david_eichler

I will add that the advice I have seen from most successful pros is to compete on value, not on price. Of course cost usually has a bearing, but we should not let it be the main thing on which the client focuses when deciding on a photographer to create some photos for them to use.

Hello everyone,

 

I've been assigned to shoot a café for one of my regular clients ( an interior designer that designed the whole place right down to the furnishings). Am I right to say that the usage rights are only for the designer and not the café when requested by the designer? Does this mean if the owners of the café want to use these photos (that was given to the designer), they are going to have to purchase them?

 

Second, assuming the café was the one who approached me, they buy and own the photos. Can these photos be given to the interior designer for his/her portfolio without charges?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Alice

 

You should charge each party that wants to use the photos a separate fee based on their own usage, and your usage license to each party should state that the license is non-transferrable, and no third parties may use the photos, without your written permission. Also, get used to the concept that you are selling people usage rights to your photos, not the photos themselves; and that your ability to sell usage rights to each photo to multiple parties is a significant part of your income, unless a client wants purchase exclusive rights for an additional fee, to compensate you for lost secondary licensing income.

Pricing Guides - ft. Licensing Guide, Paperwork Share, and more

Architectural photographers' rates vary based on many considerations, among which are their cost of doing business, their market (which could be local, regional, national or international), their level of experience and expertise, the production costs to shoot a particular project, their ability to negotiate and the photo usage terms their clients require. To try to find your level, the best you can usually do is try to find out what those whom you consider your closest competitors charge.

 

I typically charge a creative fee that takes my day rate into account but is not expressed to my client as a specific time-based rate. The creative fee will vary with the nature of the assignment and whether the creative fee accounts for the usage license. I may factor the photo usage/licensing into this creative fee or break it out as a separate fee. To this I will add the production costs specific to the assignment. Typical photo usage for architects and interior designers typically includes collateral and publicity usage, as well as submissions for design contests and editorial publication. However, actual usage of the photos by a design competition should only apply if your client wins, and the usage should only be to promote the award itself unless you are charging an additional fee for broader usage; and the photographer should typically be paid for editorial publication, for which the base commission fee may or may not account. Paid placement (advertising) is usually an additional charge that is negotiated separately. The usage may or may not be time and territory limited, depending upon what the client needs and is willing to pay for. Typically, third party usage and transfer of the usage license are not permitted without additional compensation for the photographer and require the photographer's written permission.