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Digital Price List

This Price List is current as of 10/11/05 and
is subject to change at any time.

Service Price /Image Minimum
Image Capture, Standard $1/ Image $50 Minimum
Contact Sheets 8.5x11 $15 / Page $15 Minimum
Contact Sheets 11x14 $25 / Page $25 Minimum
CD-ROM Delivery Jpeg or Tiff See Below $50 Minimum
4x6 Prints $1/each $50 Minimum
Master File Preparation, Standard $50 / Image $50 Minimum
Master File, High-res $100/Image $100/Minimum
Retouching $150 / hr $25 Minimum

New Entries (11/9/04):

Levels of Delivery

Topics:
Why Shoot Digital
Why does Digital cost more than Film?
Fees
A Word About Color
Archiving
What do you mean, Digital Capture?

ASMP's Digital Photography Standards and Practices Pages

Levels of Delivery

Listed below are the several levels of Post-production that I offer, and a short description of the advantages, drawbacks and uses of each.

Raw Files: Raw files are the proprietary files created by the digital camera. We rarely deliver Raw files to a client: historically they only go to clients with hardware-calibrated color management, and their own in-house pre-press capability. While you may be able to open Raw files with your recent version of Photoshop, unless you have spent some time working with Raw files, you will probably be damaging them when you do so.

Delivery of Raw files is not recommended.

In-Camera Jpeg Files: Like the Raw files discussed above, these files are created in-camera. Unlike Raw files, they are a universal format that cannot be damaged upon opening. They are inferior, however in two important ways. The first is that the critical color and brightness decisions are all made automatically by the camera. The second is that the Camera throws away about 90% of the capture information (color and brightness data) when it creates the jpegs.

In-camera jpeg files can be appropriate when the final use is minilab prints (corrected by the lab) or web design (corrected by the designer), or in rare cases when there is severe deadline pressure.

Batch-converted Files: These files are shot raw, and converted in a batch in Photoshop. They will look better than Jpegs, and they do not require special knowledge to open correctly. They are not final files, however, and will require technical and artistic color-correction in preparation for high-quality uses. They will also typically require sharpening, dusting and minor retouching. 16-bit batch-converts are even better, but are more expensive, require greater knowledge on the back end, and take up much more space.

Batch-converted files are appropriate in situations where the client has a hardware-calibrated monitor and color-managed hard-copy proofing capability. Generally this will be clients with an in-house production department.

RGB Master Files: Master Files have been color-corrected, sharpened, dusted and undergone minor retouching. These files are appropriate for use as photographic prints, on the web, or in high-quality offset reproduction. Typically, Master files are accompanied by a color-managed Guide Print

RGB Master files are our most common form of final image delivery. Think of it like a finished scan from a transparency.

CMYK Master Files: These images are prepped for reproduction on press. When you convert from RGB to CMYK, you lose the ability to reproduce many colors due to CMYK's inherent limitations. Having us do the conversion ensures that the images will look the best they can, as we balance the technical limitations with the artistic vision in the original creation. CMYK master Files are accompanied by either Color Guide Prints, or by Contract Proofs: in either case, these hard copies only show colors that CMYK is capable of reproducing.

Ideally, the printer supplies us a profile for the ink/paper/press combination that will be used. If that is not available, we will convert to the closest generic profile available (eg.SWOP sheetfed, coated,). CMYK Master Files are our second most common form of delivery, and are often delivered in addition to RGB Master Files.

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Why Shoot Digital?

The reason that digital photography has taken off recently is NOT because it is cheaper to produce. Rather, digital photography is being adopted by the marketplace because it provides significant value to the buyer. What kind of value?

We Get more Done: Digital Capture has greatly increased our productivity during the shoot.

Immediate Feedback : Because the image can be viewed right away, everyone can walk away from the shoot knowing that it has been successful. In cases where the photographer is "shooting for expression", this is extremely valuable. In many cases, polaroids can simply not show what you get, because expressions change so fast.

Easy Editing : I can make the shoot available for viewing over the web pretty quickly. We can discuss which images work for the project, and I can put them into final production right away. And this is all done without the risk of sending original film.

Shortened Project Delivery Times : Digital Capture consolidates the production of images. The Digital Photographer is able to provide a product ready to be dropped into a document, and sent to a printer for final settings and output. This could easily remove 6 messenger fees and the associated time delay from a project. And in many cases, the entire delivery of images can be done electronically.

Please discuss delivery time-frame at the time of contract signing. Rush charges may apply.

Reduced Liability : Clients frequently accept large potential liabilities when they take responsibility for original film. The liability for loss or damage of the image is no longer a consideration with digital capture and delivery.

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Why Does Digital Cost More than Film?

Digital Photography has brought a whole new set of opportunities to the world of publication photography, but it has not come cheap. A digital-savvy film photographer will spend at least $10,000 to convert to digital capture. If you're not already in a digital workflow, count on $20,000. Much of that investment will have fully depreciated and need to be replaced within 18 months.

