They want to use one (Its two now) of my shots !!!

If they won't pay you are no worse off - you can't live on promises. They'll come through - wait and see.
 
awp said:
If they won't pay you are no worse off - you can't live on promises. They'll come through - wait and see.
Click to expand...

TBH its not about the money its knowing someone likes my pictures lol Money is always a bonus though :D
 
Well you know they liked them - and well done for holding out for payment. I hope they decide to pay.
 
Keep us all informed, a customer i know recently sold a a1 canvas of water over a rock to the local health authority to be placed in a cancer ward. one off price £300 quid.

They paid up quickly.

pace
wirral
 
Yeah keep us all informed this is a interesting thread to read just incase anything pop up for me
 
One thing for everyone to thnk on....if you want more work from a company. DO NOT give them discount on THIS job......otherwise you get less for this job and no guarantee of the next one.

NO. You charge them full price on THIS job, and you give them the discount on the future jobs - but why discount at all. It shows you devalue your own work. Remember, the person you are dealing with in a company isn't spending their own money, they are spending their budget - whixh is money set aside, or earmarked, for whatever the project is. If you don't get it, someone else will for something else. It might be the man who paints the bridge - but there is a budget for everything - so go get it.
 
JBOB said:
TBH its not about the money its knowing someone likes my pictures lol Money is always a bonus though :D
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I hope you don't think I'm being mercenray, but it should nearly always be about the money.

There's a lot of pro's out there trying to earn a living, and they are being constantly undercut by people who don't know the value of their own work!

This company has been looking for a photograph of exactly that bridge, and has found yours, and it is exactly what they were looking for. They might hope to get it for free, but in the world of business that they inhabit, they have to pay for EVERYTHING else.

I'm very glad that you were given the advice to charge for it, and that you have taken the plunge and asked them for their requirements.

I do hope you are successful, JBOB.
 
Good luck with the course! and thinking about it, my second idea was a bit dumb :-)

Sorry to steel your limelight, but I was asked by a fellow student yesterday if they could buy one of my prints (as an artwork!) not anything spectacular, just Birmingham New St. Station......

Uni students suddenly seem to be getting lots of luck!
 
Why charge less than the going rate for a photographer? If they commission a shoot they have no idea wht they will get - here they can see exactly what they are getting, and know its worth to them, otherwise they wouldn't be following it up.

You should be getting at least £500 for its use, as a minimum. They will use the "we are only going to use it small" arguement to get the price down - these people are not fools, they negotiate all day every day. They know every trick in the book to drive a price down - but they also know it is a game, they play their hand, you play yours - if you are good at poker, you get a good price. If you aren't any good at negotiating, you get walked all over.

It doesn't matter how small, or large they are going to use it - if you get your price, they will suddenly find an exhibition stand they want to use it on, and it will go from being a thumbnail to a full page!

Stick to your guns - they will respect you more for it because they are used to dealing with businessmen. Most photographers don't fail because they cannot take good pictures - they fail because they cannot get a fair price for them.
 
I have to be careful how I phrase this as I have no intention of upsetting anybody. When this sort of question gets asked the majority of responses encourage the photographer to charge the customer top dollar. The comparison is with the most expensive stock agencies or with hiring a good tog for the day.

My guess is that a company will probably shy away from paying anything like the sort of money that has been mentioned, particularly as there is not a direct revenue stream from the image (a t-shirt or poster for example).

However, it must be great that you have been asked and I wish you the best of luck with the response!
 
So the car ads you see in the press, having no direct revenue stream, aren't worth the £8,000 to £10,000 per day plus expenses then?

These pictures have been requested for use in their sales material, that is advertising and it attracts advertising rates. Simple.

Your comment simply underlines mine - see above.
 
The enquiry came from the lighting design team, not the bridge building company, but they've worked on projects all over the UK and their client list is full of household names.

Knowing some lighting designers I know that the budgets they work with are quite considerable, and if some good pictures of past projects for their portfolio, brochure, website or presentation will help secure future projects, then that is worth spending money on. Whether they choose yours or others that are posted on Flikr and so on is up to them and how good others are at negotiation.

The bridge is a bit of a tourist attraction, and there are 266 entries (some from the same togs, so actual number of people less) on Flikr for "castleford bridge" so I suspect your chap has been contacting everyone.

Some will be flattered and hand over the files
Some will ask for a fee
Some may do a google search and find this thread

Asking for a fee is the right thing to do. If you don't get the sale, you've lost nothing.

Andrew
 
andrewc said:
Asking for a fee is the right thing to do. If you don't get the sale, you've lost nothing
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Good advice, and always watch the ones who decline your price, watch their promotional material like a hawk for the next year or so.

Adding a with credit, without credit and unauthorised sliding scale of fees will usually deter the chancers. A bona fide buyer will get the drift.
 
No :lol: Ive not heard anything from them !!!

I assume they found someone on flickr who gave them some pictures.

Thanks to everyone for the good advice :thumbs:
 
JBOB said:
I assume they found someone on flickr who gave them some pictures.
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****er isn't it - happens all the time - there's always someone who'll give stuff away. Next time you will get paid - hang in there.
 
