so this construction company reached out to me about doing progress shots of their site but when i looked at the location on airmap its like 2 miles from a small regional airport. they said their previous pilot just stopped showing up and they need someone asap

i know i need laanc approval but ive never done that before and they want me there next week. is this something i should pass on or is it pretty straightforward to get cleared? also what should i be charging for something like this - they said weekly flights for the next 6 months

LAANC isn't too bad once you get the hang of it but definitely dont show up without proper authorization. Use the FAA LAANC system or one of the apps like Airmap or Kittyhawk. For that kind of regular work id probably quote something like $300-400 per session depending on how much area they need covered and how many shots. Weekly work for 6 months is gold though so maybe start a bit lower to lock it in

be super careful with construction sites man. not just the airport thing but those sites can be dangerous with cranes and stuff moving around. make sure you coordinate with the site manager about when its safe to fly. also get everything in writing about who's responsible if something goes wrong. learned that lesson the hard way