Additionally, the investment in education and retooling of workflow takes thousands of hours per year. Photographers need to become adept at using new software, implementing color management, and maintaining digital archives, among other disciplines.

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Fees:
All photographic assignments have a Fee component and an Expense component. The Fees cover the costs to my business for Salary, Overhead, Equipment, Training and Profit. Although many people still use the term Day Rate, few Professional Photographers have a standard day rate. We have found the most fair model to be one that charges according to the license granted. Please call or write for Fees associated with a particular project.

The Expenses are the incremental costs associated with a particular job, such as Freelance Assistant, Props, Film and Processing and other production charges. Listed below are the Production Charges associated with Digital Capture and Delivery.

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Production Charges :

Image Capture:
20 Images / $20 ($50 minimum per job)

Think of the image capture fee as similar to traditional film charges. (Compare to my normal charges of $40/roll of 36). Image Capture expenses include the cost of the equipment and labor to shoot, transfer, batch convert, evaluate, save, and archive digital files. This cost does not get applied to images that are deleted in camera.


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Delivery
can be made by the methods outlined below. In most cases, the most efficient method will be posting a web gallery of the images. In some cases, it will be most effi
cient for images to be delivered by sending a CD. For single images - or just a few images - email of jpegs or FTP might work best. We will work out delivery details at the time the job is booked. None of the delivery charges outlined below include mailing, Fed-Ex, or messenger charges.

Photographer Selects
are those images that are determined by the Photographer to be the best suited to the needs of the project. Please specify if you would like all images from the shoot to be included in the delivery, or only the Photographer Selects.



Web (or CD) Photo Gallery


Click to See
A Web Photo Gallery has a thumbnail page linking to a larger Image. These galleries can be accessed over the Internet, or can be sent on CD. Please note that the images in these galleries are not color-corrected.

$50/up to 100 images - $20 each additional 100 images (web or CD)
Add $20 to get Web and CD


The standard fee includes keeping the gallery on the server for two weeks. The time can be extended to one month for an additional $2 per 20 images.
The fee to reload the gallery back on the server after it has been removed is $5/20 images for one week and $6/20 images for one month.

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Epson Contact Sheets:

Contact sheets are available in 20, 12, and 4 images per sheet

$15 / each 8.5x11
$25 / each 11x14

Epson Contact Sheets are long-lasting high quality Inkjet prints. Global color correction is included, but, like all contact sheets, the color and density of the individual images may not reflect the color of the actual finished files.

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CD-ROM, Raw Images
CD Burn, NEF Files $2/image ($50 Minimum, Please see note)
CD Burn, 16 bit tiff files $4/ image ($50 Minimum)
CD Burn Jpeg Files $2/ image
($50 Minimum)

(If you are not an experienced photoshop user, then Raw File Delivery is probably not for you. If you have questions about this, then please call.)

The Image Files can be delivered on CD. These can be either the Original NEF Files, or the files can also be Batch-Processed into tiff or jpeg files. Please note that these files have had minimal or no color-correction or sharpening, and may need to be adjusted significantly to obtain a color-corrected file

Note - NEF Files: You need Nikon Software (or the Adobe Capture Raw Plug-in) to open these Nikon Electronic Format files. This software is only worth purchasing if you will be working with NEF files a lot.

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4x6 Machine Prints
$1/each ($50Minimum)

Yes, you can have good old Machine Prints made from digital files: the traditional color prints you get from a minilab. Color correction is not guaranteed, but they're good for proofing. Messenger charges and longer turnaround times may apply.

 


Master File Preparation:
$50 / image

Master File Prep from High-res Capture
$100/Image

The most versatile format for file preparation is RGB. These files can be made into good CMYK files for printing, downsized and sent to the web, or I can make great Prints. Raw images straight out of the camera must be individually prepared including conversion to tiff file, individual color correction, sharpening, as well as any needed dust removal, conversion to Black and White, or web resizing. Files are delivered as RGB tiff files accompanied by an epson print as a color guide.

Read more about this above.
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Retouching:
$150 / hr.

Any retouching that is needed beyond basic color correction will be billed on an hourly basis. An estimate will be provided before work has begun.

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A Word About Color
Color Management is a critical part of digital photography delivery. We support a colorsync workflow. Final files can be supplied with color-managed Guide Prints, so that your printer can have something to match to. If you are printing in CMYK, we strongly suggest that you get the printer to do the CMYK conversion from the RGB files we supply you.


Pay attention to your license.
Images are licensed for specific uses, and that information is included on the contract or invoice. It is up to the client to manage the usage of the image internally. Electronic files should be destroyed after the period of the license has expired. Contact sheets may be kept indefinitely
.


What do you mean, Digital Capture?
Digital Capture simply means shot with a digital camera.


Archiving:
Every effort will be made to archive the images indefinitely at the studio. Peter Krogh Photography makes no warranty about the nature of its archive past the date of first delivery of final images. Clients should treat the delivered files carefully, and keep a safe copy for the duration of the license.


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Sample Jobs:
Following are some examples of how these digital charges stack up for particular jobs:

Job 1:

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ASMP's Digital Standards Project