Best Business Practices for Photographers [24]
Renting to Yourself and Others
If you own specialized equipment, you can recoup the expense of owning and maintaining it through rental. For years in the video industry, there has been a line item for the camera operator, the sound technician, and camera rental. It didn't matter that the camera operator owned the camera; it was not a part of what came with the camera operator, and in some instances the contracting company provided the camera operator with equipment. So in theinstances when the assigning client wanted the equipment, they paid for the rental. For years, we photographers included our film cameras in our fees. However, during the shift to digital, many photographers did not own digital cameras, so they began to pass along a digital camera rental fee to the client.
Those who made the significant investment began to apply the video model, and a line item on invoices began to appear to amortize the cost of ownership over client requests, in the form of a rental to clients. This model is especially prevalent among those using $20,000 to $40,000 medium-format digital backs and the even more expensive 4×5 digital backs.
This model can extend to other specialized equipment, from ultra-wide angle lenses, to 300mm+ lenses, to blimps, gyros, generators, location vehicles, and even lighting. Many photographers do not own lighting equipment and will rent on an as-needed basis. For those who have a basic lighting kit, some shoots require multiple simultaneous lighting setups or complicated and extensive lighting, so additional kits are necessary. Ensuring that you will be able to rent additional lighting or including a line item for the use of your own lighting or other specialized items is as simple as outlining it on your estimate/contract and, if necessary, being prepared to justify the line item when asked. If you feel that the line item listing of "Lighting kit rental $275" is dishonest because of the use of the word "rental" and the fact that you own the lighting kit, then simply use one of the following:
Lighting kit – $275
Lighting kit charge – $275
Lighting kit, as necessary – $275
or some variation thereof. When a contract is returned signed with that as a line item, it's approved as a client-payable charge. This same methodology applies equally to all other equipment.
For gyros, Kenyon Labs will rent theirs to you for around $200 a week (plus $25 shipping each way). At a purchase price of around $2,500, if you're going to need a gyro more than occasionally, it makes sense to own one and rent it to yourself for $250. After 10 uses, it's now yours. The daily rental charge of the same gyro from rental houses that have them available is $60/day, plus shipping/courier. This, however, presumes that you are local to them. If you are an overnight shipping day away, you're looking at either a two- or three-day rental from them, again approximately $175 to $230. So, establish your own rental charge to yourself (and your colleagues) of $200 for up to a week; it will pay for itself over time and then become a profit center for you.
Jacobson blimps rent for around $50 a day plus shipping if you're not nearby, with an assortment of lens tubes to accommodate your various zooms and fixed focal length lenses. So, it'd be fair to charge, say, $90 a day. Jacobson will sell you a blimp and the three most common lens tubes for around $1,400, so with about 15 days of use, it has again paid for itself and is now a profit center. However, don't try to buy a blimp within a week. Orders can take up to three months from the