Just about to have "The Discussion" with the local press

hjwatso1

hjwatso1

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458
Name
Helen
Edit My Images
No
Right, it seems that it's my turn to have the chat with the local press. One of the larger (20K distribution) London regional papers is confused by me requesting standard rate for my images. Last season, they were sent in as apart of the match report, however this season I have taken control of the images and am wanting payment.

Why? it's not fair on you guys. Although I'm the only tog their most of the time, but I shouldn't say it's OK to give images away for free. Also I have clients that pay me to use my images and I shouldn't pick and chose who pays for them and why. I think the papers that pay have a smaller distribution then these guys.

Their response was: "We cannot pay for photographs. We just don't have the cash to do so.", "I hope you can still send us photos, though, because we very much rely on them to keep our coverage as full as possible.".

So, I was going to reply with something along the lines of

"Dear XXX,

Thank you very much for your response. I'm glad that you find my photographs help your coverage.

I am a sports photographer who has developed a base of paying clients(national publications) for my work. I am not looking for large financial reimbursement for my work, however I do expect that a publication of the size of the XXX does have some budget for photography of local sporting events and as I supply images from the largest rugby club in your region, I would expect some reimbursement for the use of my images.

I am happy to negotiate a mutually suitable rate, however I will not supply images for free.

Regards,

Helen."

Does that sound OK?

I'm not loosing anything here... They haven't paid me in the past, and I have clients who do pay, so... I'm happy to stick it out with them.

Thoughts????
 
My advice, as always (I gave the same hint to Phil - Redmonkee) is to PHONE the newspaper in question.

Speak to them and explain your situation. It's mutually beneficial to get paid, they get better quality (and in turn will attract better photographers) and you get money (well duh!)

I hate emailing people, and I know a number of papers that hate being emailed...they see it as a cop-out and so many people just "bulk" email out. You've done the initial contact by email, now phone and make it more personal!
 
I agree - go and talk to them. The problem is you used to do them for free - always always a bad move as it makes it twice as difficult to get paid in future.
 
Damn you James, I knew you would say that, but it's sound advice. I'll give them a call :)

I know it was a bad before, but it did open a lot of doors for me at the time. But now those doors are open.

Ta guys... good sounding board as always.
 
Stand your ground Helen, theyve already commended you on your images so you should be paid, if what they say is correct then your images have played their part in helping to provide the paper in question with good sports coverage, even the so called "free" papers have a budget, ive worked for ones with a readership of as low as 5000 but theyve always paid.
 
And the moral of the story is... Do what James says... By calling the guy and introducing myself I have managed

a. to build a relationship with the guy and he knows who I am and wants to use me on other projects
b. talk myself and him in to doing some form of business with him rather than none.

He even admitted he can't use the free ones he gets from another club every week. :)

Ta guys.
 
hjwatso1 said:
And the moral of the story is... Do what James says... By calling the guy and introducing myself I have managed

a. to build a relationship with the guy and he knows who I am and wants to use me on other projects
b. talk myself and him in to doing some form of business with him rather than none.

He even admitted he can't use the free ones he gets from another club every week. :)

Ta guys.
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Are you going to get paid for the pictures?
 
hjwatso1 said:
Yes, where as before, I wasn't and on top of that, he wants to use me for other stuff too. Double bonus!
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Thats one heck of an amazing turn around.. in the space of a couple of hrs a picture editor has gone from absoloutly not going to pay for pics.... to not only paying but hiring you for more pics to pay for..

That must have been one hell of a phone call :)
 
hjwatso1 said:
Yes, where as before, I wasn't and on top of that, he wants to use me for other stuff too. Double bonus!
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Just like solicitors, my advice costs £160 per hour or part thereof.

So, shall I send you my paypal details?!? ;):D
 
Smiley happy chatty... explained who I was, what I did, said I did other stuff, not just rugby. Had a chat about rugby men legs being better than footballer legs.

James, if it took you an hour to type that, then I would suggest you go to a typing course :) solicitors go for £500 an hour down here mate :)
 
hjwatso1 said:
Smiley happy chatty... explained who I was, what I did, said I did other stuff, not just rugby. Had a chat about rugby men legs being better than footballer legs.

James, if it took you an hour to type that, then I would suggest you go to a typing course :) solicitors go for £500 an hour down here mate :)
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I was going to say it took you an hour to reply, but it took about 10 minutes. OK fine, well I'm happy to have helped. :razz:
 
well done - I hope everyone on TP reads this thread!!
 
When you say "He even admitted he can't use the free ones he gets from another club every week".

Do you mean because the quality isn't very good?

Is it the News Shopper perhaps?

I made the mistake of emailing them a few years ago about photos of the Juniors, but they said they weren't even interested in covering junior rugby (unless it was a special event - e.g. winning a trophy).

Now if they have a job you can't cover be sure to call me first Helen :)

Hopefully that 400mm will pay for itself soon.
 
The biggest going.
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It just shows the power of actually communicating. I don't like calling people, didn't really want to do it, but I had nothing to lose. I don't want to give my work away as I feel that it devalues what I do. I love the buzz of seeing my work in print, however, I love the buzz of the pay check too :)

If I had emailed, I would have been an arsey amateur, calling the guy showed I was serious and also a human. As I said we had a good chat and a laugh, I didn't lose anything, only gained I was adamant not to give my work away, its one national one, but there is an audience.

My advice is, in the words of a great sporting goods manufacturer, "Just Do It!"

We'll see how it all goes :)
 
No I'm english, I've just had whiskey and I'm trying to watch Clermont give Racing a beating... That's not really happening now ***.

No it wasn't the newshopper, it's the one with the blue top. I think he just didn't want to use the same club every week especially when there are other options of better quality.
 
I know you're English - I was taking the Mick.

Good luck with the photos.

n.b. what year is your 40mm non IS?

My 300mm non IS should be here tomorrow. Fingers crossed it's a goodun.
 
hjwatso1 said:
If I had emailed, I would have been an arsey amateur
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I always use email in these situations then I have a record of whats been said.. arsey amatuer my arse :)
 
:) for the record, I followed up phone call with an email with details of the call ... Didn't take me long to learn that one ... once bitten ... there's a saying somewhere.
 
hjwatso1 said:
:) for the record, I followed up phone call with an email with details of the call ... Didn't take me long to learn that one ... once bitten ... there's a saying somewhere.
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Good one :)
 
hjwatso1 said:
No it wasn't the newshopper, it's the one with the blue top.
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I saw a Blackheath one in the News Shopper last week and wondered if it was yours but figured it wasn't.

But then today's News Shopper has a photo with your credit underneath.

Well done.
 
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