I have a paid shoot this coming week,  i was offered mmy rate plus drive time and mileage. Im just curious what everyone charges for this? I want to be fair and not over charge.

Thanks,

Monica Ann

I factor it into the rate, and do not do it separately. Any time you make booking yourself appear complicated - such as having tiered rates for different types of content, or different fees for different things - it can dissuade people from wanting to work with you. People who book models online tend to do it because they see it as "easy" and straightforward. Having a flat fee for a certain number of hours, with gas/transportation expense already factored in, often works well.

One number. That's it. Easy peasy.

If you're going to make it a separate charge, which many models do, you still want to keep things as simple as possible. Perhaps if you have to take an hour total driving time and the distance is such that you only use a couple of gallons of gas for the round trip, or your fare for public transportation is a couple of dollars each way then charging $20-$25 is not unreasonable. If I'm going to a location where I have to pay for parking, I look at the cost of that for the length of time I will be there as well.

In terms of mileage there are standard mileage reimbursement rates issued by the IRS for businesses and charities.

Beginning on January 1, 2015, the standard mileage rates are as follows: 57.5 cents per mile for business miles driven, and 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations.

We use those rates for travel expenses at work and at the two charities I'm part of. Obviously you can charge more but that's a good starting point for calculating purely the mileage aspect.

Hello & Welcome to MM.

As a photographer, I generally cover any travelling expenses on top of the set rate, if they are travelling far.

So, if your driving yourself for 15minutes, probably not getting an allowance, but if your catching a bus, or train, I would pay for the return ticket.

IMHO.