3 photos published...first time ever

hewhoknows

hewhoknows

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Matt
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Since ive been taking photography 'serious' ive never managed to get any images printed anywhere so I was extremely happy when I picked up todays local daily paper, the Shropshire Star, to see 3 of my photographs from a recent ice hocky game on the inside back cover.

I cant explain how excited and proud it made me feel, to see 3 images that took hard work and time to take appearing in a real newspaper which has an average daily readership of 223,000+

Im a happy man :cool:


My shots in print :) by Matt_Giles, on Flickr
 
Well done. I know the feeling too, even though it's just a hobby for me. How did you end up getting them published?
 
Good work! I've had a small number of photos printed in the local papers and you can't beat that feeling of pride seeing them in there. :) (y)
 
Yeah its definately a nice feeling seeing your photos in the press, love it :)

@DB SamX: I jusr emailed them in for submission with a hope that they would get picked up
 
Congrats it feels good dosn't it i have had a couple done in local papers, only because i was there and got the pic's not becasue the pic's were any good..

yours look like good shots maybe you could post up the orginals. for us to see?
 
nice- did you get paid for these? :shrug:

Les (y)
 
Congrats! Three images all of good size and in colour! Not bad for a first airing in public! :)
 
khitomer said:
Just about to ask the same question!
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No I didnt get paid for these, there was a reporter at the game who spoke to us and made it quite clear that the paper had no funds for buying photographs therefore relied on photos being sent in. The only thing they offered was that whoever took the pictures would be accredited for the shots under each image.

To be honest, being an amature photographer thats good enough for me right now. Its just nice to get recognition for the work and the time put in to shoot the game and process any shots etc.

Loved getting messaged by people saying 'hey i saw your photographs in the paper today, well done!!'

:D:cool:
 
hewhoknows said:
No I didnt get paid for these, there was a reporter at the game who spoke to us and made it quite clear that the paper had no funds for buying photographs therefore relied on photos being sent in. The only thing they offered was that whoever took the pictures would be accredited for the shots under each image.

To be honest, being an amature photographer thats good enough for me right now. Its just nice to get recognition for the work and the time put in to shoot the game and process any shots etc.

Loved getting messaged by people saying 'hey i saw your photographs in the paper today, well done!!'

:D:cool:
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Well done, it really is a great feeling.

Now, you are at the top of the ski slope, do you want to wear some skis, and enjoy the ride, or do you want to bump your way down the slope and nurse your bruises??

These are your images and you are free to do what you want with them, but giving them away to the press is and will be an ongoing mistake if you carry on doing it. My local paper would never take my pics, untill they saw one they needed, usual story of no funds, which meant no pic, which turned into £50, which was £50 more than no funds.

Good luck in which way you go, you now know that your pics are good enough to be published, are they good enough to be paid for by a company that makes a profit??

Phil.

(ok, im off my soapbox for today ;)
 
Well done, it is nice to see images that you have taken in print. As I take quite a few motosport images locally, I do offer some of my images foc to local papers only to be used to promote the sport, if they are doing a article for a particular driver etc, then I charge £75 per image which they seem happy to pay.
 
hewhoknows said:
No I didnt get paid for these, there was a reporter at the game who spoke to us and made it quite clear that the paper had no funds for buying photographs therefore relied on photos being sent in. The only thing they offered was that whoever took the pictures would be accredited for the shots under each image.
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That's a really poor excuse from them, but it's likely they don't actually need to spend on photos because they'll get them supplied for free anyway. The printers won't print the photos for free. So, the paper are indeed paying for the photos. They're just not paying you.

The bottom line is that readers are more likely to buy papers that feature photos alongside copy. More paying readers means more revenue and more revenue means more money to invest in making a better paper i.e. photographs.

http://shouldiworkforfree.com/
 
Agree with all of what you guys have said and i do value my images more than to give them away for free.

The problem is this, there is another photographer there who is happy to give his photos away to the paper each and every week. So if I try to charge then they will just use the other guys shots.

I suppose it's a decision of charging and probably not getting printed as they will source elsewhere or not charge and get some images with accreditation in the press and improve my portfolio??

