Newspaper Photos

Gnat5680 · Feb 7, 2010

So, Lets say I was just at a big sporting event, and I have some really cool shots, or I was at a big gathering and have some meaningful shots...

How do I go about getting these to a newspaper and what kinda of money could be made from these? (like whats an average pay-out?)

Derrel · Feb 8, 2010

Contact the Photo Desk, or the appropriate editor at the newspaper that you think might buy the photos and describe what you have before you transmit anything. Typically, a JPEG image sized at 10 inches on the longest dimension, and 200 ppi and sharpened pretty heavily, like 80% at 2 pixels at a threshold of 0 value is about what is used for newsprint publication. Newsprint has huge dot gain, so also make sure the black point is set to around 10-13 in the red,green,and blue channels, and the photos will be layout-ready. Send the files via e-mail or FTP to the address they tell you, and send CAPTION or CUTLINE information with each shot,and in that caption, state your name and the file number--in each and every caption.

Prices are going to vary between $35 for a small-town weekly on up; if you have any photos of say, Tiger Woods at whatever sex rehab clinic he was alleged to be at, I hear that The Enquirer will drop $600,000 on you for a pair of good images; you did have the camera on Continuous High, didn't you? The top price is hard to put a figure on....it depends on who you're trying to sell it to (New York Times or The Greater Suburban Danville, Illinois Advertiser will have vastly different rates), and what the subject is and how exclusive the photos really are.

Sam6644 · Feb 8, 2010

Contact the photo or media editor at whatever paper and tell them you have some photos they may be interested in. Tell them what it's all about.

DO NOT edit them. That's their job, and they don't want you to do it. They know specifically how they want them edited and how they need to be edited for their set-up.

In reality, I'm guna have to say they aren't going to pay you anything unless you got some pretty exclusive shots. If you continue to show them good work you may end up getting money from them, but don't expect it for your first shots unless they're something special.

I would suggest setting up something like a PhotoShelter account and sending links to it to editors and they can buy photos directly off of there.. that takes alot of the discussion of whether or not they want to pay you out of the equation- they'll either buy it or not, and they can buy it directly from your site.

the iconic image · Feb 8, 2010

I'm going to DIS-agree with some of what Derrel said about editing the image.. DO NOT EDIT THE IMAGE. If the image depicts something they want and was captured in a reasonably effective way, THE PAPER WILL TAKE IT, and they do not want your idea of an edit.. When you become well established with a paper or in a market, then you will know exactly what they want and how they want it.. 10x200DPI or 8x200DPI is fine. GET NAMES.. If at all possible if there is a recognizable face in your photo, GET NAMES and spell them correctly.. Add this info to the data file inside the image. You aren't going to make a lot of money unless like Derrel said, you have Tiger Woods with ho # fill in the number.. So I agree $35 to $50 is a reasonable expectation.. Print media is on the way to being extinct in some markets but the web will take up the slack and you should have a price for print, and a price for web use and all of this is OF COURSE dependent on your consistency of handing in needed content.. Get to know someone on the photo desk by name, cell number, email, etc.. Be reliable, be on time, get the goods, and build a relationship.. If it's just a one time thing, disregard everything I said, take your 50 bucks and go to dinner..

the Iconic Image

Sam6644 · Feb 8, 2010

familiarize yourself with the AP stylebook (~$30) and how to write AP style cutlines. Not everyone uses AP style, but it's pretty widely used and conforming to it will keep all of your work consistent and therefore more professional and marketable.

Like iconic image said, GET names and GET THEM RIGHT. Photos of people without their info is just about worthless to a respectable publication.

just a little info
AP Stylebook - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gnat5680 · Feb 11, 2010

What would be the best way to get familiar with the photo desk? Go down there in person, or send them an e-mail? In general, what is the best way to get into a newspaper as a freelance?

Sam6644 · Feb 11, 2010

Get all your best work together, put it online somewhere VERY easy to access and VERY easy to look through. Make some phone calls and send some emails.

craig · Feb 11, 2010

Consider that papers are very timely. Photographers post images hours if not moments after an event. Anything other then that it is old news. The best way to contact the photo dept (like anyone else is) is one email with a zed card in the mail. Even in small papers email boxes are full all the time so I would not hold up much hope for that approach.

Love & Bass

Sam6644 · Feb 12, 2010

craig said:
Consider that papers are very timely. Photographers post images hours if not moments after an event.

Truth.

When I work next to people from The Associated Press and The Cincinnati Enquirer they have cutlines written and files sent to their editor before they even leave the event.

At Basketball games they all upload the files via FTP at half time and then at the end of the game.

When I covered the Cincinnati mayoral elections this past November, the guy there from The AP was uploading photos to his editor about every 15 minutes throughout the night.

