Selling photos for website, Copyright, and Pricing

[danlegere]

<p>I've done photography for couple years. Had offers to do real estate and did one band photo shoot. I was contacted online by a <strong>legal licensed</strong> professional medical marijuana related company. I sold them 6 photos at 30$ each for their website. They contacted me again and want to buy many more for using on their website and blog. I don't use cannabis but I like photographing it.<br /> <br /> I researched and found out most of what I need to know but I need some more specific details.</p>

<p><strong>Here are my questions:</strong> <br /> <strong>What do I do about copy rights?</strong> Do I need to make a signed contract or agreement? They also used their logo on my photos, is that OK? Even though they probably won't, I'm concerned with clients printing or reselling the the copies I sent, what should I do about this, just specify what I allow them to use the photos for, write an agreement?</p>

<p><strong>What resolution should I send?</strong> I have up to 3000px wide, but that's obviously not necessary for web use. I was thinking 1000px but If they want full resolution it will cost more.</p>

<p><strong>What should I charge? </strong> Some of my photos I would consider "stock" ish or easy to make, but some are very un-common and I've put hours into getting them. Here's my definitions:<br /> Stock ish/common, see many on stock websites: <a href=" <br /> Rare, never seen on a stock website, very few people with trichome photos this magnified, 5x macro: <a href=" <br /> Client said "best weed photos I've ever seen in my life". They want 10 photos for 225$. For the stockish ones, I think 22$ each for on their blog is good, but I don't know about the "rare" ones. In contrast, there are magazines that pay 50-400$ each for publication of certain photos of my quality and subject. And Client also said they will continue to purchase more. I could end up having a steady demand.</p>

<p>Ultimately I'm asking what would you charge for those when selling digital copies at 1000px or 3000px for only being used on a website or blog?</p>

<p>Thank you for your replies and information, I'm young and still learning all the business side of photography.</p>

[mikael_karlsson]

<p>Dan:<br /> <br /> Your pricing is way low. For web use I normally start quoting at $100/image/year but that's just the starting point and if it's a popular site with lots of traffic the fees go up.<br /> <br /> Yes, you should absolutely have a contract with them stating that you retain the copyright and all other rights to all your images. You license them specific rights to use the image(s).<br /> <br /> The resolution would depend on how many pixels they need. I'd send whatever dimensions they need at 72 dpi. There is no reason whatsoever that they would need full resolution for web use.</p>

[danlegere]

<p>Mikael,<br>

Thanks for the info, I kind of thought so. Unfortunately I have already agreed to 300$ for 10 photos at 800px or 1000px for website and blog use only. Some of my better photos to... lol damn. I guess I'm learned as go along but I won't make that mistake again. However this isnt a one time deal, he will want many more and possibly write ups, so I will adjust my prices accordingly.</p>