NOTE: THIS POST IS ALL ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF PHOTOGRAPHY. IF YOU’RE NOT INTERESTED, COOL… GO CHECK OUT THE NATIONAL ARBORETUM’s EAGLE CAM INSTEAD BECAUSE IT’S THE BEST.
Sometimes you get a REALLY bad contract. I crossed out a lot on the one above that I got for a recent “branded content” assignment (which is a client’s way of saying “we want a commercial look and feel, but for editorial rates”) because of phrases like “work for hire” and “in perpetuity” and lines about them owning every image I take for them, oh and they wanted to be allowed to give my work away to others.
These are things I wouldn’t have even blinked at 10 years ago when I was still a staff photographer. Phrases and terms I am overly cautious about now as a freelancer because owning my work and being able to resell and relicense the images has been an incredible way to breathe new life into old work, re-edit it into new projects, and make some passive income (that means making money off of something you’ve already been paid for, letting your archive/stock work for you).
I sent it back and, of course, the client countered with “that won’t fly with legal.” So then I put on my educator’s hat: I said OK, well here’s what we can do… you guys are a multi-million dollar company (I looked up their earnings report) and essentially what you’re asking for is a buyout, so this is what I would typically charge (and dropped an astronomically large number on them). So, I’m happy to agree to your terms if you’re willing to pay for it. Otherwise, for what you’re asking for, I’d suggest shared copyright, also you won’t get everything, just a handful of selects. I'll own the rest.
The client and I went back and forth over email. Neither of us got angry or petty. After all, it’s business, it’s not personal (right?!). In the end, the client came back and said she really hopes they have a campaign they can afford to bring me on for because she’d love to work with me someday. So at least there’s that. I won’t hold my breath, but it ended amicably enough.
Long story short, I didn’t get the job.
Though, I prefer to think I walked away from it. It was $800. And I don’t behoove anyone who takes a job like this because they need to pay their rent, electricity, put food on the table, pay down a student loan, pay for child care, or insurance… I get it. There are a ton of reasons why upfront, an $800 job that may have taken me two hours sounds like a good deal. And hell, at another point in my life I may have taken it, too. But when you break it down, it’s not a good deal for me. And it’s a terrific deal for the client, who would continue to use that work for advertising, or however they want, for as long as they want.
So, if you can afford to, negotiate, educate, and be prepared to say no thanks.
The same thing applies to editorial assignments too. Because guess what? A lot of newspapers and magazines have a second, slightly less bad contract. Just ask. Some editors are happy to work with you on rights or rates (really that’s the sliding scale — they can have the rights if they pay for them).
All this to say: You are in the driver’s seat. And if you’re doing any freelance, please educate yourself on the language of contracts, on what your worth is, on your cost of doing business, and know where you draw the line so you can walk away head held high, if need be. After all, it’s business… it’s not personal.
If you’re still in school, take some business classes. If you live near a community college or university, audit some. Otherwise, read everything you can (I’d start here) or take a weekend workshop as a primer.
Lastly, create and cultivate your photo community. When I was starting out as a freelancer, I asked friends that were already doing bigger jobs if they’d share their treatments with me and estimates for commercial shoots so I didn’t come in too low and devalue the market (seriously, you don’t want to be the low-ball estimate on a commercial shoot. If you are nobody in your market will ever make more than that, and you can also always expect that client to then assign that as your worth.) I still ask a select few for advice or numbers when I run into something new.
When I was doing $400 jobs, I was shocked to learn I could ask for (and get) $4000 jobs. And then it boggled my mind to learn there were $40,000 jobs out there for the taking (we’re talking a 4-day shoot, that paid more than my first annual salary as a staff photographer at a decent-sized newspaper). If you need help running numbers or pricing something, and you don’t have anyone else… email or DM me. Seriously.
And of course, there are great resources online:
Fuck Gatekeeping is a professional photographic knowledge base. I appreciate its mission. Here’s more on the folks who founded it, and the reasons why they did.
Commercial photographer Jake Stangel tells it like it is. I appreciate that. His blog has great advice: on rates, on contracts, on getting meetings with magazines, or on just getting started. He’s also someone worth following on IG. His stories usually have some great tips, and he archives his AMAs.
I love Rob Haggart’s APhotoEditor. What an incredible resource it is. He shares promos from photographers, has links to agents and consultants, and lists of where to get mailers printed. He has solid Q&As with creatives (on both sides of the camera). And he shares a lot of expert advice. Heck, just search for the word “estimate.” It’s a huge rabbit hole to go down and education in and of itself.
Wonderful Machine is another great resource. They have terrific intel and case studies on their website. They’ll also help research, price, and negotiate just about any project. And they produce shoots, too. Totally worth the price of admission. Especially on big jobs when you want to price yourself right and look professional.
Total shameless self-promotion here: but if you want to hear more, I’ve done some Photoshelter Q&As on Business 101 and an Instagram AMA for them, too. In my own Instagram story highlights, I’ve also archived some #freelancelife and #photobiz questions and answers.
Lastly, part of my business plan, and more importantly protecting my work, now is copyrighting my published images each quarter. This is who I use.
Here for all the transparency *clap clap*
Recently got a bad editorial contract that included a non-compete clause saying I couldn't photograph the same person (a local person very much in the news) for any other publications and they would syndicate all work without compensation to me, all for around $450 if I remember. The non-compete clause was new to me and especially egregious. I pushed back politely and gave some options for either changing language or upping fees. They offered another $75 (seventy-five!). I declined. Another photographer took the job.