad nauseum on my car photography blog.
I don’t know about your income but based on my empirical data, it seems like the typical photographer’s income has been stagnant for many years. According to ZipRecruiter: As of May 17, 2022, the average annual pay for a Freelance Photographer in Colorado is $51,295 a year, that works out to be approximately $24.66 an hour. According to dqydj.com, the average individual income in 2021 in the United States was $63,214.03, up from $62,518.13 in 2020.
If you’re wondering why I haven’t been able to do any recent model or studio shoots, part of it has to do with the effect of the pandemic on the on-line modeling community, which in turn has also had an effect on model fees.
As of May 17, 2022, the average annual pay for a Model in New York City is $125,728 a year, which works out to be approximately $60.45 an hour. For beginning models in New York, the average model salary is $35. per hour. Victoria’s Secret Models are among the highest paid models in the world and make anywhere between $100,000 to $1,000,000 a year, on average.
According to Salary.com, the cost of living in Denver, CO is -37.6% lower than in New York, NY. Employers in Denver, CO typically pay -15.9% less than employers in New York. Yet I have received emails from relatively inexperienced Colorado-based models who were quoting an hourly rate of $200/hour.
These days I don’t have a model budget as I did back in the good ole’ days of writing lighting reviews for the print edition of Shutterbug, so I offer TF shoots. For TF shoots, some photographers provide model with low-resolution images. One model told me she received just one photo from a TF shoot that she did. It was “a great shot,” she said but nevertheless she felt cheated. Some photographers only include a few retouched photos of the photos that they like.
How I made this portrait: I photographed the wonderful Erin Valakari in my home studio during a TF shoot, although I typically offer models a few bucks for gasoline expenses, something that’s really important these day. The camera used for this portrait was a Panasonic Lumix GH4 with Lumix G Vario 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 lens (at 45mm.) Lighting was provided by a Paul C Buff DigiBee DB800 with Plume Ltd Wafer softbox and an Alien Bee B800 used for fill. Backdrop is Lastolite’s two-sided Distressed Paper/Graffiti Urban collapsible background with the Graffiti side out. Exposure was 1/125 sec at f/6.3 and ISO 200. The Glamour Glow filter from Color Efex was applied along with Photoshop’s Render>Len Flare.
How I Work
While some photographers and models like to make the TF process complicated, I think it all boils down to a simple trade of services: A TF shoot recognizes that both model and photographer’s time is valuable. In a TF shoot she model receives images from the photo session and the photographer gets to work with the model. In my case, the model receive JPEG images of every shot I make and are delivered to her that day on their choice of a flash drive or CD. If the person I’ve photographed requests, I’ll retouch selected images. A typical TF shoot provides both subject and photographer with photos they can use in their portfolios but like with any contract you and she can negotiate about what you both want.
PS: Just a reminder: My Joe Farace Live Podcast #3 is live now on my YouTube channel, Joe Farace’s Videos, and features a look at the Leica Z2X and my experiences shooting 22-year old Agfa color film in a 40-year old Canon SLR, plus some information on where I get my ideas for blog posts!