Lensflare said:
Most photographers don't fail because they cannot take good pictures - they fail because they cannot get a fair price for them.
Click to expand...


That is never gonna change whilst peeps keep giving away their work.
Networking sites open to searches like Flickr are always going to be the place to start for companies wanting to make money off other peeps work, because, that's exactly what they are doing.
For every tog that decides not to give anymore photos away, there's a million others flattered by an offer of publication.
There has to be a fundamental change in attitude, sharing sites aren't going to disappear, and unless they themselves change their direction and protect their members, there won't be a market......maybe its dead already..:shrug:
Do we see a raising of the bar at stock photo sites, to dig themselves out this brochure sized free for all...?
 
I'd keep an eye on their website for a while. Maybe get a brochure from them in 6 months.

//cynic mode//
 
who? said:
I'd keep an eye on their website for a while. Maybe get a brochure from them in 6 months.

//cynic mode//
Click to expand...

I'd definately agree. Just a possibility, but maybe they're hoping months will pass thinking that you'll forget about it..

Loads of scenarios but I'd (if it were me) air on the cynical side here, especially after reading lots of posts where similar has happened.

There are some businesses and people who will pay for them etc. but it's all too common now that businesses want something for nothing, then gain from it financially.

Very wrong IMO
 
There is a consensus in this thread that JBOB should be paid for his work. Although I would agree that JBOB should be paid I think the amount that some contributors are quoting is to high. These photo's which this company wants to use has not be commissioned in fact these images are not even exclusive as they are on pubic view. JBOB took these photo's on impulse/interest and wanted to show them of to the world, to sell them would actually be a bonus. Have a look around market places/shopping centres you will find many professionals(amateurs) selling their photos for prices of under a tenner also many stock image libraries sell images that can be measured in penny's. Finally if JBOB is wishing to sell photos maybe a dedicated web site for his photos quoting prices would have put him into a stronger position to sell.
 
Well no email from them and I dont expect one now ........... I will be keeping an eye out on the website though !!! :lol:

Some good news today ........

I took some pictures at a recent VW car show and contacted one of the VW magazines to see if they wanted to use them in the show article. The editior called me today and wants to use my shots :thumbs:

He's also been looking for someone to photograph the feature cars in Yorkshire and is going to give me a call with any work :thumbs:

Happy JBOB
 
^^ well done.

So PRJohns - what do you do for a living - and can I come along and do it for 2p an hour please. Comments like your pixx me off. Photographers should get paid - period.
 
AWP has obviously some issues!

I did not say professional photographers should not be paid, any commissioned work deserves high fees. The point I was getting at was that JBOB is a very keen photographer that produces good work but did not set out to produce any work that was for sale. If he wants to sell his images then he could easily have produced a web site selling his pictures. As for prices yes stock image libraries do sell photographs done by professional for very low fees that is fact. If you want to look at a web site selling photos have a look here and note the prices. http://www.darknessandlight.co.uk/art_photographs_buying.html#photograph_sizes_prices
 
That website is selling PRINTS not rights to use photographs in any kind of commercial way. We're not talking about the price of a print - or a file - we're talking about reproduction rights and that is a different matter. Look here for fees: www.alamy.com/

Amateurs selling their photographs for 'under a tenner' are causing a huge problem in the profession. He doesn't need a dedicated website to be able to sell a couple of pictures that a client approached him for. They want them - and because of the amateur situation - they probably wanted/expected them for next to nothing. Well good photography (which this is) is worth more than that.
 
Lets not get personal please!

I have had a few contacts through flickr now with people wanting to use pictutres. Interestingly the only ones that have gone through to actually selling are the ones I have under priced :( Was a bit of an experiment just to see and it seems to prove that it would seem if you ask too much people will just look elsewhere :(

For what it is worth I stated how much it would cost if they bought my pic of a site such as alamy (was like £170 odd) and then offered them it for £30, they then decided to use 2 along with a credit. It seems a very difficult balance to find :(
 
£30 an image - depending on the use might have been fine - and MUCH better than giving them away of course. It is a difficult balance and will depend on client's past experience of buying photography. If they are used to just taking pictures of Flickr or dangling a carot or paying sweeties then it makes it much harder for all of us.
 
JBOB said:
Well no email from them and I dont expect one now ........... I will be keeping an eye out on the website though !!! :lol:

Some good news today ........

I took some pictures at a recent VW car show and contacted one of the VW magazines to see if they wanted to use them in the show article. The editior called me today and wants to use my shots :thumbs:

He's also been looking for someone to photograph the feature cars in Yorkshire and is going to give me a call with any work :thumbs:

Happy JBOB
Click to expand...

talk about bringing an old thread back alive lol

so does that mean you might be shooting my car in the near future :shrug::lol:
 
Bad luck if you've not heard anything. This is kinda why I'm not keen on flickr any more, seems like anyone can use it as a way to get stuff published, and for every person that will charge an appropriate fee, there's ten that'll charge an inappropriate fee, or give it away, just to see their picture printed or their name somewhere.

Well done for sticking to your guns over it though!
 
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