Reddit reviews Best Business Practices for Photographers, Second Edition
We found 19 Reddit comments about Best Business Practices for Photographers, Second Edition. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
If you follow the articles back to the start of the lawsuit it was stated that he did submit a DMCA request for his images, Imgur responded stating that they were aware of the problem and had set a time window to correct it. However, nearly 6 months later Imgur had taken no action. The suit was to have an injuction made on Imgur and to collect damages.
The important thing here most people don't understand (with good reason) is how damages are awarded for copyright infringement. If you check out any of the professional photography literature (The Professional Photographer's Legal handbook Nancy E. Wolff, ASMP's Professional Business Practices in Photography, and Best Business Practices for Photographers by John Harrington) they all describe that to claim full damages on any of your works they must first be registered with the Copyright Office to show when they were created and how they were used (published and unpublished works are handled differently.) Published works as you are probably aware tend to come with licensing agreements for a specific amount of time based on various factors. These can be size of the image in a spread, number of images total, exclusivity, etc.
The articles mention that he could theoretically collect millions in damages because if his work is properly registered and has been used in a commercial application then Imgur is at fault for collecting ad revenue on work that it acknowledged was copywritten and was not legally licensed or given express permission to host on its servers. If his works were not registered and were not used commercially he could only collect what is essentially pennies per image while paying out of pocket for legal fees until a settlement or ruling is reached.
You did catch a genuinely nice moment between these two kids, but being a professional photographer is 90% business. There are countless awesome photographers that have zero business skills and never make it professionally. Please read books like Best Business Practices for Photographers before making the decision.
I don't mean to be harsh, but definitely polish up on your photo skills too. It seems like this was an under exposed image that the blacks/shadows were lifted (quite a bit). This makes the photo very flat tonally and saturation wise.
I'd suggest creating a mood board of photos from your favorite photographers. Figure out how to achieve the looks on your mood board and especially understand why they appeal to you. If you have any questions on how to get a certain look, feel free to ask /r/postprocessing. With time, you'll reference less and less, but reference photos are absolutely critical when starting on your own path. Best of luck!
yes, this is definitely required reading.
link: http://www.amazon.com/Best-Business-Practices-Photographers-Second/dp/1435454294/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318446545&sr=8-1
Read John Harrington's book as soon as you can: Best Business Practices For Photogaphers
In the meantime, as everyone has said, charge for everything. Materials should get a small (18%) markup; figure out a cost per shot and a base creative fee -- the creative fee is paid to you for your time, vision and mastery of technique; the licensing is paid to you per shot for a given target (web, print ad, promotional material, etc.)
If it makes life easier, do the above math and then create a rate based on a set number of images, so if your creative fee is $750/day, and each image license is $350/year, then pick x number of images as a minimum, add it to the creative fee and you've got a ballpark you can use to guide your rates. You may benefit by offering the client to choose from both a per-image rate, or a package flat rate that is based on days worked (assume ten hour work days).
Ben Long's Complete Digital Photography, now in its 7th edition, is pretty good for beginners, and only costs $30. I used it to design an online course in digital photography for a graduate school project (e-learning design).
Edit: for aspiring professionals, I'd recommend Best Business Practices for Photographers by John Harrington (2nd edition), around $22 on Amazon. It's chock full of recommendations for starting your own business, shooting professional paid assignments, handling releases and contracts, copyright protection for your work, etc. Great resource.
http://www.amazon.com/Business-Practices-Photographers-Second-Edition/dp/1435454294/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1347321764&sr=8-1&keywords=best+business+practices+for+photographers
This book has some sections on contracts, etc. I just picked it up and haven't had time to fully read it but no complaints yet!
Get yourself a copy of John Harrington's Best Business Practices for Photographers, that would be a good way to start with the hard part of being a pro shooter.
>Isn't there some kinda verbiage you need to have ready to go for how long they can use it for
Yes. This is called a licensing contract for usage rights (or something like that).
A book like this can help you understand how to handle writing such a contract:
https://smile.amazon.com/Best-Business-Practices-Photographers-Second/dp/1435454294/ref=pd_sbs_14_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1435454294&pd_rd_r=BYMEZ05X7ADQNZ28MG3X&pd_rd_w=qoJ3o&pd_rd_wg=eTKTp&psc=1&refRID=BYMEZ05X7ADQNZ28MG3X
You could also use those calculators on Getty and Corbis to understand each factor you need to address in the license you create. There is more than just "how long they can use it for."
-----
>proof that its your picture
This is on them to ask for.
You should be able to do this in a number of different ways.
The easiest and most important one is to have a copyright registration document to show them.
