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Nihiliste posted:$300 for just the reception? If I'm reading that right, that's certainly good pay for a beginner.
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Sep 24, 2008 16:05
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Seeing as website is a part of the business these days, I figured it'd be safe to ask about this here. I'm having a hard time coming up with domain name for a website I am working on. So let's pretend my name is Tom Olson. Taken: tomolson.com tomolsonphoto.com olsonphoto.com olsonphotography.com Available: tomolsonphotography.com olsonpics.com tomolson.org olsonphoto.org That was all I could really think of with my pea-sized brain. Should I bite the bullet and get a simple .org address, or is .com really important in this day and age? That being said, are there any good ideas you guys have about domain names?
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Sep 24, 2008 20:48
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tomolsonphotography.com is what I would go with.
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Sep 24, 2008 20:52
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I am very much an amateur photographer. I've never sold any photos and I have no real interest in trying to make money from my photos. I just don't feel comfortable enough with my abilities to charge some one money for photos I have yet to take. I have done some stuff at my old job since I was the guy with the "fancy" camera. One of my photos was actually the cover of "Gourmet Retailer" magazine last year. A few of my shots were used as magazine ads for the same company. I was just paid my hourly wage lol. Anyway, out of the blue I have received a solicitation to use one of my photos on some sort of travel guide at schmap.com. There is, of course, no payment involved here. They just want to use something of mine they found on Flickr. I am happy to let them use it, but I have to agree to a licence that I can't claim to fully understand. It actually appears to be quite fair. I retain the rights to the photo, and they have the right to use it in their guide which it states (in the licence) will always be free for public use (it is ad-supported). But, IANAL. A long time ago I set my "licence" on Flickr to "Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Creative Commons". What a mouth full! 1). What should I apply as my licence on my photos? I am quite happy if someone wants to use my photos in some private, non-commercial setting. If some one wants to stick something I have done in a wikipedia article, I would be flattered. If someone wants to use my photo in any type of advertising or to sell it I would not be flattered, to put it mildly. 2). Should I let these schmap people use my photo? I am happy to post the licence here if that would help. I don't read this forum all the time, but if I recall correctly the general consensus here is that giving away work for free is frowned upon. Thank you.
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Sep 25, 2008 05:00
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Associate Christ
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My aim is to get a staff job at a newspaper. While looking, I have been responding to/checking out craigslist ads for assistant wedding shooters. I have done paid event photography before, I want to learn how to shoot weddings right and figured assisting/second shooting would be the best way. However, I would generally say my skills (but not my wedding/formal event portfolio) would put me above half the market in my area; there are alot of straight on f/8 flash nukers and the awful at both "web-designer/wedding photographer". The few ads I responded to either gave me the run around (wife/secretary assures me he is on a shoot and will be back at x time, never is) or flat out never called me back after a positive hour and a half interview (bitterly mentioned at least 5 or 6 times about the former assistant he "trained" who is now competing against him, how he is looking for someone professional, yet the other 4 staff listed on his web-page are all his high school students). Is this par for the course, or do I need to start seeking out the top end of the market and inquiring rather than waiting for an ad? Jahoodie fucked around with this message at 05:46 on Sep 25, 2008 |
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Sep 25, 2008 05:43
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Kaluza-Klein posted:Anyway, out of the blue I have received a solicitation to use one of my photos on some sort of travel guide at schmap.com. There is, of course, no payment involved here. They just want to use something of mine they found on Flickr. Post the license here and I'll take a look at it if you want. Normally I would say never give anything away for free - if it's worth using it's worth paying for - but if this is just for some small website and you retain all rights it's your call. Maybe ask for some kind of nominal fee for web use - $25-75 or whatever and see if they bite (can't hurt to ask). quote:My aim is to get a staff job at a newspaper. Good luck with journalism thing.. newspapers are making serious cutbacks these days. Anyways, I would say in photography it is pretty much always a good idea to start at the top and work your way down, whether we are talking about assisting or going after clients with a portfolio. For getting assisting jobs this is how I would 'rank' the approaches to finding work: 1. going to professional society meetings (I don't know how useful this would be for weddings, but every time I go to an ASMP meeting and hand out cards I always get calls the next week) 2. calling the photographer directly 3. calling photographer's agencies (this is more for commercial/fashion) 4. responding to Craigslist ads (rarely get a response or a job out of it but it's worth sending off a super quick email when you see them pop up on the off chance) 5. Emailing people (way too easy to ignore, pretty much nil) Start at the top and work your way down, the people doing higher-end work have much larger budgets and are much more likely to hire multiple assistants and need a lot of people on their list for availability issues.