Just a note: I wouldn't give images to the press under any other scenario other than this particular teams shots. I have a close personal relationship with the team as I played for them and their junior teams for 16 years
 
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hewhoknows said:
Agree with all of what you guys have said and i do value my images more than to give them away for free.

The problem is this, there is another photographer there who is happy to give his photos away to the paper each and every week. So if I try to charge then they will just use the other guys shots.
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So how would you feel if it was your job - you were a freelance - and some mug kept giving the pictures for free and you couldn't make a living? That is what is happening all over the country. Freelances are losing work because amateurs have an ego! The papers are laughing all the way to the bank.

BTW these look good shots - well worth being paid for.
 
Next time, maybe you could send them the photos (watermark them heavily), but also let them know how much you want paying in order for them to be published?
 
That's not the way to do it either! Send high res jpegs - no watermark - but embed your details in the exif and make it clear no publication without a fee.

Sent from my iPhone using TP Forums
 
hewhoknows said:
No I didnt get paid for these, there was a reporter at the game who spoke to us and made it quite clear that the paper had no funds for buying photographs therefore relied on photos being sent in. The only thing they offered was that whoever took the pictures would be accredited for the shots under each image.

To be honest, being an amature photographer thats good enough for me right now. Its just nice to get recognition for the work and the time put in to shoot the game and process any shots etc.

Loved getting messaged by people saying 'hey i saw your photographs in the paper today, well done!!'

:D:cool:
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Nice freebie for the paper, should always charge them at least £50 a shot, they get paid for the paper, why shouldnt you for your time and skill, they just love freebies and are putting pro photographers out of business
 
awp said:
So how would you feel if it was your job - you were a freelance - and some mug kept giving the pictures for free and you couldn't make a living? That is what is happening all over the country. Freelances are losing work because amateurs have an ego! The papers are laughing all the way to the bank.

BTW these look good shots - well worth being paid for.
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Not too sure if you were aiming that comment at me or not by the way but ill reply anyhoo :naughty:.

Believe you me if there were a professional freelancer there taking pictures I wouldnt dare step on any toes, totally unacceptable in my eyes.

I have no ego, far from it, I am just an addicted amature learning a trade. I actually used to do all the game reports for the team because no reporter would bother to come to games, same goes for the photography for this specific event (which was actually a 25 year anniversary game for Help the Hero charity!!). No freelancer could be bothered to turn up for this event or weekly home games to a club who are crying out for publicity and help from the community to survive. Whether this is down to the fact they wouldnt make any money from it or they dont know its going on but thats the facts, which in my eyes is a shame.

I was actually asked by the event organiser to take the shot because they couldnt get any pro there, mainly for the organisers themselves to retain some memrobelia from the game. The press publication was purely a 'bonus' as they asked me for some pictures while i was there shooting. I only emailed them in because no one else was there to snap away.

In all honesty thats the same for every home game, the team have an 'offical' photographer who in turn submits shots to the paper from free. I dont know if he gets any payment of kick back from the club for being the togger or not??

Im actually in my first year of a photography degree and totally understand the ethics of photography, and if i ever get to a situation where im working as a pro freelance photographer it would be run in the right ways and ethically correct. I actually run my own business albeit in a different trade and wouldnt like to loose work by some amature getting in the way so relate to what your saying.

But id say this, whos fault is it that freelancers are loosing work, the publications, the amatures or the freelancers? I could agrue a case for all parties but at the end of the day its meeting a need and there is always someone around the corner who is prepared to do it cheaper however unfortunate that may be. I experience this with my business daily and its hugely fustrating. I always say this if you want a professional and quality service then use the professionals!

Anyway stop putting a downer on my glory, im still buzzing from getting some shots in the paper :razz: ;) :p
 
hewhoknows said:

I was actually asked by the event organiser to take the shot because they couldnt get any pro there, mainly for the organisers themselves to retain some memrobelia from the game. The press publication was purely a 'bonus' as they asked me for some pictures while i was there shooting. I only emailed them in because no one else was there to snap away.
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You should definitely of asked for a fee, do you mean they couldnt get a pro or they didnt what to pay, news papers not a bonus, its a freebie for them,
 
Just Dave said:
Nice freebie for the paper, should always charge them at least £50 a shot, they get paid for the paper, why shouldnt you for your time and skill, they just love freebies and are putting pro photographers out of business
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Please see my comments above. If there were any pro photographers at the game I wouldnt have taken my camera out of the bag, dont belive in doing things like that.