Without that, there are many other ways. Use common sense with this.
Don't sign away your rights to the photos. It's best to send your terms with your quote--what kinds of usage your granting for the photos, how many finished images they get, etc.
Also: http://asmp.org/tutorials/licensing-guide.html#.VLVo6IrF_Q4
And: http://www.amazon.com/Licensing-Photography-Victor-Perlman/dp/1581154364
and: http://www.amazon.com/Best-Business-Practices-Photographers-Second/dp/1435454294/ref=sr_1_1
I am: not a lawyer, only knowledgeable about the US, an amateur photographer, and have a copy of www.amazon.com/dp/1435454294
What you are doing is very common on Flickr, I've had this happen numerous times. I don't think it's a violation of their terms or that you're doing anything wrong, but that's just my impression.
What I think you are trying to accomplish here is to negotiate a license with the photographer to use their photos. They maintain copyright and it remains "all rights reserved" for them - but you have an agreement with them to use the photo according to some specific terms. I think that it's in your best interest to formalize this with a contract so that there aren't any questions further down the line (i.e. they agree to let you use it now and then realize you are making money using their art and get upset). Searching online will find lots of resources for this sort of licensing. Obviously an expert in intellectual property rights could draft something specifically for your situation.
As /u/lord_humble says, there may be concerns about releases as well. My understanding is that this can range from a model release for the person/people pictured in the image to releases for other copyrighted works shown in the picture depending on usage. There's some interesting "common sense" reading here that talks about releases: http://www.danheller.com/model-release-copyrights.html
The expanding stock photo market addresses many of these issues by letting you buy a license with a one time fee for specific use of imagery. You may want to pursue that approach if you believe your usage will become popular enough that this could be an issue.
It is possible to make great photos with a T6, or any camera really, but like with any craft, that depends more on the experience of the person using the tool than the tool itself.
You should read up about the business of photography, something like John Harrington's book would be a good start. Another good resource is aphotoeditor.com. These are both geared toward more commercial photography than fine art selling, but have great information.
You're young, you should focus on making good work, and start reading about the business side of it now, so once your work and confidence is in the right place, you will be prepared to do a proper job. You can't expect professional results tomorrow, but if you start working hard now and have the willingness to hustle, you will see results over time.
On a side note, being a server would pay much better than being a dishwasher, so as long as you're working in the restaurant industry, you should try to do that instead.
Buy this book: Best Business Practices for Photographers, Second Edition and read it.
It will help you understand why you need to be paid for work you do.
Not an easy question to answer, depends on many things, but here are a couple references:
http://www.cradocfotosoftware.com/fotoQuote-Pro/
http://www.amazon.com/Business-Practices-Photographers-Second-Edition/dp/1435454294
In addition actually getting to know how to use your camera and finding your niche, read these:
Best Business Practices for Photographers by John Harrington
The Personal MBA by Josh Kauffman
One thing I'll grant you, kid: You're not a good photographer yet, but at least you seem to recognize that taking sellable photos and running a photo business require two sets of skills, and that you should be developing those skills in parallel if you are serious about creative work as a career. Those two books should get you on the right path for the latter.
Also, don't print a portfolio. You're not good enough yet and you'd be wasting money by doing so. Get a few photos you're proud of (and that have been critiqued well) before dropping real money on marketing materials. The money is better invested in the two books I linked above.
I have a few recommendations for you:
Master the Business of Photography with Sal Cincotta: This class will give you a good primer on the business side.
Build Your Lighting Knowledge with Peter Hurley: Peter will teach you simple lighting setup and whatnot.
Because I like books, I'll recomend some as well.
Beyond that: practice, practice, practice.
I have this book, which I found quite useful.
Laurence Kim's blog has also been quite useful as well, and his blog touches on a lot of what you're interested in (I'd suggest reading it in an RSS feed since his redesign destroyed any easy readability of post titles).
Maybe this is a good opportunity to upsell. Give the person a price the appropriate license...let's say OP decides it's $50. He/She can maybe offer a package that for $100 to provide that photo AND take a professional head shot or something else that could be useful for his website. Play with the numbers.
Since OP is potentially getting interest in his/her work, I suggest learning more about the business. This is my go to book for learning about the business side of photography, including pricing, licenses, taxes, etc.
EDIT: typos
Oscar,
What you need to do is get fotoquote
It's a great program that will help you get current market rates for your images. Also take a look at this link from the ASMP
Take this seriously and conduct business like a professional. You'll be looking at a nice pay out and a great lesson in business. Also pick up a copy of Best Business Practices for Photographers by John Harrington. John is a great guy and really gives you a great look at how to conduct business as a photographer.