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Sep 25, 2008 06:02
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brad industry posted:Good luck with journalism thing.. newspapers are making serious cutbacks these days... Thanks for the advice, and thanks for being so giving with this thread to talk about photo industry stuff. I'm a reporter at heart, really, and I like telling stories through pictures and audio rather than writing. I heard an interview on NPR with a famous graphic designer, who said something along the lines of how he needs a problem with boundaries to solve, and was different than a painter in that with no direction he would just stare at the blank canvas and cry (and drink, and cry some more). That's kind of like me and photography.
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Sep 25, 2008 06:19
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RangerScum posted:That being said, are there any good ideas you guys have about domain names? How about coming up with an actual company name like "clownpenis.fart Photography"? Also, as a hobbyist, how much should I work on avoiding stepping on the toes of the pros? I like to do concert photography, mostly of small indie bands. The bands are quite appreciative of the pictures that I post online, but I don't want to be potentially inadvertently taking jobs from someone that could do a much better job for money.
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Sep 25, 2008 07:06
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brad industry posted:Post the license here and I'll take a look at it if you want. Normally I would say never give anything away for free - if it's worth using it's worth paying for - but if this is just for some small website and you retain all rights it's your call. Maybe ask for some kind of nominal fee for web use - $25-75 or whatever and see if they bite (can't hurt to ask). Woah, thank you! quote:TERMS OF SUBMISSION Again, IANAL, but that appears to be quite fair.
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Sep 25, 2008 12:09
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HPL posted:How about coming up with an actual company name like "clownpenis.fart Photography"? You're probably one of the first hobbyists I've met who seem concerned about the pros. Honestly, as much as my boss bitches about Doctors-with-Canons and other professional in other fields who can afford top-end cameras and subsequently take wedding gigs and such, there will always be a need for [a] professional photographer[s]. That said, small indie bands are probably not high on the pro photographer's list of where to make profit (unless they're super rich) so I think if you stick to that you wouldn't be loving a pro over unless he was desperate but then he should call it quits if he's looking for small fish to fry. Edit: to make me feel better though, start charging the band if you aren't already as you are putting some effort into this and they benefit from having someone take pictures of them.
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Sep 25, 2008 15:20
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Kaluza-Klein posted:Again, IANAL, but that appears to be quite fair. That looks fine to me, they are not sneaking anything in there that I would be worried about. germskr posted:Edit: to make me feel better though, start charging the band if you aren't already as you are putting some effort into this and they benefit from having someone take pictures of them. The band doesn't have any money for things like that, if any of the pictures are any good I would contact their label/PR company/management and maybe work out a license for web use or something if they are interested. If you do this a few times it should be easy to get yourself onto the guest list or press passes for future shows. Another thing to keep in mind would be instrument/music equipment companies. If you shoot a good picture of some band with a product front-and-center you could contact that company about using it for an ad. I have a friend who has made several sales that way. Music magazines might be another avenue you could take, but they get a LOT of unsolicited live photos and I doubt they would be all that interested because of the sheer volume of people out there taking pictures at concerts. You could also do stock.
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Sep 25, 2008 18:24
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brad industry posted:Music photography Speaking of photography opportunities, how would I go about getting into band portraits?
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Sep 25, 2008 19:23
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brad industry posted:That looks fine to me, they are not sneaking anything in there that I would be worried about. Assuming the band has someone representing them. Usually "small indie band" means virtually no form of management and the members handle it themselves. Not always the case.
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Sep 25, 2008 19:27
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Nihiliste posted:Speaking of photography opportunities, how would I go about getting into band portraits? speaking from both sides of this, as a band member thats handled booking/promo/press stuff and as a photographer your best bet for this is going to be myspace. Find your local bands and start small and work your way up. If they have a management group or label or anything you will have to work through them but you should be able to find decently big bands that handle it all themselves still and thats what I'd say you should start with. price wise don't expect the smaller bands to be able to swing much, its hard for a rising band to even break even now with the state of things (like gas prices), but even a little bit helps you and builds your portfolio.
