Photography Business: Photography Image Usage for Photo Credit

 

I frequently have requests for photography image usage (meaning someone would like to use an image that I’ve created for their business or personal life).  These are the type of requests that photographers love!  Someone tracking me down because of an image I created!  It doesn’t get much better than that!  The only problem?  Many of these image usage requests ask me to give away my images for free or for photo credit.

What makes this so difficult for me is that many times these requests are usually for a good cause.  A beginning model is looking to enhance his/her portfolio.  A non-profit is looking for help promoting their cause.  A small business is looking for images to showcase on their website.  And many of these requests are for causes that I passionately believe in.

I want you to know that I take every request seriously.  I want you to know that every time someone asks this of me, I struggle with what to do.  Of course I want to help others, but it always comes at a cost to me and, more importantly, the entire photography profession.

Let me ask you something. Would you walk into a restaurant asking the chef for a free meal in exchange for you letting people know the food is really good?  Would you ask a painter to paint your house in exchange for leaving good reviews on their Yelp page?

Probably not.  If you did, you’d probably get laughed at.  (Even food critics pay for their meals)  Why, then, is it OK to ask a photographer for photography image usage for photo credit?  I’m thinking that, to an outsider or non-creative professional, it seems like…  since the image is already taken, already edited, the creative energy and coordination to capture is complete, the education is behind me, the gear is paid for, and all the work has already been done, it’s no extra work for me, and therefore, an easy ask.  I mean, why wouldn’t I share my images for free when it involves publicity in an arena of my target commercial market?

Let me try to explain why I have to say no the these types of requests.

  1. I’d be supporting a behavior that devalues my profession.
  2. I’ve reduced the chance that this client will ever pay me or another photographer in the future by creating an expectation that it is possible to obtain professional quality images for free.
  3. I’ve reduced the need for this client to create a future budget specifically designated for photography
  4. Photo credit sounds like a nice form of “payment,” but in reality it hasn’t ever gotten me a job where I did make money in the future.

When I first started photographing, I was psyched by any request for my images and jumped at the chance to see my work published/used in any form or media.  It was validation that my work was good and people wanted it to represent them, their work, their product, or their publication.  Unfortunately, I was too naive to demand compensation for these image requests.  I’ll never forget my first cover on Windcheck Magazine.  I was contacted by a full-time staff member of Windcheck Magazine, a for-profit publication that makes money by selling advertisements.  They distribute over 30,000 magazines annually serving the boating and yachting community in the Northeast.  It’s pretty amazing they didn’t have any money in the pot to support the photographer that created the image that would serve as the face of their magazine for a print run?  Pretty crazy.  I was so proud of that image on the cover back in 2006, but looking back, it frustrates me.  Shame on me for getting sucked into the “photo credit” pitch, and shame on them for not even offering to pay me enough to celebrate with a date night out with Christy.

Now, this doesn’t mean I never do any work for “free.”  I do.  And I think there are times where it is right and good to give away image usage. Just this past year, I completed a multiple day, out of state shoot creating a calendar for Litte Bellas, a non-profit organization that mentors young women through mountain biking.

Why?  It’s not because they asked me.  And it’s not because they are a non-profit (In fact, a majority of the work I do is for non-profits).   In this one case it was a photo project conceived by me and a biking friend.  I believe very strongly in furthering myself as a photographer and my goal last year was to photograph environmental portraits of high profile athletes.  This was the project that enabled me to challenge myself in a new way photographically and would give me the opportunity to build a portfolio of Olympic level athletes and work.  And it was for an organization in its fetal stages that could benefit from this work.

Fortunately now I have the discipline, confidence, and an understanding of the profession (thanks to my colleagues and organizations like American Society of Media Photographers ) to understand how to price out the value of my work.  My hope is that I am disciplined enough to not only educate the free image inquiry, but also the novice professional photographer that doesn’t yet understand that he, too, can make a living with his passion if he/she understands the value of their creative imagery.

Here are some great resources on this topic:

An awesome blog post by Tony Wu: Reasons Why Photographers Cannot Work For Free

American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP)

Free Stock Photo Price Calculator:

Professional Stock Photo Price Calculator: FotoQuote

Other helpful tools:

Blink Bid

Cost of doing business Calculator

I also wanted to end this blog post on a positive note… This past year I was fortunate to have my images in Grand Central Station (Connecticut Tourism), on Billboards driving over the Q-Bridge (New Haven Schools of Choice), on the cover of Magazines (Adventure Cyclist – Adventure Cycling Association) and in ads throughout biking magazines with (PeopleForBikes.org).  I’m happy to say that all of these valued clients are non-profits, and all of them are helping to support a successful career in professional photography.

 

Coppola Photography commercial studio edgy lighting imagery of athlete boxing. Connecticut adventure, lifestyle, people, portrait, travel, tourism, shoot.

Coppola Photography: Commercial, on location education shoot of diverse girl in New Haven, Connecticut, lifestyle, people, portrait. Natural lighting photo.

Coppola Photography: Commercial, on location tourism shoot of mother daughter Hot Air Balloon Connecticut, lifestyle, travel, portrait. Natural lighting.

Coppola Photography: Canon Beach tourism adventure cycling shoot of bike tourist, lifestyle, travel, portrait. Natural lighting. CT commercial image.

 


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