Chapter13
How We Pay
Money
How we pay.
Every rate is in writing before your first event. This is the whole table.
Levels and rates
| Level | Rate | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Host, training | $25 / hr | Videos, studio practice, and your first events alongside a lead. Paid from day one. |
| Host, trained | $35 / hr | You can set up, troubleshoot, and host an event on your own. Consistently charismatic and kind, calm under stress, and you know the camera and lighting well enough to make people look great. |
| Portrait & headshot photographer | $600 / half day · $1,200 / day | Includes setup and pack-down. Multi-day conferences are day rate plus travel days. |
| Roaming photographer | $400 / 3 hrs | Three hours of shooting time. Longer nights quoted per event. |
Flat payments
Paid on top of your rate, for the work that isn’t hourly.
- Kit pick-up$25
- Kit drop-off$25
- Drop-off booth event (set up, pick up, gallery monitoring, on-call support, staying nearby)$150
- Personalize event graphics$10
- Plan event details and schedule staff$20
- Named shoutout in a Google review$50
- Send us an event that books, using your personal link (paid when it books)$50
Travel pay
Driving time is never free.
- Travel day on a fly-in event (no shooting)$250 / day
- Driving to an event$25 / hr + fuel
- LodgingBooked for you
- Fuel, hotel or Airbnb, mealsReimbursed
The rest of it
- Every rate is agreed in writing before your first event.
- Paid every two weeks through Gusto. Log your hours and activities.
- Example: a Bay Harbor event is about four hours each way. That’s $200 for the driving, plus fuel, plus your lodging and meals. Driving time is never free.
- Proactive raises for agreed behaviors, practiced every day.