Company wants to use my photos......what do I do?

11 years 2 months ago #275822 by jpenas
Hello!

It's been a while since I've posted (crazy life with 4 kids). I have a question. I have a cocktail blog that I write and I recently posted a review for a vodka company who had sent me a bottle of their vodka to try (hard life right?). I did my review and posted some pictures and received an email from them thanking me for the review and telling me that they really liked my photos and would like to use them.

What do I do? I would think that I could charge them for the photos? OR would having my name on them be good? Should I ask for my website to be included?

I would love to hear all of your opinions on this. I'm excited but not sure what move to make next.

Thank You!
Jen


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11 years 2 months ago #275829 by garyrhook
It's really up to you, but the question you might ask yourself is what value the photos have to the vodka company? Your freebie sample was compensation for your review; what are they offering for the photos? How are they going to use them? Will it be part of their advertising? Web? Print? FB? Isn't the value they perceive in the images worth some consideration? If so, what does that look like for you?


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11 years 2 months ago #275890 by rmeyer7
:agree:
If your photos are going to be used in any kind of advertising, then it's no longer a question of giving or selling your photos to them; it's a question of licensing. And your licensing fees should probably be a sliding scale based on the size and reach of the advertising campaign.

I think I remember seeing some articles and/or threads here on PT about this. Unfortunately that was a long time ago and I don't have links to post - but I would suggest searching here (and Google) about licensing photos for advertising.


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11 years 2 months ago #275898 by Darrell
That's a tough one, if these are just regular pics I would go for recognition and a chance to do more reviews with samples. I don't want to sound like I would give them away but if they are a large company than there advertising department would have set rates for compensation.

You will not be judged as a photographer by the pictures you take, but by the pictures you show.
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8 years 4 months ago #467777 by Stic
So....


What happened?


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8 years 4 months ago #467835 by Screamin Scott
Yes, what was the outcome ?

Scott Ditzel Photography

www.flickr.com/photos/screaminscott/

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8 years 4 months ago #467844 by icepics
This was almost 3 years ago, if the OP didn't come back by now I don't think we're going to find out! lol

But Roy's suggestion to look into how to license usage of your photos was helpful. Try http://asmp.org or PPA for info. If it's a business they're making money, they should pay for someone's work (their photos). Look up sample contracts, how to price fees, etc.

(And hey, look it's Derrell! long time no see.)

Sharon
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8 years 4 months ago #467858 by stuartsbarbie
What an interesting time for this to come up.  I just did two photos for my husbands company.  Just a couple of security keypads.  Took about 20 min and 10 shots to get the two I wanted and about another 30 min to edit. (Lots of dings in the keypad housing to clean up). 

My husband just asked if I would be willing to do 6-8 more shots with some different items and how much would I charge them to do it.  I have no IDEA!

This would be the first ever money I would charge and the work is really easy.  Any help and advice would be great.


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8 years 3 months ago #468143 by icepics
Get informed. Look up information on contracts and licensing and how to figure out what to charge etc. How much will you make before you have to start paying taxes? How will you keep track of payments etc.? How will you handle deposits/retainers? What will you do if someone hasn't paid?

It's great to have someone want your pictures, and this was fun and seemed easy - but this is someone you know (husband's work), it's going to be different when you get beyond family and friends. Then you're dealing with problems - picky customers, challenging to work with customers, clients who have unrealistic expectations, etc. etc.

I see this all the time, people get told on social media or by family and friends they like their photos and how good they are - so they think they can make money at it. Then they go out of business before they're too far along in running a business because they've run into problems, or can't find customers, or aren't making much money at it for the amount of work, etc. Look into what working photographers actually do so you learn what's involved in doing this.

Sharon
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8 years 3 months ago #468144 by icepics
Get informed. Look up information on contracts and licensing and how to figure out what to charge etc. How much will you make before you have to start paying taxes? How will you keep track of payments etc.? How will you handle deposits/retainers? What will you do if someone hasn't paid?

It's great to have someone want your pictures, and this was fun and seemed easy - but this is someone you know (husband's work), it's going to be different when you get beyond family and friends. Then you're dealing with problems - picky customers, challenging to work with customers, clients who have unrealistic expectations, etc. etc.

I see this all the time, people get told on social media or by family and friends they like their photos and how good they are - so they think they can make money at it. Then they go out of business before they're too far along in running a business because they've run into problems, or can't find customers, or aren't making much money at it for the amount of work, etc. Look into what working photographers actually do so you learn what's involved in doing this.

Sharon
Photo Comments
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