This approach sounds like a sure way to kill the entire deal. dan c. At 09:03 AM 04-09-03 -0400, Emily L. Ferguson wrote: >Before you have further conversation with her, please go to and study >the resources on the editorial photographers web site. Now. > >$200 a day is way low. Your creative fee starts at $600/day. > >You also charge her expenses, and to arrive at them do not forget to >calculate mileage spent every time you go to and from both the event >and the film processing place. Mileage in the US Tax Code is >deductable at somethng like 36 cents/mile, but gasoline has just gone >out the roof, so you need to bill at around 60 cents. Remember your >car also costs insurance, some taxes and depreciation. All those go >into car expense calculations. > >Many people are charging around $35/roll nowadays, whether you shoot >film or digital you need to include another day rate to cover time >spent processing the images - downloading, color correcting, >registering with the Copyright Office, the fee for registration ($30 >per submission), the CD you give her or the cost of transmitting to >her. > >She gets one time North American print rights - she will want to take >your copyright from you for the paltry $200 and not wish to pay >expenses at all. If she tries that, explain that you don't transfer >copyright for less than $300,000 per image unles you re an employee >with benefits and retirement. Your copyright is your future and she >may have one time North American print rights. If she goes along, >which she won't without a great deal of argument, you then go back to >the Editorial Photographers web site and download the contract forms, >which you then modify for this distinct situation and fax to her. If >she signs them and faxes them back to you, you accept the assignment. > >Then you do the very best you are able with many many rolls of film, >shooting everything in sight. > >After that you present the contact sheets or very small JPEGS - about >2.5"x5"at 72 dpi and she selects the imges she wants - either slides >or digital files. Magazines are beginning to figure out how to add >digital workflow to their image selection process but many regional >and local magazines still only know how to work with pages of slides >on a light table. Each slide goes out with a label detailing your >copyright and contact info - 6 point on the tiniest labels you can >buy at Staples, 80/page. Another label contains >date/location/caption info and whether there is a release for the >people in the image. Of course, you've gotten a large number of >releases, as many as possible while you were at the event. > >After you have prepared your delivery memo and bagged up all this >stuff and bagged up your copyright registration package according to >the instructions on the Editorial Photograhers web site, you go to >FedEx and ship the package to the copyright office. About a week >later you ship the package to her. > >About three weeks later she tells you which images she's interested >in and you send her the original slides or the size digital files she >needs - around 300dpi by full page size is most useful. > >If she's in a hurry, you help her along by sending her the contact >sheet at the same time you send out the copyright registration >package, but most magazines are 6-8 months ahead, so she really >needn't be in a hurry. > >that's a beginning. > >The first step is to calculate your cost of doing business and know >what you really need to be paid. The second step is to hone your >negotiation skills to get what you really must have from her. After >that it's all either paperwork or the fun part - shooting the event. > >If she actually thinks she's paying you $200 for the event, you may >have to walk away from this possible gig. If you take the $200 and >transfer of copyright, you're valuing yourself way too low and making >it difficult for any other photographer to get a fair fee for this >work. > >Another long, realistic missive from ogress Emily! >-- >Emily L. Ferguson >mailto:elf@cape.com >508-563-6822 >New England landscapes, wooden boats and races, press photography >http://www.vsu.cape.com/~elf > >
