Copyright, pricing for website photos

[julie_sweeney]

<p>Hello: I am an established photographer with my own portrait business. Recently a client asked me to shoot images for their business website (6 head shots and shots of the facility). I have not done this type of work before and wanted to know about allowing my images to be used on a business professional website. Some questions I have are : 1. Should I ask for credit on their website and brochures 2. How much should I charge. My portrait business I charge $125 for the session then prints are al-carte. They want images for the web and also for their brochure. Any advice would be so much appreciated. Thank you. </p>

[john_a5]

<p>Small businesses are always a different breed and you have to sort of feel your way through it. I shoot commercial work and if a client asks for this sort of thing, a small business type, I usually just shoot it for a normal business type rate--generally I find out their budget and see if it is reasonable!</p>

<p>Not knowing the client, I would say that charging your per portrait session fee per individual and an additional 50% for post work would be in the ball park. This way you are paid for your time and if you get any sales of pirnts, it is just a bonus!</p>

[joliephoto]

<p>Hi Julie,<br>

I can not help you for your question, but I am french, and just to let you know that it is not " al-carte ", but " à la carte " ... just if you wrote it in your website...<br>

Have a nice evening !</p>

<p>Laetitia</p>

[mikael_karlsson]

<p>Julie:<br /><br />You can certainly ask for credit but be prepared that they might not want to give it. If credit is important to you you can always offer a slight reduction in price if they offer you a credit line/byline. As far as pricing goes, asking them what their budget would be is a good idea. But, think your pricing through before and have a "lowest price" that you'll be prepared to accept. That way you know what you're prepared to accept and don't risk any "mental stumbles" during negotiations.</p>

[mariosforsos]

<p>I've only shot corporate a few times but my experience is that they rarely - if ever - do they agree to crediting the photographer. In that case my advice would be to come up with a price for the portraits (for the actual shoot) and then a licencing pricing scheme for the use. Therefore, if they're intending to use the images on their website, a combination of which page they appear in AND the duration for which they appear is customary. If they intend to use the images for the annual catalogue then maybe a one-off price or even one based on circulation.</p>

[will_daniel1]

It is "à la carte" in America also.

[julie_sweeney]

<p>Thank you all for the advice. Next time I will also check my spelling :)</p>

[jeff_ford]

<p>I think its a sign of inexperience if you start the negotiation by asking what they have in the 'budget'. Its likely that they have less idea than you do and are relying on you, as a professional, to advise them of price (at which point they'll get Fred from the third floor to do it because he's got a big zoom lens on his Hokey Cokey 9000 SLR)<br>

The last thing they'll want to do is turn their literature into a flyer for your services, ask by all means, but it wont happen.</p>

[dan_south]

<p>Instead of asking for credit in their advertising materials, why not ask them if you can use one or more of the images in your OWN promotional materials, including your website? If they refuse, still do the job and do it gladly and to the of their ability. If the pics are excellent, people will ask who the photographer was, and you'll have word of mouth working for you. How can you beat that?</p>

[Spearhead]

<blockquote>

<p>I think its a sign of inexperience if you start the negotiation by asking what they have in the 'budget'.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I took a negotiation class from the top corporate consultant on negotiating. One of the first things we were taught was using the "budget card" to establish a) if we had something to talk about, b) where we stood relative to the product/services being offered, and c) what the strategy going forward was. </p>

<p>Funny thing, the person above who suggested asking about the budget is hardly "inexperienced," he's a successful professional photographer. It's worth checking out his background via his profile and you will see why you want to listen to him. And me.</p>

<p>To go back to what happens when you ask about the budget:</p>

<p>a) If the budget is way below what you expect for your services, it's time to walk, or threaten to walk;</p>

<p>b) If the budget is reasonable but not high enough, you offer reduced services and upsell; and</p>

<p>c) If the budget is higher than what you would ask, take the offer and run with it.</p>

<p>FWIW, I've been in the last situation a number of times. </p>

<p>Regarding credit, it is fairly unusual for both web and corporate brochures. What you really want is the ability to use the "tearsheet," in quotes because this is a somewhat nebulous concept on the web, and promote yourself with it. It seems highly unlikely that someone will see your name in a brochure and contact you unless you've done something really unusual. On the other hand, someone that finds you is likely to be positively influenced by seeing work you've done.</p>