Giving A Photo Away?

[lorraine_smith1]

<p>I am an emerging semi-pro photographer. I recently photographed an event involving a dog as the

subject. The owner of the dog writes articles for a breed-specific magazine and would like to include one

or more of my photos with an upcoming article. She would give photo credits

on what she uses. Do I send her the images for free or ask the publisher to download

what they want and buy the commercial use license at a substantial cost?<br>

I don't want to give my

images away, but on the other hand, I don't want to seem greedy either. I've never been asked to have

anything published before, so I'm not sure what to do.<br>

</

[john_h.1]

<blockquote>

<p>I don't want to seem greedy</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Wouldn't a person seeking something for free the one that should be considering that issue?</p>

[photomark]

A few things:

 

1. If it's for a magazine, you won't be licensing commercial use, you'll be licensing editorial use.

 

2. Related to 1, since you're licensing editorial use to a small publisher (I'm assuming they're small), it

won't be for 'substantial cost' unless we have very different definitions of substantial. Budgets are not

very high for this kind of use.

 

3. It's not greedy to ask for money when providing something of value. Is the publisher giving away the

magazine for free? Donating ad space? Is the printer being paid? Is the writer being paid? If you are the

only one not being paid, you are not generous, you're foolish.

 

4. Photo credits, especially in a small niche magazine, are not worth anything.

 

What I would do is provide the images to the writer. Make it very clear that you own the copyright and

need to be compensated if the publisher wants to run them. Prices are normally a function of press run

—you should get more if they're printing 250K copies than if they only run 10K.

[lorraine_smith1]

<p>Mark and John, so true. Thank you for your responses. What then, would be an appropriate, or at least a minimum amount to charge a small publisher? I really have no idea what other images are costing them.<br>

"Is the writer being paid?" I honestly do not know if the writer is being paid. If she is not, then should I still get compensated?</p>

[leicaglow]

<p>Lorraine, I would ask to get paid "scale" for whatever her magazine pays photographers. Did she say she wasn't going to pay you? OTOH, if the magazine doesn't make money, I wouldn't have so much problem helping them out. I keep my rates really high so I only deal with people who value my work, but I am also generous with work for non profits and community-service type publications and work. If done correctly, you can get your name out there. You could also work on the way your name is presented: "Photo graciously donated by Lorraine Smith at yourdomain.com", after your copyright. It is very important to not give away your time, if you can help it, but equally important you don't give away your cash, in the form of equipment you have purchased. </p>

[micah_robinson]

<p>Lorraine,</p>

<p>1: "What then, would be an appropriate, or at least a minimum amount to charge a small publisher? <strong>A: </strong>Most editorial clients will have a price sheet they work off of and will tell you what they pay for images. These prices are typically their set price & you can take it or leave it... every now & then they can be negotiated up but not often.</p>

<p>2: You should be paid. If the writer does it free that's their problem, don't make it your problem as well. Mark is spot on with his remarks... Photo credit is 100% worthless (very, VERY rarely is this not true). If you need us to offer a price range we'll need to know more details as in; <strong>a</strong>: Will they only use in print or web also <strong>b</strong>: What's their print run etc.</p>

<p>Lastly don't sign any contract without reading very carefully. Don't give away your copyright & don't give away the farm for next to nothing. If they will let you provide them with your contract make sure it's fare for both parties. And for the love of God don't provide any images without delivery invoices & don't move into any agreement without a contract.</p>

[lorraine_smith1]

<p>Micah, they only have a printed magazine, no online issues. I do not know the size of the print run. Are you able to offer a price range based on that information?<br>

I am leaning on trying to get <em>some </em>payment, but like Michael Axel stated, I want my work to be taken seriously, but I'm also willing to help them out because they're small. They do charge for advertizing and subscriptions, so I'm sure they're making some profit, or at least covering their costs.<br>

<em> </em></p>

[andy_wager1]

<p>It is certainly not being greedy to be compensated for your work.<br>

Small, specialist publications pay little for usage of images, simply because they do not have the sort of budget to pay a lot.<br>

Ask for something like 50 for one time use in the magazine as a starting point.</p>

[paulie_smith1]

<p><a href="http://www.cradocfotosoftware.com/fotoQuote-Pro/">http://www.cradocfotosoftware.com/fotoQuote-Pro/</a><br>

This is a starting point.<br>

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You can't eat credit lines.<br>

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