So you want to become an aerial videographer? You have come to right place! I get a lot of emails asking me how much I charge for aerial video. In order to charge your clients properly, you must first take a look at how much you spent on your set up. Let’s say you spent $3,000 on a new rig for aerial video. How much are you supposed to charge? First, lets cover if you are going to be working hourly. The BASIC rate for a videographer is $50 an hour. But this is only for basic videographers. You’re not basic are you? I thought not. You want to stand out of the crowd. Well, here is the thing. If you are going to be charging more, you have to be better than BASIC. Aerial video is far beyond basic, BUT you have to be good at it. Practice makes perfect, if your drone came equipped with a flight simulator, you MUST train with it as much as you can until you are extremely fluid with your movements!
Let’s say you are scheduled to shoot a wedding, and your client wants a few aerial shots of the wedding. Since sending your investment up in the air is a pretty big risk, I would suggest charging 10% of your cost on the rig. So $3,000 would turn into $300. You will have to make your client understand that the price is set for that much because of the amount of risk and skill to operate the aircraft. Even though they might say that $300 is too much, if you explain the reason for that price, they will most likely agree to pay for it. Aerial video adds so much production value and can make a video stand out so much. CLIENTS ARE WILLING TO PAY FOR THAT!!!!
So how much should you charge for a gig that can require a whole day on an hourly rate? Stay tuned for that blog post, it’s coming. Until then, fly safely!
