email back about a event photographer

F

frankee

Messages
791
Edit My Images
No
Hi Francesca, We have a BSJA Junior Premier show on the 6,7,8 of February, we would liketo invite you to come to this event, this is an important competition forthe Junior professionals so I do ask that you are aware when taking picturesthat a flash is not used, and you must not interfere with the competition. As we will not be charging you for coming to this event, I ask that we havecopyright to these pictures, if we require any for publication we have theright to do so. We also require a copy of all pictures. I wondered if you could e-mail me some pictures that you took at the JuniorShow last week, I order for me to see your work. We will be looking for a resident photographer for future events.

i'm kind of confused on the side of they would take copyright? :suspect:
also i cant cover the whole event was just gonna do like a mix of everyclass just to get experience? :lol: as ionly have a 1gb card which holds 219 :L oh noooo
 
They make it sound like they are doing you a favour :lol:
 
Sounds to me like they want to be able to use any of your photos for any purpose whatsoever they want without paying you for them.

I may be wrong, but that's the impression. In which case I would be saying no
 
i'm reading the same as barney rubble, look like they are dangling carrots by tell you about the position available to get you to do work for free
 
Ok, for example if someone wanted to buy the photo, then i wouldnt get the money for it?????
 
Depends on the background I guess, if you've asked to come along to the event, perhaps its a slightly different impression.

I'd never give away copyright, you could agree that they can use a number of shots for promotional purposes but make sure you retain the copyright.
 
yeah i do want my copyright on them, like if they wanted to use some photos i'd like them in my name...
 
look sorry i'm kind of confused of all of this and i've never looked into copyright so dont jump on me at first i thought they meant that they wanted toown these photos and it's not as if i took them but i looked into it and now no more!!! obvs im not bothered about getting payed
 
I never asked to cover the whole event just to go over take few photos of friends riding and also some other people for my portfiolio and also seeing if they needed photographers for there events in the summer
 
I myself would fight fire with fire, Its happened in the past to me, They say "as were letting you cover our event to make money, we would like a cut". I say "as Im not charging you 2-300 pound to cover YOUR event we will call it quits"

Always worked so far, hehe

Refuse the job if they insist on getting the copyrights and all images from you, Maybe one or 2 (marked with your site) for their site is fine, but not the whole shabbang !
 
Id tell them to stick it up their arse!
I hate people who are like "well, since we are letting you do this, we want all the copyright to the images", its you doing them the favour, not the other way around.

Dont bother, because once you do this for free, if you ask for money for future events then they will just find someone else to do it for free.
 
There'll be a big difference in shooting what you want to what they want, as there is between shooting for pleasure as opposed to business. I'd pay the entrance fee, be relaxed while taking your pics, then offer them to the organisers at a cost. You may recoup more than your outlay. If the competition is that important, they'll pay :)
 
Agreed, mail them back and explain that you do NOT give away copyright, but that you will give a limited licence on a certain amount of images for them to use in their promotional material, with appropriate credit by way of link to your website, name, etc, any more must be paid for, as must prints for any one that wants them from the event. If they disagree tell em to find some other mug that is prepared to work for absolute zero return. :bang:
 
As far as I know event photographers usually have to pay to cover an event.. you dont get paid.. you pay them to be able to be there.

You then make your money from onsite sales or after sales . but really its onsite sales.

Also its quite within policy for an event to ask for copyright of pictures.. Event organisors will want copyright and the pictures to pubilicise next years event..


What I would do is agree to give them copyright but only for publicity purposes and only you are allowed to ahve an online gallery and only you allowed to sell pictures to the public...

But.. you can probably ignore all my advice and everyone elses and give the whole thing a miss.. sorry but a 1gb memory card isnt going to hack it IMHO
 
It sounds to me like they place no value on the photographs you may take. THey are asking for full owership of the images in exchange for 'Not charging you to come to the event'

With this I would reply to them stating the following:-
1. Thank then for the offer.
2. State that you will not be handing over copyright of your images.
3. If you are happy to, offer them images for promotional purposes only (With a credit)

Personally on the back of that email I would probably just pay entry fee and shoot for my own enjoyment and to get shots of my friends.
 
