Whats a picture worth to a newspaper.

[joseph_leotta]

<p>So how much should you sell a picture for to a large newspaper.<br>

This past weekend my local church was having its annual street fair. Here in NY the Catholic Church Archdiocese is headed by a archbishop appointed directly by the pope. He's a very big deal here in NY and a very public figure who is always covered by the press on TV and Print. He paid an unannounced visit to the Feast.<br>

I'm there taking some pictures for the church as a favor when he shows up. So I start taking photos of him with the crowd as he's led around by the local priests. After a while a woman comes up to me and asks if I work for any newspapers, she saw the D700 setup and knew that it was a pro camera. When I tell her no and I'm just taking some photos for the church. she identifies herself as a reporter for the New York Daily News and tells me that her photographers could not get there. <br>

She takes my name and phone numbers and asks if its ok for her photo desk to call me. Of course it is. In minutes they call me and would like me to E-mail them about 8 - 10 different photos of the Archbishop at the feast. So I email them 10 photos, In about 20 minutes a photo editor calls me back and tells me that that want to use one of the photos ad wants to work out a deal with me. I have no idea what the going rate is and ask him whats the usual. He tells me that $150.00 would be fair. So I take it.<br>

So my question is whats a fair price so I know for the Next Time.<br>

Heres the photo their interested in.<br>

<img src="http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww160/jml0306/dolanfeastworkersweb.jpg?t=1248737929" alt="" width="800" height="532" /></p>

 

[dan_b.4]

<p>Considering how few newspapers still exist and that most of them won't pay anything for a non-staff photo, I'd say you made a good deal. I hope the paper pays you. I've never done any work for the Daily News so I'm not trying to suggest it won't pay, but I've been burned more times than not as a freelancer/stringer for newspapers.</p>

[tomwatt]

<p>I agree you got a pretty good deal.<br>

News photos are perishable commodities. Play too hard to get, and the topic grows stale, value goes down... unless it's Michael Jackson.</p>

[lex_jenkins]

<p>$150 sounds about right. As a stringer 20+ years ago I got paid by the column inch, stories or photos.</p>

[will_daniel1]

<p>Take the money. And ask for future assignments for those times when their staffers can't make it. It might turn into a regular gig.</p>

[lindsayadler]

<p>Our local paper is horrible. Three years ago they had 6 full-time photographers. Now they have 2 full-time photogs and just give point and shoots to the writers. $150 is probably normal, though I can't say I have that much experience with BIG newspapers. <br>

I agree with the above comment... keep looking for future assignments if you enjoy this work and you might become known as a reliable source for photography. </p>

[patricklavoie]

<p>not because someone is somewhere at the rigth time and place ..that make him a reliable source for future assignement. Theyre was a lot of people during 911, yet they didtn all turn out the next day as a news photographer..</p>

<p>I think you got a nice amount for your image, you can also call them and offer your service for the future, and i hope they will consider it and call you for sure..or maybe you can also just be around with your camera and grab images as thing append and proposed them to the journal...and gte some money once in while for it.</p>

[raybrizzi]

<p>I got $250 from Der Spiegel for a picture I took which they found on a website (whom I had let use the picture free.) I found later that the New York Observer had also used it as well when I searched for my name on Bing. They acknowledged that it was my picture. They gave me some doubletalk about Creative Commons, but hey, at least they spelled my name right.</p>