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Sep 25, 2008 20:05
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Bottom Liner posted:speaking from both sides of this, as a band member thats handled booking/promo/press stuff and as a photographer your best bet for this is going to be myspace. Find your local bands and start small and work your way up. If they have a management group or label or anything you will have to work through them but you should be able to find decently big bands that handle it all themselves still and thats what I'd say you should start with. price wise don't expect the smaller bands to be able to swing much, its hard for a rising band to even break even now with the state of things (like gas prices), but even a little bit helps you and builds your portfolio. Sounds interesting - are we talking free sessions for a few bands, then gradually adding cost? What would be a good base price, in any case? Edit: MySpace is not conducive to searching for local bands, seemingly... Nihiliste fucked around with this message at 03:21 on Sep 26, 2008 |
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Sep 26, 2008 01:14
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When I was in high school, I took pictures for myself of the theater program I was in. I ended up with some decent stuff of rehearsals and whatnot, so I talked with a friend who was on the yearbook staff. I ended up giving them a CD with some photos along with a text file that licensed the photos. I don't have a copy of it anymore, but it said something to the effect of "These photos may be used in the [school name] yearbook as long as proper credit is given to [my name]." Well, they ended up using a picture (full spread even, it blew up nicely). I'm not credited anywhere. They have a section in the back that credits several sources of photographs including local studios, etc. But I'm not in there. I was kind of miffed, but it raises the question: if I were to take action, what would it involve? What damages would I sue for? Obviously, I'm not going to, because it's just a high school yearbook, but it did still irk me.
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Sep 26, 2008 21:25
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dakana posted:What damages would I sue for? Copyright infringement. When you give a license to use an image it's only valid if they stick to the terms. Actually the example Invoice/Estimate sheet I linked in the OP specifically says "Upon receipt of full payment, Photographer grants the Client the following exclusive rights" which means the contract for use is only valid if I get paid first.
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Sep 26, 2008 21:50
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Thank you, by the way, for that invoice sheet. You wouldn't happen to have a MS Word version of it for those who don't have Acrobat?
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Sep 26, 2008 22:17
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gotly posted:Thank you, by the way, for that invoice sheet. You wouldn't happen to have a MS Word version of it for those who don't have Acrobat? Adobe Acrobat reader is a free download...
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Sep 26, 2008 22:27
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It's the one from "Business and Legal Forms for Photographers", if you buy the book you get a CD with plain text files. The one I posted is mine, it's pretty much straight out of the book, just re-formatted to match the rest of my branding.
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Sep 26, 2008 22:28
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TsarAleksi posted:Adobe Acrobat reader is a free download... I think he means Acrobat Acrobat, not just Reader.
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Sep 26, 2008 23:45
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Found this blog on marketing today, seems like it could be pretty good: http://www.photo-marketing-tips.com/
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Sep 28, 2008 23:38
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RangerScum posted:That being said, are there any good ideas you guys have about domain names? Jahoodie posted:My aim is to get a staff job at a newspaper. I love it.
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Oct 2, 2008 23:48
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Bad Angus! Bad!
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A question about licensing and whatnot - do I need a model release to use pictures of a model in my portfolio? What kinds of usage do I need a release for?
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Oct 3, 2008 01:34
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SoundMonkey posted:A question about licensing and whatnot - do I need a model release to use pictures of a model in my portfolio? What kinds of usage do I need a release for? In before Brad - you only really need a model release if the photo is going to be used for commercial purposes, i.e. appear in ads, magazine covers et al. If you're really concerned, tell the model that you'll use the photo in your portfolio, and I doubt they'll object.
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Oct 3, 2008 01:49
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SoundMonkey posted:A question about licensing and whatnot - do I need a model release to use pictures of a model in my portfolio? What kinds of usage do I need a release for? Well it can never hurt to have one but apparently if you use it in your portfolio you don't need a release. Nihiliste pretty much listed all the other reasons you would need a release for but verbal agreements for anything (including portfolio work) is not really the best method for consent.
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Oct 3, 2008 01:56
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There's gray areas though if you don't have a contract. For example, you may be in the clear to use a photo in your portfolio, but what if you use it as a banner to promote your business? How about on your website? Your business cards? There's a point where it becomes commercial speech, even if it's just promoting your own company. Better to have a contract whenever possible; it doesn't need to be in legalese either.
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Oct 3, 2008 07:44
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You guys are about half right. Model releases are only really needed for advertising or "trade" commercial purposes. Commercial meaning in-house corporate stuff, point of sale, calendar, poster, web site, etc. Commercial does not mean "making a profit from it" it means being used to promote a specific business interest. Your portfolio and marketing stuff is kind of a gray area, technically you are promoting your business but I have never, ever heard of anyone being sued over that and I suspect in the bizarro case that you were it wouldn't stick. You do not need releases for anything editorial, which includes magazines (yes even the cover), journalism, book covers, fine art, etc. Obviously you should get releases whenever you can anyways because there is no point in not doing it.