Am I right in thinking that you were initially just asking permission to take photos at the event for your own, and friends, benefit and not to actually sell prints? If so, it looks like they have got the wrong end of the stick thinking you are an event photographer plying for trade. If that's the case, just turn up and take your photos, there'll be plenty of other people there with cameras.
 
I would reply something along the lines of:

"Thank you for your reply. I do not wish, at this stage in my career, to pass over the copyright and control of my images to anyone else but would be willing to come to some agreement over licensing them to you if this is acceptable? I am happy to pay for my entry in order to be able to take photographs of my friend's competing and will put copies of these on my website so that you can choose if there are any you wish to use for your site or advertising purposes.

I would be very much interested in becoming your resident photographer and would be happy to bring some prints along to show you my work and discuss with you the details of this position"
 
Hands up all the event photographers offering advice ? seriously... Event photographers pay to go to events.. I am not talking entrance fee.. I am talking a fee to photograph.


fabs I think your right there :)
 
Erm, i thought event photographers were usually attending at the request of the organiser, and they didnt have a fee payable or one to recieve either.
Thats why i thought events were a risky game, as you may get 1 sale, you may get 100! I have never heard of an event photographer paying to attend an event.

Some people offer commission to the organiser/charity they are doing it for, like the horse show i shot in December, i'm giving them a 10% commission for the charities that they were sponsoring
 
KIPAX said:
Hands up all the event photographers offering advice ? seriously... Event photographers pay to go to events.. I am not talking entrance fee.. I am talking a fee to photograph.


fabs I think your right there :)
Click to expand...

I think that depends on the event, smaller events, or rather, less popular, well covered ones, do not charge, allowing the photographer to earn their money from print sales and asking for a certain amount of images FOC for their own usage. I do think its possible there is some ends and sticks involved here, and I also agree with your original post that 1gb is no where near enough for an 'offical' photographer, but cards are so cheap these days that purchasing a few more is no longer bank breaking.
 
Yv ..It probably does depend on the event.. A local carnival wouldnt demand a fee or a small community event.. I ahve no idea what the OP is reffering to.. But it doesnt sound too small (A 3 day event and looking for a resident photographer?)

MJ .. I work for a few event photography companies over the summer and they all pay a fee to cover events. then pay me as well ... :)
 
Frankee, I'm also a bit confused here but hopefully I can help having covered one or two equine events myself. Judging by the response I presume this mail was a reply to you offering your services as a photographer. The way I see it is that you have two options:

Option 1
  • You are attending as a spectator and just want to take some images of friends/family;
  • If this is the scenario then just act like any other spectator, there will be plenty of other people there with cameras, be they horse owners or parents of competing children;
  • In this case you do not need to worry about copyright, just treat it as a day out with your camera but observe their rules (no flash etc).

Option 2
This where you will be the official event photographer and for that I would recommend the following:
  • Firstly, make sure you are comfortable with your talent, skill and experience to be able to offer prints etc to your prospective customers i.e. the competitors;
  • Do not assign copyright to the BSJA, retain your copyright at all times and allow them licensed use of a pre-agreed number of images for their marketing purposes, the only exception to this is if they are actually paying for you to cover the event on their behalf (a bit like working for a photo agency - you get paid to take the pictures and they own them);
  • I've never paid to attend an event, I see it as enhancing the service the show organisers are putting together and I am taking enough risk as I never know how many images I will sell - when I first started out I attended some very small shows and only sold half a dozen prints which was soul destroying but a great learning curve.
  • Make sure you have all your promo material ready such as business cards, sample images etc and talk to every competitor (potential customer) possible.
  • Is your website ready (including payment methods such as Paypal)?
  • Make sure you have adequate insurance cover not just for kit but for personal liability and public indemnity;
  • Have a trawl through this site for advice on event photography, here are a couple of pieces I've written in the past, Link 1 (a couple of years old but some of it is still relevant) and Link 2

To be honest it looks like you just want to take some images for your own use and in that case you will be fine, however if you see this a fledgling business there is a lot to consider but it sounds like you have a foot in door in that they are considering you for further events.