Having been involved in ice hockey for 18 years, and playing for the Tigers senior tems for around 5 years, ive NEVER seen a pro togger, freelancer or anything like that at the ice rink to shoot a game. Whether thats because no one wants to photograph it or they dont ask I honestly dont know. Its a sport that not covered by the newspaper photographers for whatever, and thats a massive shame.

I was shooting for the event organisers for their pesonal collection and was ASKED by the paper for some photos along with another photographer that was there (another amature, actually the father of one of the players). They told me then that they would not pay but I did it out of a favour for the event organisers so they could get some free publicity for the game seeing as it was CHARITY GAME FOR HELP THE HEROS!!

Please dont jump on me as if i go around every local sports event snapping the games and sending them into magazines and papers for free and put pros out of work...THATS NOT THE CASE!!

I wanted to share some good news with the forum as pros and amatures on here have largely helped me improve on my photography from help and advice they have offered.

EDIT: I would really love to become a professional freelancer at some stage of my life so agree with the point your making guys, I would just hate it if you thought I was doing anything wrong on purpose!

But I supose there is another way to look at this scenario (playing devils advocate....) If these so called 'pros' could be arsed to get themselves to the game and photograph it maybe they wouldnt be put out of work by amatures?

Its not just the amatures that cause the problem, the club would have to run the rule on who takes the shots too and only allow a pro to take them. Then there is the publication, they should only accept submissions from pros then we wouldnt have this issue!!! Swings and roundabouts?

And what constitutes an amature, just because they dont do it as a full time job? If that amature can take just as good picture as the pro then is he a pro, or is the pro producing amature pictures?

Shade of grey??
 
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I think it's great, congratulations! You obviously got a huge buzz out of seeing your pics in the paper so in my eyes, as photography is a hobby, that's all the payment that's needed/expected.

Also, having been involved in sports clubs for many years I know the benefit of having local press features like this so it's great for the club too.

And on top of that you were helping a charity, good for you mate!

Tom
 
Well done on getting images published alongside the article (y)

To qualm the naysayers ... expand your business minds :naughty:

I know social photographers that will regularly supply their local papers if they happen to get usable shots in the community because at the end of the day it's a free advert being delivered to all their potential customers.

Plus they build rappor with the press guys over time, so they can get articles written about them such as "A day in the life of your local wedding/portrait photographer' whichh the kind of credible publicity that you can't pay for and other local photographers would chew their left arm off for.


I'm a commercial shooter, so I'll almost always attach a fee if a paper wants to use my images. If they plead empty pockets then I'll ask for some free space in the paper for an advert :)

Papers make their money from advertising, I make mine from my creativity and selling images. If they want my product for free then I want some of theirs for free in return (y)

If they don't give me that then I walk away and admire the naff cameraphone images they use instead :)
 
Ignore the moaners, you were promoting your team and gaining them publicity.

90% of the stuff in local newspapers isn't actually written or photographed at all by the paper's journos in recent years, its copy from press releases and/or submissions from interested parties seeking publicity for whatever.

They aren't paying for the copy that occupies most of the space on the pages, let alone the photos.

The "news" is generally on the front page and that and the rest of the words is only there to make people buy something thats essentially advertising (even more so than magazines!).

You've used your skill to promote your team and succeeded at it, well done - its a win.
 
desantnik said:
Ignore the moaners
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(y)

I agree. Fantastic achievement. I would only suggest for future occasions to bear in mind that "I've got no budget" is a very common mantra (in my own personal experience).

When I was starting out, I was recommended by a work colleague to an online rag who shall remain nameless. They wanted me to cover an event they were hosting and claimed there was no budget and, at the time, not knowing any better, I agreed.

The work colleague who recommended me got wind of the situation, immediately phoned up on my behalf and gave them an earful and I ended up with a small fee (£150.00 for about 2 hours work - cheap but something at least).

It turns out the online rag were getting paid to host the event I was photographing :wacky:

A lot of people willing to pray on the good intentions and politeness of others unfortunately.
 
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