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Oct 3, 2008 08:27
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What's the deal with shooting underage models? Children? Do their parents have to sign a release for portfolio/editorial use? What if the parent or an older sibling is in the photo? (NOT A CREEP)
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Oct 3, 2008 13:36
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^^^Totally a creep. But yeah, since minors don't really have any rights of attorney, you need to get their parents to look over any release forms you use, and have the parents and the children both sign them. I'm not sure how it works for editorial use, but for commercial use you need to do it that way. In general though, when working with children, you probably want to stay safe and have the child and a guardian sign something, even if it's only for portfolio use.
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Oct 3, 2008 13:40
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Saw this today at the strobist.com links. Is this sort of "one day a week" internship common?quote:
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Oct 3, 2008 14:55
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grecco is a pretty big name, so this is basically a way for you to namedrop him
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Oct 3, 2008 15:04
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friendship waffle posted:grecco is a pretty big name, so this is basically a way for you to namedrop him Oh, yeah, working for that particular photog would be great. I was curious about this type of deal. I'm not looking for myself, I'm just interested in the mechanics of the industry.
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Oct 3, 2008 15:13
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notlodar posted:What's the deal with shooting underage models? Children? Do their parents have to sign a release for portfolio/editorial use? What if the parent or an older sibling is in the photo? If they're under 18 you have their parent/guardian sign the release.
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Oct 3, 2008 18:15
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torgeaux posted:Oh, yeah, working for that particular photog would be great. I was curious about this type of deal. I'm not looking for myself, I'm just interested in the mechanics of the industry. I don't know how common it is, but it makes sense to me: maybe he has a part-time assistant, and that's the assistant's day off. Or maybe he's hiring five interns at once and thus having steady help for six months as opposed to one full-time intern at a time and having to replace him every month. The photo internships at my university (which I really should get around to
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Oct 3, 2008 18:20
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Hopefully this is the right place for this. I did a shoot with an actor/model today, and three of the pictures she'd like to use as headshots (headshots for acting, not for modelling). She'd like me to put a border and her name on them, which after all the postprocessing isn't that much more work. The result, obviously, needs to print at 8x10. The source image is in 3:2 aspect ratio. I'll need a border around the image so I have somewhere to put the text, and to frame it a bit. Having to crop a bit of height off the image would not be a terrible thing. My question is this: How thick should the border be width and height (I guess I'd need more space on the bottom for text)? I googled a bit, but I couldn't find some kind of generally-accepted standard.
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Oct 10, 2008 09:25
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Haven't seen many people asking about assisting in here, but I thought I'd share my experiences since I've been doing it (mostly) successfully for the past year and a half. It's a great way to learn a ton of stuff you'd never think about and see places you might never see and if you're good at freelancing you can make pretty good money too. At it's best it can still be very inconsistent work, I'd work 5 days in a row making $200/day for two weeks and then have nothing for the next three weeks. If you can get a studio assistant gig you'll make less money but it will be much more consistent (and boring). ASMP or APA is for sure the easiest way to meet photographers looking for assistants, and all photographers look for assistants at some point. Volunteering to help at the meetings and talking to EVERYBODY really helps. Meet the other successful assistants in town because at some point they will have a shot booked and another photographer will call to ask if they can assist and then they can recommend you. I don't think assistants should ever work for free, ask for gas money or something really low if you are just starting out, it's just a good precedent to start with photographers. As for basic tips umm.. Ask what kind of lights the photographer will be using before the shoot, look up pdfs of their manuals online and be well aware of how they work before you get there. As brad industry said, always carry a leatherman and a roll of gaffer's tape. Tape light cords down. If someone trips on a loose cord you will deservedly get yelled at. Don't flirt with the models. Just don't. If you have a softbox or know somebody that does, borrow it and practice putting it together until you can do it blindfolded. Don't talk poo poo about other photographers even if they are an rear end in a top hat on shots! I've been hired to replace several people who couldn't keep their mouths shut. ShutteredIn fucked around with this message at 10:15 on Oct 10, 2008 |
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Oct 10, 2008 10:08
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I've shot weddings (for cash), and currently do some sports for a local paper. Can I write off my equipment as expenses, and get a tax deduction?
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Oct 10, 2008 11:25
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do you report your current income from your business? Do you want to draw attention to a business that spends money but magically has no income through a series of deductions?
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Oct 10, 2008 11:32
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