Kinda scrap for hire, kinda not ;)

[mturnidge]

So, I was just hired by a professional photographer to design the albums he gives to his clients. This is way different than scrapping of course, very simple, clean, and graphic. I can't use my scrap supplies, of course, so I need to pick up a few sets of commercial brushes. I found some and each set is about $12-14 and there's maybe 1-2 brushes in there I'd be able to use, so I'd need several sets. He just called and asked me how much I'd charge for doing this for him. I have NO CLUE!!!! I do want to trade sometimes for photography, but how much $ is my work worth?!?!?! I always felt awkward asking for a certain rate when I was BABYSITTING, so this is really weird for me.

I'm very excited about this though! Seems easy enough!! :) If you want to check out his MAD SKILLZ (hehe) here's (http://www.spencerboerup.com/blog/archives/51) one of the examples of an album design. Really gorgeous photos!
Also, I've never really played with blending. Anyone know some good tutorials on that?

[AliSarah]

I would check at Renderosity for better brushes as a starter... I would imagine especially in that arena that Ron's Flourishes would be a must have... Meanwhile, I would charge him an hourly rate, whether $25 or $30, whatever seems most fair to you... An hourly rate is great, or you can charge by the project, but you need to be sure you are charging enough to make it worth your while and low enough to make it affordable for him!! :D

Congrats on the great opportunity though!! It sounds awesome!! :D

Huggles!!
~Sarah~

[Teresa Victor]

Congratulations on the gig! :) He takes very beautiful photos!! Does he need more help? LOL

In all seriousness, definitely don't sell yourself short- will you be in charge of photo selection to make the albums? Or will he have specific photos for you to use? It can take quite awhile to choose and cover all the bases! Do you know how much he charges his clients for an album? Does he offer a set number of pages/images per album? I'd probably suggest a fixed rate based on what he charges and the amount of time you expect to spend on the album.

For brushes- has he used specific ones in the past? Maybe he already has a preference for the style he wants? Might help so you don't have to re-invent the wheel. :)

Best of luck! Looks like you'll have a lot of beautiful images to work with!
Teresa

[mcardall]

Beautiful work! I would charge a flat rate based on what he charges his clients. Figure out how many pages he wants and really... with just gorgeous photos, some textures & some brushwork, it shouldn't take you too long to do an album. The first couple will probably be time-consuming, but after you get used to the style, it should go pretty quickly. Ask the photographer to take some texture shots during the photo shoot... Close-ups of flowers, the granite or marble of the location. If it's a shot of the couple on rocks, then the texture of the rocks. TaylorMadeDesigns has some really awesome photo blending tutorials on her blog. But the concept applies to paper, too. Misty Cato has some blending tutorials, too. Sorry I don't have links for either, but I am sure you can Google them.

[ntwhtuthnk]

I'm sorry I have no advice but what a fabulous opportunity! Congratulations and best of luck with it!! :)

[VanessaF]

If you have a look at the Deviant Art site, they often have some very interesting brushes there. They are free for personal use, but you may be able to negotiate a commercial usage fee for the ones that you want which may save you in the long run on buying in loads of brush packs for just a few brushes that you want.

[amykant]

you might also want to check out pink ink! they have a lot of great resources for photographers... also some great templates, backgrounds, etc for photobooks http://www.pinkinkstudios.net/