Chris Cummins · Feb 12, 2010

You will need to have some kind of capacity to send photos live from the event. So a basic laptop wi-Fi connection will work. You will need to have a firm grasp of AP style to write complete and through caption information. YOU MUST HAVE NAMES of each person in your photograph. That is non-negotiable.

Now, after you learn how to do all of that. Be sure to subtract your expenses and taxes from what newspaper pay freelancers then you will see you could have made more money delivering pizzas. I'm not kidding either.

It's a dead end road.

Gnat5680 · Feb 22, 2010

I am sure I got this wrong but there were not many e-mail addresses to choose from...

I sent out a photo I took tonight of a single car fire out side a book store to the Executive Editor. I gave all the details I could get from my point of view. The make of care, how many fire trucks and police, the extent of the fire, and damage... I did not have names for one of the photos with a person visible, but the others I sent did not show anyone within view... Here is what I sent in...

What is my next step after this? What will they contact me for and what are the odds of getting any money?

Critique would be appreciated!

Thanks!

KmH · Feb 22, 2010

The focus is to soft. It looks like camera shake.

I doubt you'll hear back from them.

henkelphoto · Feb 22, 2010

Gnat,

Okay, I'm a photo editor at a newspaper. Here's what I would tell you. First off, if there was no one injured or dead or a celebrity or a terrorist act involved, there is not much chance of the fire photo making it into a newspaper. I don't think there is anything wrong with the image however, just not enough news value.

As for sporting events, everyone says you need to get them to the paper right away and that's right. An hour or two after the game is okay as long as the game is not real late. Sports deadlines are usually around 11pm to midnight. Obviously the earlier the better. If there is a staff shooter at the game, and he's not an ego maniac, ask him to take a look at your photos and see if you have something they might be interested in. I have often suggested a shooter send something in if it's nice, when I've been at a game.

If you want to establish a relationship with a paper, call the photo editor and make an appointed to show him or her your portfolio. Be on time, dressed well and professional. I would advise against an e-mail. I get 8-10 e-mails daily from shooters all over the place asking me for work, I don't even look at most of them, just hit the delete key. Just not enough time in the day and I figure if they are not interested enough to give me a call and come by, why should I care.

As for editing your photos, well, "editing" meaning picking the one or two photos you want to send in, yes, by all means do it. I sure don't want to look through a couple of hundred frames from an unknown shooter to see if there is one I like. On the other hand, forget sharpening. Our backshop hates for us to sharpen, or to color correct. All presses print differently and usually the backshop guy who is doing pre-press has the most knowledge how a photo should be toned. Sometimes they screw up, but mostly they get it right. It's not necessary to have an AP caption on the photo, especially sports photos. Just use the old who, what, where, when and, if you know, why in the caption. The page editor will clean it up.

Good luck! PM me if you have some specific questions.

Gnat5680 · Feb 25, 2010

I did get an e-mail back from my local newspaper (and I talked to a guy I know who works there) and they will not pay me for photos. they can't afford to pay people for photographs. They did like me image though and they said they wanted it.

Word of mouth is they let go half of their editing staff and do not have any photographers on their staff anymore.. I guess all the pictures are just sent in?

The guy was slightly rude though, I said I was trying to advance my career as a freelance photographer and he sent it back with the title, "Freelace (Emphasis on Free)"

Derrel · Feb 25, 2010

For an actual fire department response AT THE MALL, in front of a Barnes & Noble neon sign storefront, my two local weekly newspapers will pay $25 for the event charge plus $10 for B&W, or $15 for 4-color, and/or $10 for teaser use.

A weekly newspaper that would not run a car on fire right outside the front door of a local mall Barnes & Noble and pay at least $35 per shot is edited by idiots...

Fire and Rescue, on-scene, smoke emanating from the vehicle, local and well-recognized landmark in NEON signage...clearly an excellent small-town spot-news shot for a local weekly that has any kind of "news" in newspaper. If the outfit is one of these new, low-rent advertising rags that are nothing more than an advertising circular distribution method posing as a newspaper, then the above shot would probably have no interest.

They said they "wanted the shot"....but did not want to pay.

"Vehicle fire at mall draws FD #351 response, draws crowd." A real newspaper will usually pay and run a story that has a decent photo; a new advertising rag or fishwrapper will probably decline a photo of an event that 400 local people witnessed..that's why there are still actual small-town newspapers, and why there are "advertising rags". I've sold spot news and feature stories to multiple newspapers and their web sites. Passing up a shot like that that occurred in front of a well-known landmark makes little sense for a real newspaper. What about their web edition??? The photo as shown would be fine for the web with about 20 seconds; worth of toning.