whats the going rate for published photos?

I recently did a modeling shoot with my sister-in-law. She is one of

those gothic types and quite lovely and with exceptionally tailored

clothing. I shot almost all film (scala B&W slide,3200 B&W print and

Fuji NPH) plus some digital. I want to submit her images to certain

Goth fashion/fetish/ and alternative magazines and websites. SHOULD

some of her photos be selected for publication, what would be a

reasonable amount to ask for rights? I have a model release signed by

her and basically want to get her photos and reputation started and

mine as well as a photographer. The amount of money is not important

but since any fees paid would got to her as a bonus but I dont to

basically give away her photos and my copyrights for free. I go to a

sports photographers website and see fees from $150 to $3000 for

photos and publication but I dont want to shortchange her/myself but

can't see *donating* work.

 

ANyone got any suggestions or experiance?

 

I got a digital image here. Reduced from 3mb file to 38K for quick

viewing.<div></div>

There is no "going rate" for published photos. What you get paid depends on two things: what the client is willing to pay, and your ability to negotiate.

 

What the client is willing to pay depends on what their revenue is, which mostly means readership and audience. Mainstream magazine, large circulation, affluent audience, big budget. Alternative magazine, small circulation, less affluent audience, small budget.

 

But you may be putting the cart before the horse. Why would a magazine want these images in particular?

I don't think I asked for anyone to rate my images. I am only asking what is fair price for publication.

My guess is that the best you will do is to get your name and her

name printed with the photos. Do you have any with a more

gothic lighting scheme or environment? If I were publishing a

gothic mag, I'd want the whole image to suit the mag, not just the

clothing.

And nobody did rate your images. I asked a simple, rhetorical question: why will a magazine want these images in particular? That is, since I have to spell it out for you, what is the hook that is going to sell these particular pictures? Magazines receive piles of publishable images. Why should they publish yours? If you want to get your pix in print, you have to give them the pictures they need, when they need them. Maybe you have something they need, and I don't know it. But you'd better know what separates your pix from the rest of the pile, or you're just wasting postage.

 

And I'm going to spell the other part out for you again, too, since apparently you didn't get it the first time: there's no such thing as a "fair" rate. There's what the magazine is willing to pay, which varies from one magazine to the next. Someone here can tell you what he got for a similar picture from magazine A, but it won't be the same as what you might get from magazine B. So you decide what you expect to make, and then go after the magazines that will pay that rate.

 

My suggestion is that if you want to develop your reputation as a photographer, you need to develop two other things: a thicker skin and a better attitude. Alternatively, you can keep on being snotty when you don't get the answer you want, and see how far that takes you.

Andrew, it�s okay man, it�s ambiguous and could sound a little condescending to fresh ears.

armando,

why do you ask this question? i think you know the answer already, just need a little backup from colleagues from photo.net? its the same answer you get for this question. how much is a fair price for a car?

 

here for the picture: it seems technically ok - sharp , good detail and so on. thats probably ok for a "gothic" magazine, however i must admit that when i hear gothic my associations are somewhat different. but i am biased since i come from cologne,a city with a big gothic cathedral :-P

 

so lets give you the support you need: every famous photographer once started off small. its not the worst starting point for the line to become a professional to start taking technically solid pictures and, once you got clean results, to see if you can sell them. you could be in a worse situation :-P . by now you know that the wolrd will not be fair to you- so take what you will get. be prepared that it will be a struggle, dont give up and i am sure we will here from you again soon with some success. and please: if you get answers like you got from andrew - not all helpful comments come in polite form. always try to see if there is a point to comments or critque- even if you dont like it.

cheers

walter

Armando,

There is no set rate for this kind of a thing. I doubt that goth mags really spend much on

photos. There are far too many goths that just want to get there pictures in the

magazines - e.g. they get swamped with tons of unsolicited photos - e.g. shots they

haven't got to pay for. So don't quit your day job just yet. : )

 

You don't want to give away your copyright even if you were getting paid for the shots.

Unless they wanted a 'buy out'. Not likely for a goth mag.

 

You put your shots up so expect people to comment - you didn't think you'd post shots

on PN without people saying something did you? : ) So read on..

 

Your shot needs a bit more work:

 

1) The hair needs to be worked out. A simple comb-thru in the back would improve it.

Failing a reshoot - Photoshop it.

 

2) Get rid of the shine on her face. The goth thing is heavy on the white skin - so

foundation and powder shouldn't be a problem. She's got a great complexion - so you

could just mop up the shine.

 

3) The location - A hallway in a house. Put some effort into getting the right location. With

goth you can go from antique to industrial and still pull it off. But here the location does

zip for you shot.

 

4) Theme - if you want to get payed for shots like these - you better get your head around

a theme - just being gothic isn't enough (remember there are thousands of them out there

who will submit pictures for free). Find some props - the mirror thing is good but you

need to work it a bit. Bigger mirror maybe? Small mirror (like the one you have) but a

tighter shot? Wrought iron gates, altars, crucifixes, cobwebs, stone archways etc. There is

a ton of stuff you could use.

 

 

Your model is very attractive - use that to your advantage and really put the effort into

your work. With some changes your shots could be hot - and one step closer to being paid

for by a magazine.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

Armando,

 

You can go here to get an idea:

 

http://www.editorialphoto.com/contracts/estimatorweb.html

 

However, many magazines set their own rates for images they use regardless of what the general market might offer. You might expect to earn more if your image(s) contain something special (e.g. images of Loch Ness monster).

 

I would not expect a monthly magazine to offer fees in the thousands for editorial image usage. Those kinds of fees are paid by commercial usage by large corporations/agencies.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Rubens.

Armando,

 

I forgot to mention one thing... you are doing the right thing by not donating your work. Even if you are starting out and clamour for the visibility of having something of yours published, you will not get anywhere faster by showing people that your work is worth nothing.

 

Even 5-year olds will charge a quarter for a glass of lemonade.

 

Rubens.