If you would like to contribute rates in your city, please reply to this post in the following format:
CITY
1st Assistant – €XXX - €YYY
Notes
2nd Assistant – €XXX - €YYY
Notes
3nd Assistant – €XXX - €YYY
Notes
Digi – €XXX - €YYY
Notes
DAY RATES FOR CREW IN THE PHOTO INDUSTRY
NEW YORK CITY (rates as of late 2025 / 2026, USD, standard 10hr day)
1st Assistant / Lighting Tech – $850-1,250
Wide range depending on client tier. $850-950 is common; experienced lighting techs on fashion/advertising jobs report asking for and getting $1,000-1,250+.
2nd Assistant – $650-750
3rd Assistant – $500-650
Digital Tech – $850-950 plus a separate kit fee, commonly $1,000-2,000 depending on cameras/screens.
Editorial / magazine assistant rate – $250-350
Long-running magazine budgets (NYT Magazine, Conde Nast titles) are often fixed as low as $250, unchanged in real terms since the early 2000s. Photographers frequently supplement this out of their own rate to get assistants closer to $450-750, especially for higher-tier titles.
Production Assistant (PA, distinct from Photo Assistant) – $250-450
Note the industry shorthand “PA” usually means Production Assistant, not Photo Assistant — worth spelling out to avoid confusion in any rate guide.
LOS ANGELES (rates as of late 2025 / 2026, USD, standard 10hr day)
Lighting Tech – $950-1,250
1st Assistant – $650-850
Lower end ($650) reported on ecom/lookbook/lower-budget editorial jobs even at major studios (Milk, Smashbox); higher end on standard commercial work.
2nd Assistant – $750
Digital Tech – $850 plus kit fee, commonly $1,000-2,000.
PARIS (rates as of 2024-2025, EUR, standard 10hr day)
1st Assistant / Digital Tech – €500-€800
2nd Assistant – €500-€650
Occasionally 650 EUR+ on big-name jobs.
3rd Assistant – €350-€550
General note – Paris rates were repeatedly described as comparable to or higher than NYC once cost of living is factored in; Barcelona rates run slightly lower than Paris for 2nd/3rd assistants but cost of living is lower there too.
LONDON (rates as of 2024-2025, GBP, standard 10hr day incl. 30min break — the BECTU-standard day)
Lighting Director (rare, senior, includes pre-production/lighting-list creation) – up to £650-£1,000+
2nd Assistant – £200-350
£200 is described as low end; push toward £300 where possible. Higher-end ad jobs run £350-500.
Digital Tech – £350-750
£350-600 is the common range; some established digitechs report pushing £650-750 successfully, particularly in fashion, automotive, and fragrance work.
General range across experience levels – £250-£1,000/day, plus £500-1,500+ separately for kit if supplying a digital capture setup.
Note – BECTU Phototechs union exists in the UK (formed around the start of Covid), reportedly 320+ members in its community group as of a couple of years ago. Worth flagging as a resource for UK-based members, and its “standard day” definition (10hrs incl. 30min break) is the reference point most London rate discussions use.
MILAN (rates as of 2024, EUR, standard 9+1hr day — 9 working hours plus 1hr unpaid break)
1st Light Tech – €400- €600
2nd / 3rd Light Tech – €250-€350
Studio Assistant – €100-€150
Editorial – €250-€300 , typically with no second assistant on the job.
DIT / Digital Tech – around €600 is described as typical, with EQ rental fee handled separately depending on budget.
Context – Most Italian fashion/advertising work concentrates in Milan; rates above come from people working specifically in that market.