How Much Do You Pay Your Second Shooter?

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QOTD from Ami: "Question for wedding photographers~ How much do you pay a second shooter?"

Chris: What are they worth. 200 is a good starting price, every few months they are working with you, bring it up 50 bucks.

Morgan: Welll, mine are usually not very "professional" I usually allow them only to capture things that are very basic and sometimes I help them with their settings and such. I pay them $50-$70 and then when I hire another true photographer I pay her $125.

Amy: per hour? or for the day?  sorry if it's a silly questions I'm from a smaller town LOL

Jen: 65 per hour for weddings. :)

JFS photography:  all depends on how much your charging for the wedding, and are they good?...better the experience, the more you pay...65 is quite high to be honest...most ive seen and even for seasoned pros is 45/hr

Andrea: I'll be paying mine around $200 or so but she is also assisting me with more then just shooting so it depends.... I think $200 or so is good based on experience too

Aaron: Depends a lot on experience. I 2nd shot my first five weddings without getting paid anything, because it was a way for me to gain experience and learn the ropes. If a 2nd is also consistently shooting weddings of his/her own, then they should be paid a higher rate. Amy, I would say a flat rate is more common.

Jen: I pay a minimum to my second shooter for a full day 650 (12 hr wedding ) but it all depends on what your charging as a photog in the first place for photos- if your only charging 1000 then they can't expect a large amount. I always tell my second shooter what I'm charging the client and what shes tgetting paid and expected to do.

Alysha: $50/hour and the client pays for it if they requested a second shooter.

Justina: This is something I have been trying to decide because I want to start having one.

Rexella: I think it depends on the area also. I've talked to several seasoned pros & the average is $35-50 per hr. Of course, this is just basically shooting & giving you the card to download. No editing, main photog does all that.

Tom:  I pay $150 for about 6hrs work.

Jenn: And I thought I paid well but apparently not. For rookies 15 and hour. Highest I pay is 25 and hour. I used to work for a girl that only paid me 10 even with experience (and that was only two years ago). Side note I'm in Ohio

BP4U: I think this also has to depend on the usage of the images that the second shooter takes. Do they get to use them in their portfolio? If they do and they are looking to expand their experience and portfolio, I would pay them less per hour. That portfolio is worth a ton of money over the course of their career bc essentially they will be able to book more weddings from it. I think that's a very important factor to keep in mind. I also base the rate on equipment. Are they using your equipment or do they have their own, do they have backup equipment etc. One more thing to keep in mind is posing. Is this second shooter able to step up and pose without your direction if you need them to do that at a certain point throughout the day.

Tara:  I am just starting out myself, as is my second shooter. I paid her $20/hr as she did me with her wedding. We both got to use our own images in our portfolio or blog with reference to the main photographer. We are in Lancaster County PA. I know my mentor pays her second shooters $40/hr, obviously they have more experience and she is charging her clients more for a wedding than I am for my weddings.

Amy: Thanks again everyone!! Love the great tips and info I get here!

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