Photo Assistant Being Taken Advantage Of?????

[ann_m.]

Hello,

I am new to the world of assisting/interning and am currently working

for 3 different photographers. I am a little concerned that one

photographer is utilizing me unethically as his "intern". This

photographer is strictly a wedding photographer, and he often sells

packages that include 2 photographers to cover the event. He is

charging the customer the price of a second photographer, and than

using me, his intern, to be the second photographer. He than uses

several of the photos that I took and stamps his copyright and name

on them, without asking me upfront if this ok. For 8 hrs. of my work

as the "second photographer" he coughed up a whopping $75 to pay me.

Perhaps this is just how interns/assistants pay their dues, but

something seems fishy. Can anyone tell me if this is normal or not?

[ellis_vener_photography]

Do you have a signed contract with him?

 

"He than uses several of the photos that I took and stamps his copyright and name on

them, without asking me upfront if this ok. "

 

Reality check here: You are working for his studio, you are working under his direction.

 

$75.00 seems very low, but is this the rate you agreed to?

 

And yes you are just paying your dues to learn your craft. A lot of the lessons you are

learning will be negative lessons. I think he might be taking financial advantage of you,

and you think he is taking advantage of you, but no one is forcing you to work for him.

Have you tried talking with him about these issues?

 

When you have your studio you'll run it as you see fit. Hopefully more ethically and

businesslike manner

[ray]

You didn't say whether you are a 1099 contractor or a w2 employee of this photographer.

Either way, usually, your employer owns the work that you produce on company time.

Nothing fishy about that. I hope that you signed a contract and that the $75 is being

declared as income to the IRS.

 

The only thing fishy is the $75/day. That seems a bit low. In most major metro areas the

going rates for good assistant photographers run around $200+/day. But I assume your

employment is "at-will". You could always walk away if you got a better deal elsewhere,

and I have seen some junior interns offer to work for free.

 

For what it's worth I pay my assistant $250-350/day based on hours/type of work.

[rich_dutchman1]

It sounds like he is trying to give you experience beyond what he originally hired you to do. Go with it, learn, and stop complaining. If you don't like his treatment, then discuss it with him, get his point of view, then try to renegotiate or quit. Back in my college days, I interned for a PR firm, was given significant assignments, and was paid $20/hour, but the firm was billing me as an "associate" for $125/hour to clients. That's just business, and you're learning how to make money off other people's efforts.

[terry_cribbs]

Don't let the snotty responses of some of these posters fool you;

if this guy's behavior is making you uncomfortable and you feel

taken advantage of, chances are that something fishy IS going

on. You work for two other photographers right now, so I'm sure

you've got more than a slight Idea about what is and is not

appropriate.

 

It is true that if you are working for him your images are

technically his studios' posession unless agreed upon

otherwise, preferably in writing. $75/ day is ok if you're just

doing lighting and/or shlep work, but for a shooter it's too low.

 

Talk to him about the situation. Be straight about it. Demand

what you feel your time is worth to him, or work out a comission

basis reward system; for every image that you shoot that he

sells to a client, you get X-amount bonus.

 

Finally, if you're not comfortable in the situation, or if he is

unresponsive to your suggestions, just move on. Obviously you

aren't hurting for jobs or experience-gaining potentials, so cut

your losses and consider it a learning experience. At this stage

in your career, you should be thinking not about working more,

but about working smarter.

[enlightened-images]

In a way, all the answers are correct. Yes, much of this is normal & yes, you probably are being taken advatage of "a bit". The bigger picture here is that as someone who is learning the ropes in business, you also need to learn the ropes in how to communicate with others, especially related to your own concerns. If you never speak up or ask questions or have a 'real' discussion - you might as well change your name to "Door-Mat" and find a nice grill where you can flip burgers for a living.

 

In short, talk to the photographer, and tell him your concerns. But it is very normal to mark up assistant rates billed to clients, as he is covering other costs you may not be aware of. As for the pictures, again, talk to him. Some photographers never let an assistant take a picture, as there have been many tales of assistants trying to udercut or outright steal a client.

 

Gary Crabbe

 

Enlightened Images

 

http://www.enlightphoto.com

[ann_m.]

Thanks for the responses,

I have no written contract with this guy. When he approached me about interning for him, nothing was mentioned about me serving as an assistant photographer. Originally the verbal agreement was to schlep his gear, help with lighting, and misc. office tasks. I didn't find out until we arrived at the event that I was to act as a second photographer, and shoot the whole 7 hours. I have no problem working for nothing, if I am just acting as schlep and observing how he works, but since he is charging clients for my time and my shooting talent I feel I have moved beyond just an intern working for free. The other photographer's I work for pay me on average of $200 a day for just assisting them, not shooting, and they have a lot more to offer as mentors. The fact that he didn't ask me ahead of time of I was ok with shooting 7 hrs for $75 bugs me. What is the going rate for an assistant shooter?

[ann_m.]

I forgot to add that I am not on his payroll, the original agreement was that I was to work for free for school credit and just come along on his shoots to observe how he works and runs his business. But it seems that my duties have certainly moved beyond this.

[ellis_vener_photography]

Yes they have moved beyond your original agreement. You either need to renegotiate your

fees or stop working for him.

[bill c.]

Amy-- Here's the bottom line-- If you have no employment agreement, and the man is not paying you a constant weekly salary, and he is not contributing social security, then you are NOT an employee. You are a contractor. And if you did not sign a "work for hire" agreement, then there are legal grounds to argue that you own the copyright to any images that you snapped for him. Note that I said "legal grounds." You could win in court, you might not, it wouldn't be worth it in either case but at least you know that's the way the law is leaning.

 

IF the learning experience is good, IF the vibes attached to his sneaky methodology isn't too disruptive to your psyche, IF the things you think you will gain will exceed those which will be taken away from you, keep working for him.

 

But you have to ask yourself this: If he is so damned good, then why is he using YOUR images? I mean, if he was an incredible photographic guru and you deeply loved his work and just to soak up the fantastic creative aura of this person was enough to want you to work with him, great, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. If your stuff is good enough to be displayed as his work, then why aren't you out on your own?

-BC-

[tholte]

The guy is greedy!!! If he hired you as an intern and is using you as a second shooter and paying you a lousy $75.00 and using some of your images as his own, what are you learning from him? How to be dishonest and unethical? Leave as fast as you can and work for someone with a little bit of character. If you can't find somebody decent to work with in your area, move or get into a differant line of work. Good luck and don't accept being abused.

[markplawchan]

Amy--You work for 3 photographers, two of them pay you $200/day and the other one pays you $75/day..how many days do you have to work for the third one, to equal one day of work for either one of the other two? (students will please turn in their homework now...)