Buying an image - How much?

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gingerweasel

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Hi guys, a bit of a different question here. Rather than ask how much should I charge I'm going to ask how much should I pay?

Let me explain. I get far more enjoyment from viewing and admiring images than I do the process or act of taking a picture myself. Don't get me wrong I enjoy both but first and foremost I'm an image lover!

I often see wonderful images posted on flickr and indeed here that I would love to mount and hang on my walls. I'd love to be able to get permission to print and mount these myself but how much do you think is a reasonable price to offer in such a situation?

I certainly don't expect something for nothing, but at the same time I'm not really in the market for £60 jpeg files.

Do you think photographers would welcome this interest?




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I certainly don't expect something for nothing, but at the same time I'm not really in the market for £60 jpeg files.
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How much would you pay for a jpeg file if it was of a picture you really admired?
 
Your not paying for a jpeg file, you are paying for an image and for someones skill in taking it. Would you buy an oil painting by its weight of paint used and nothing for the skill to put it on a canvas?

If you dont like the price of an image try and going out to take it yourself, you may then understand its cost and what you are paying for.

Brian
 
Rather than browse Flickr have a look at peoples Zenfolio sites. A lot of photographers make use of Zenfolio to enable them to sell prints of their work. This means that you can buy prints without having to get into the problems of negotiating over digital images. I for one would be loathe to sell a digital image cheaply as you then lose a lot of control over what happens with it.
 
Saw that Don McCullin is charging £3,000 for a hand-print from his latest exhibition - and these were the Bradford 'coalfield' series, not the Vietnam ones...
 
If you want the image for your wall, then why would you want the digital file? Buying the print to mount yourself would be the obvious choice. DSCL or similar won't break the bank and the quality is good. Asking for the file is asking for the ability to print on demand in perpetuity
 
gingerweasel said:
Hi guys, a bit of a different question here. Rather than ask how much should I charge I'm going to ask how much should I pay?

Let me explain. I get far more enjoyment from viewing and admiring images than I do the process or act of taking a picture myself. Don't get me wrong I enjoy both but first and foremost I'm an image lover!

I often see wonderful images posted on flickr and indeed here that I would love to mount and hang on my walls. I'd love to be able to get permission to print and mount these myself but how much do you think is a reasonable price to offer in such a situation?

I certainly don't expect something for nothing, but at the same time I'm not really in the market for £60 jpeg files.

Do you think photographers would welcome this interest?

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You can order prints on Flickr through Snapfish but I have no idea how good the quality is.

Of course you can get free images from quite a lot of places - just Google "Royalty free images" etc.

Then all you would have to do is download them and get them printed (if res is high enough).

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petersmart said:
You can order prints on Flickr through Snapfish but I have no idea how good the quality is.

Of course you can get free images from quite a lot of places - just Google "Royalty free images" etc.

Then all you would have to do is download them and get them printed (if res is high enough).

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This seems to be a common misconception - Royalty Free does not mean free/no cost/gratis it means that once you have purchased a licence for the image there are no more fees to pay (depending on the licence of course).
 
I wouldn't necessarily want the jpg file, I'd be just as happy to order a print. What I'm looking to do is build up a nice set which I can rotate depending on my mood, time of year etc...

I appreciate the hard word that goes into creating an image, I've spent hours trying and failing to capture them myself ;) So I do value a photographers work I'm just trying to get an idea of what people think is a fair print price for something I'm going to hang on a wall. I know it's a tough question because each photographer may value their work differently I just don't want to offend anymone with a silly price.

Arkady said:
Saw that Don McCullin is charging £3,000 for a hand-print from his latest exhibition - and these were the Bradford 'coalfield' series, not the Vietnam ones...
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I can say without any hesitation that would definitely not be in my price range.

BrianH said:
Would you buy an oil painting by its weight of paint used and nothing for the skill to put it on a canvas?
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Sorry but I don't believe that's a fair comparison, a unique oil painting is always going to be worth a lot more than a reproduced print. I'm not asking them to custom shoot an image for me and give me sole print rights.




As for free images I don't really want to do this, I'd prefer to support a photographer even if it's only in a small way.
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Kerioak said:
This seems to be a common misconception - Royalty Free does not mean free/no cost/gratis it means that once you have purchased a licence for the image there are no more fees to pay (depending on the licence of course).
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Well if you look on Google there are thousands of excellent pics which would suit the OP and they are FREE for personal use - no license fees - nothing.

Some are only medium res but lots allow you to download Hi-res pics which would easily give a 10x8 or 10x12 pic or could be resized to print larger.

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Yes, there are some sites where people offer their images for free, I was commenting that Royalty Free does not mean free which was how I read your original post. Google just finds them, the pictures on a Google image search are not necessarily available to use freely either as all are copyright to someone :)
 
TBH- I think if somebody emailed me asking for the digital file from an image of mine of flickr- I wouldn't mind selling it. Long as it was for their personal use only- I don't see the issue?
 
martyp said:
:plusone: Brilliant site!

I bought a large panoramic photo from there and a poster (Coffee! Is the planet shaking or is it just me? :lol:).

Frames and print quality are top notch and the shipping is very quick too.

..... :D
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I bought some photographic prints & posters (links) and the website pics don't do them justice (by a long shot). These two are actually gorgeous in the flesh but the website makes them look decidedly average:

http://www.allposters.co.uk/gallery...rd&f=t&FindID=0&P=1&PP=9&sortby=PD&c=c&page=1

http://www.allposters.co.uk/-sp/Normandie-Posters_i376944_.htm

Allposters' framed prices are pretty steep though - I bought just the prints and had them framed locally for a lot less.

Some of the print prices seem to have gone up quite a bit recently. I paid £33 for the 46x61cm Cunard poster - it's £49.99 now. Crikey!
 
how much is the photographers next wanna have lens going to cost??

what is the money for
 
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