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By Root 4191 0

believe they are giving the most, in the end, more often than not the image is why readers look at advertisements. Further, lots of people may have had great ideas that contributed to the final image, but in the end, it is the photographer who makes ideas a reality, and while ideas are not copyrightable, the tangible results (that is, your images) are copyrightable. This means that you're getting the short end of the stick more often than not. It's important to realize that how valuable your images are is, as they say, in the eye of the beholder. If they are willing to pay for your talent at your stipulated fees, then you have done a good job of illustrating your value to the project or assignment; otherwise, they'll have gone with someone else for some other reason (cheaper price or higher price when they've done a better job at illustrating their value). This is a universal truth for photographers, and it applies to commercial and editorial work alike. It's fair, not some shell game or other deceitful tactic. This is about being paid fairly for your contribution to the assignment. In some cases, you might believe a $30,000 licensing fee is astronomical, but when compared to the fact that it will be the signature image of an advertising campaign in which several million dollars in media buys will be made, and from that, many more millions will be earned in product sales, it begins to be equitable.

Words to Avoid

Often clients will use words they don't know, often ones that have no real definition. The most common one is buyout. It has an ambiguous definition, at best, in the photographic world, and it is open to a wide array of interpretations. A buyout of what? All rights? Exclusively? Forever? Copyright?

Collateral is another word that is ambiguous at best when describing rights that are granted to a client for photographic images. Advertorial is another made-up word. Its definition comes closest to "a page in a magazine that is paid at an advertising rate but is designed to look like an editorial page, with a similar typeface and style." Most publications have policies specifying that so-called "advertorial" content not use the same fonts as the editorial portions of the publication. The content is usually not solely controlled by the advertisers, but it is usually written by staffers or contractors in a manner to make the advertisers look good. The content is submitted for review and approval by the advertiser, which means that they want you to charge an editorial rate for an advertising use. Don't succumb to this—consult your advertising pricing guidelines and quote the advertising price. When they come back to you with a quote that's a third of this price, respond that those are your advertising rates, and it's your policy to charge advertising rates for advertising uses, which is what an advertorial is. The same holds true for custom publishing, in which an entire magazine is printed and looks like an editorial magazine, but, in reality, it is a brochure disguised as a magazine. That's an advertising rate.

Pro Bono: When To and When Not To

There seems to be an altruistic and socially conscious bone in every photographer's body, and, as such, there is a predisposition to have a soft spot in one's heart for the phone calls that you'll inevitably get espousing every good cause under the sun, asking for free or cheap photography services. Be careful.

First, it should be you who decides which causes you want to support. That means deciding what's near and dear to you and reaching out to those causes. When others call looking for your services, it's easier for you to say, "I've decided which charitable organizations to donate my services to this year, but I would be happy to discuss your needs and see whether I can give you the services you need at a fair price."

When I get a call that starts with, "We're a nonprofit…," I typically (and respectfully) inquire whether the person is a volunteer for the organization or an employee. Ninety-five percent of the time, the person is an employee, and I become far