Oh, and buy some more memory cards. :)

Hope this helps.

:thumbs:
 
When I'm shooting gigs, I charge the promoter for my services, and for this they get to use my images on their website/flyers and press, as long as they credit me for the images.
seperately, the band also buy my images with a watermark so i know they're not going to fob me off and not credit me.
 
My hands up, I do event photography about 6 times a year. I also "official" photog for various junior youth leagues at all sports of which there is 4-5 games a day, Saturday and Sunday. 1 League asked for a fee at end of year so I asked for fee for my services thorughout the year, Mine was alot more substantial so we called it quits and know where we both stand now, Seems to work for us both. I dont, however, Stop others taking images at these games Im at. If I paid a fee I would be asking that as my No 1 priority.
 
I really want to photograph some Sunday league and Junior football teams, remind me of the days when i used to be out on a sunday morning, regardless of the weather! Haha!





You would never guess im only 25. Haha
 
Frankee,

I presume this is a response to an email you sent to them. Could you post a copy of that email up as I think it may help.

I suspect they are thinking you are a professional photographer wanting to take photographs of the event for you to use to make money (either by selling photos to the participants or some other way) and that they are happy for this but in return they would like to be able to use your photographs for publicity. I would imagine that they have termed this "copyright" because they aren't aware of licensing. Copyright is basically who owns the photograph and can decide what happens to it, if they just want the images for publicity use you can supply a licence to them for this purpose but it will prevent them from doing other things (e.g. selling the image, producing postcards, t-shirts etc.). Most professional photographers never give away copyright, and those that do will usually charge a fortune for it as it means they can no longer use the image for anything unless they get permission.

If you were planning on selling images to the riders or anything then this is a fair deal IMO. However, after reading your other posts and noting that you appear to only want to boost your portfolio and not make any money out of the images. So it's up to you is you wish to license your images for free. But if you do decide to let them I would ask them to make sure they give you credit (i.e. put you name near) any photograph they use.

EDIT - Hacker's response is a good one :thumbs: and much better written than mine
 
KIPAX said:
Thats how it should be.
Click to expand...

I don't see how that could be enforceable. I often turn up at equine events when my wife is competing where I am not the official photographer and I would get very narked if the guy covering it tried to stop me. In saying that I always introduce myself (if I don't know them) and tell them that I am taking pictures for personal use.

To look at it from the photographers point of view you'd be shooting yourself in the foot by taking this stance as everybody at an event is a potential customer, regardless of whether they are taking pictures. I suppose it is all down to attitude, I don't get precious about it and hopefully let my images be the deciding factor. However, if another photographer is handing out business cards at an event I am covering that is a different matter and he might get a Nikon enema......:D
 
Im not saying its enforcable, I defo wouldnt be approching others telling them to stop but it would be a big factor if i needed to pay to cover an event for them, Otherwise thats why I feel ive got it right to suit me, Im not bothered who takes pics, Im not out of pocket being there. If I paid 100 to cover a day and all turned up with cameras, Is that acceptable?
 
You dont stop the guy with his pocket camera or whatever.. you stop the other people from covering the event who are blatently taking pics of everyhting.. But only if you paid to do the event.

Personally I prefer to get paid and hand over the pics to the event organisors.. guaranteed money :)
 
fabs said:
Only if they are taking pictures for commercial purposes.
Click to expand...

What if they are taking them to put on a website and thus avaialble for anyone to download and print out.. not commercial but kills your business ?
 
KIPAX said:
What if they are taking them to put on a website and thus avaialble for anyone to download and print out.. not commercial but kills your business ?
Click to expand...

Maybe so, but you can't really insist on a camera ban at these events. For example, at a horse show (as in the OP) you try telling a parent that they are not allowed to take photos of their kid competing but they have to buy prints off the official photographer instead.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top