Advice and insight needed . . .

[gahspidy]

I recently shot a Dance Company performance and will be shooting more performances for them in the next coming shows.
The Choreographer of the company is going to be producing a CD for a Middle Eastern musical group.
She has mentioned that she would like me to shoot the photos for the CD covers.
I have never done anything like this before and am not sure what is expected of me.
Does the photographer usually design the cover as well, or does that fall into the hands of someone else?
When the shoot is done, do I hand over all the files from the shoot, or do I get to select the best, edit them a bit and then hand them over for her viewing.
When I did the Dance performance, I sent them all the files from the shoot as well as digital Contact sheets and another folder that had "My Picks" that were the ones I felt were the best , edited and finished to my liking.
Any ideas and insight would be most helpful for me before I discuss away the details of the shoot with her.

[Greg McCary]

Congrats on getting the job Gary. Is it going to be a CD of music or DVD of dancing or both?

[gahspidy]

Greg, thanks although I do not officially have it yet. It's a good thing that I have been getting my lighting set up together now and am using a Canon wireless setup with umbrellas, reflectors, and home made snoots and grids lol.
This particualiar gig will supposedly be just for a CD album cover. I was going to turn it down due to lack of confidence I never having done this before and also just getting started in portrait and studio type work, but I figured the opportunity does not come by that often for me at this point and the experience will be worth while. If it goes well it could open up some more doors . . .

[Liz]

Gary,

Congratulations! And don't! say no for lack of confidence. Your work is always excellent and you are incredibly talented and creative.

I can't help with anything specific, but here are a few links that might give you some ideas. Scroll down on the first website and you'll see some really nice CD covers and prices created by another "Gary" - I didn't go further than this page, so I'm not sure how much you can glean from his website. I was impressed with his work, however. The others are just some miscellaneous sites.

http://garysweetman.com/cd_covers.htm

Scroll down - tips on marketing CD covers......

http://www.susanwilsonphoto.com/Services/

google miscellaneous ..... stuff
http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...er+photography

Liz

[another view]

I was going to turn it down due to lack of confidence

Baah, confidence is overrated! Liz is right, you don't have anything to worry about.

It can be difficult working with a group that doesn't know what they want. Really, not trying to be "smart" or anything, but you might find yourself doing a bit of many jobs that would likely be handled by separate people with major label releases. I've done just enough of this to really appreciate those who do it well. Try to get any ideas you can from them, but be prepared for adding most of them yourself.

[Medley]

gahspidy,

I've done the same thing in the past. I was in much the same situation as you, the project being one of my first. Here's the conclusions I came to:

The images are the work of a photographer. The cover design is the work of a graphic designer. They are two separate jobs. Bear that in mind on your pricing.

The back cover of a CD/DVD usually has a spot reserved for credits. I told my client that if they were willing to allow my name in the credits, It would reduce the costs. Name recognition and all that.

I also made sure that the client understood that while I had no intention of using "their" designs in any other commercial situation, I reserved the right to use it in a future portfolio as an example of my work.

As far as presentation, the first meeting requires the most work, especially when the client has no preconceived thoughts in mind (as Another View pointed out). I have a Mac Powerbook, so I take it to the meet, show them a slideshow (iPhoto) of all the images, then switch to Adobe Bridge to show them the (previously rated and sorted) images I chose, then to Photoshop to give them a few (3 or so, substantially different) rough drafts of design concepts. By that time, they generally either agree with the direction I've taken, or have developed some ideas on their own that they're about to tell you about. Whatever the case, I usually walk out of the first meet with more specific ideas of what I need to do.

My situation may be a bit different than yours in that I come from a strong graphic design background, much more so than photography. Still, I've found that getting your name out there is often more important than making lots of money. I give substantial price breaks for recognition, be it a simple "Design: xxx" for printed work, or a link back to my website for web work. Once you have some recognition, and have established a network of sorts, then you can up the price some.

It's worked well for the graphic design side, but I haven't had as much experience doing the photos for profit thing to make recommendations one way or the other. Even now, most of my photography revolves more around getting the angle and perspective I want for a design than for stand-alone work.

Just some of my thoughts.

- Joe U.

[gahspidy]

Thanks everyone. Liz, and Steve, your good words of support really give me some edge in going forth with this. I appreciate it much. Liz, I already checked out Susan Wilson site , but the other ones you gave are also extremely helpful. Thanks.
Joe, you make some good suggestions. I like the idea of getting credit for the work in place of greater pay for the gig. This may help them as well since it may be a tight budgeted situation.
Charging for the Garphic designing if asked is a must . It most likely could involve more time than the actual shoot.
Thanks much for your advice.