Maria is starting a career as a professional wildlife photographer and plans to photograph Canada geese at one of their staging grounds during their migration in northeastern Manitoba. She booked a place in a hide at the edge of a lake and plans to photograph the geese as they land on the water. For the price of a room in the Hilton ($200 per day), she gets a spot on a wooden bench shared by other photographers, a muddy floor, a bracket to mount her telephoto lens, a tent to sleep in, and delicious meals of freshly caught fish. Meteorological records indicate ideal conditions with a probability of 0.42 on any individual day. In those conditions last year, she got two shots worth $5000 each in three days. Nonideal conditions do not result in commercially acceptable photographs. To establish her reputation, Maria only sells $5000 photographs. This year, she has booked four days in the hide.

a) What is Maria’s expected revenue from one day in the hide?

b) What is Maria’s expected revenue from her four days?

c) What is the standard deviation of her revenue from one day?

d) What is the standard deviation of her revenue from the four days?

e) State your assumptions clearly.

f) Compare the risk of four days with the risk of one day.

g) What is the chance of getting two or more saleable photos on Maria’s first day?

h) The return charter f light from Winnipeg where Maria lives costs $1200. How much net income can she expect from the trip?

i) What is the advantage to Maria of staying more than four days?