Are they using your time to come and do a shoot or are they using images that currently exist? If they are taking time out of your day to shoot, I think there needs to be an understanding first of all of how long they will be there, what they will be shooting EXACTLY and that there are to be no alterations to your home.
As for monetary compensation, even people who loan their entire HOME for movie/television show shoots are not compensated monetarily except for a small amount (a few hundred a day, and that is when people are overtaking their whole house, having modifications made, furniture is moved, etc)and then they are put up in hotels.
I think asking for them to set the light properly should have already been done regardless of an ad photo, so asking for that is a must. I would frankly ask what compensation the company offers in these cases. THey can tell you what status quo is. If you like it, great. If not, you do not have to allow them to use photos/come take them.
And make sure you get a contract stating what compensation is due, who owns the images and state what the duration of their use is for those images and in what capacity they are allowed to be used. If you give them sole rights, they can plaster those images all over facebook, television ads-wherever they want. If you are not comfortable with this, say so in the contract.

"As for monetary compensation, even people who loan their entire HOME for movie/television show shoots are not compensated monetarily except for a small amount (a few hundred a day, and that is when people are overtaking their whole house, having modifications made, furniture is moved, etc)and then they are put up in hotels."

Actually, this is completely untrue. I live in an area that gets a fair share of photo/movie/tv production (Miami) and believe me, people get paid VERY good money for the use of their homes and property! Don't quite know where one gets the idea that homeowners are paid some token amount but that's just not so.

As for the immediate question, I agree that it somewhat depends on how intrusive the process will be. It wouldn't hurt to ask for some kind of consideration. A discount on future products sounds like a good start!

I work in marketing and you'd be surprised at how little we pay the people that appear on our packaging. So I'm not sure how many $$ you're thinking you should be asking for.

As with all things in life, it can't hurt to ask. You can either come up with a $ figure that you'd like to receive - especially if you're going to be put out for a photo shoot. Or just ask them what their standard rate is.

"As for monetary compensation, even people who loan their entire HOME for movie/television show shoots are not compensated monetarily except for a small amount (a few hundred a day, and that is when people are overtaking their whole house, having modifications made, furniture is moved, etc)and then they are put up in hotels."

definitely untrue. our former home was used three times for editorial photo shoots, all paid. as for the amount, it varies on usage, market, etc. but we were paid between $2200 and $2500 per day, one time usage. we recently lost out on a big shoot because our new house is not finished yet. the client was a very large phone usage provider. we would have been compensated $6K per day (national, repeated usage). yeah. that one hurt.

our cabinet maker is trying to get in to take some pics but i would not expect him to pay us anything. it doesn't seem to be the way it works for them although i could be wrong. i just know i wouldn't have a problem with them using it. the time it would take to light the room and snap the shots would be minimal and although they would potentially be making money off of it, it's still fine with me. i suppose i feel since it is their work, i would extend the courtesy of allowing them access in order to show it off.

i wouldn't expect monetary compensation from mom & pop stores or vendors, but a major lighting corporation is quite different. i would expect something from them but again, that would depend on usage/run/market. sorry not really any help, but you should talk with them. i would say in this instance if there is no compensation, then no deal. GL!

Ditto what runninginplace said: location movie shoots are often very lucrative for home or property owners. I know because a farm I owned was once under consideration.

The lighting company may be accustomed to having their location owners "paid" by the flattery of being chosen. But that doesn't mean that they won't also compensate you in cash or future discunts, if you ask.

You most likely will be asked to sign an unlimited photo release which will give them the perptual rights to publish the images in their advertising media (includng broadcast, print and on-line), and for any other purpose, including reselling the image to a stock photo house or for publication in other so-called editorial media (i.e. when they are flogging one of their products and persuade a shelter mag to include a pic the manufacturer povides.)

So, it's not unreasonable to ask for some compensation - but if you would be very disappointed if they withdrew once you asked for something else besides bragging rights, you may want to think twice. It all depends on what rings your chimes.

One thing to consider when signing a photo release is whether you can preclude any address or name-specifc identification from being used with the photo. That will safe guard your privacy, provide some protection against the photo attracting thieves to your house - or even an inquisitive tax assessor who thinks your assessment needs to be raised since you house looks so valuable.

Good luck.

L.

I was just going off of my personal experience with the movie/tv shoots-I'm in Orange County, CA. I realize payment can vary a great deal--I should have posted such.
I still believe compensation should be equal to how inconvenienced the homeowner is. If they take pics for 1 hour and maybe move a fruit bowl, I don't think $2500 is in order.

Bahacca,

Oh since you are in Orange County that probably explains it. That's right in So CA, right? Since there is so much TV and movie activity based right there it has probably driven the price of location shoots way down.

My own experience with this is in upstate NY and outside Wash. DC, and production locations chosen in these areas are always quite special, even unique, places - or driven by movie star contractual demands to not be far away from their non-CA homes. The producers are kind of stuck with paying serious money. Sometimes a single outdoor scene must be shot close to where other production work is being done to save moving the whole company, which is very costly.

But the larger fees are for when the movie/TV production takes over the building or premise for days or weeks beforehand, or may alter or make significant more-or-less temporary changes and bar the homeowner from being in the property during the shot itself, except in very circumscribed ways.

In the case of my farm in VA, it would have required making a temporary (but permanent from the point of view of needing to cut down trees) road across a field and into the woods along the river frontage where the scene would be shot. This (the tree cutting) wasn't acceptable to me. I suggested my neighbors who already had a rough road to the river and the added benefit of a large, star-worthy, house that could be used as on-location "dressing room" space for the actors when not on-camera. In the end one scene for the movie was shot there.

I do agree that the location fee for a single room lighting fixture shot wouldn't be very much, probably only a few hundred dollars, at most. In my work in marketing I have never paid a location fee even though I have had photographs done many times for both still and video. I do try to find ways to say thank you in a material way: from small gifts, to sample products or even from getting a service done (for instance by making sure the yard is completely raked or mowed when shooting a yard-care product, not just the area we are shooting in) and, of course, leaving any consumable props brought in (plants, food, etc.) If the shoot involves displacing a homeowner over a meal hour then I offer a restaurant gift certificate, even though the homeowner is almost always hovering on the sidelines out of curiosity (and anxiety) and will probably use the GC at a later date.

HTH,

L.

100k may be a stretch, but I'd not go below 10k. Think of all the money they will be making off your photo.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and advice. I can certainly see that this type of thing can vary widely with the market. I'll try and get a better idea of how long the whole thing will take and what will be involved, then use that to drive my thoughts/expectations on the value that that disruption is to my family. I'll see what they intend to offer and we'll either come to an agreement or not!

Thanks again, as always GW is a great resource.

I think the likely compensation for shooting a single room is in the 100s of dollars range, not in the 1000s.

That said, I'm curious to know what comes of this!

Yes, Orange County is just south of Los Angeles.