On-site pricing

[bcmcknight77]

I hate to bother everyone with another pricing question, but I'm not prepared for what this customer is asking.

I operate out of a studio, and I've never shot on site before. A gentlemen came into my store today and asked if I would come to his house and take photos in august for Christmas cards. Here's the kicker--he wants the rights to the photographs.

I've never sold exclusive rights before. I try not to sell limited rights. It's my work, after all, which is something he can only get from me.

So in short:

How much do I charge him to show up at his house, and take photos of his family? He said there would be about 4 different shooting areas on the property. Hourly? Extra for traveling (though it's less than 5 miles, I think)?

How do i approach the rights issue? It sounds like he wants exclusivity. He said I could give him the photos as either photographs or digital files.

I could certainly use the money. And the work he is asking me to do is nothing like my business--I'm thinking of it as a freelance project. All of your help and feedback is very much appreciated.

Ben

 

[bbrown2146]

I have run into this problem before and, at first, I was scared about giving a release for the photos. I found out that most of the people used them for more than christmas cards. I solved the problem by using low dpi and lower res images that would look good on a card but not really look good blown up. I also put a copyright along the bottom edge of the images in small type.
I usually sell them for $150 with a limited release specifying the only purpose the images can be used for.

 

[EBphotography]

I'm no businessman, but I'd give him prints only and offer to print more of what he needs. I'd also make sure I had rights to use the photos in my portfolio, website, etc. One point Big Mike always makes is if you send someone the files, they can print it on a piece of toilet paper and you can't do a thing about it. But it looks like you did a poor job. You could also argue by giving them the prints, they'll scan them and print poorly done copies as well. Many angles to keep in mind, but remember they're only for a Christmas card, not a big promotion where your work could be completely destroyed.

Eric.

 

[Fiendish Astronaut]

If he uses them he's not going to attach your name to the image; if someone asks him who the photographer is it will almost certainly be because they admire the work. Therefore I'm struggling to see how this could ruin your reputation even if he prints them badly. If he wants exclusivity, and you're both happy with a price, surely there's no downside to this. Money for you; pictures for him.

 

[darich]

If he uses them he's not going to attach your name to the image; if someone asks him who the photographer is it will almost certainly be because they admire the work. Therefore I'm struggling to see how this could ruin your reputation even if he prints them badly. If he wants exclusivity, and you're both happy with a price, surely there's no downside to this. Money for you; pictures for him.

if he buys them for Christmas cards and pays $xx then gets the original hi res images for his exclusive use he can use them for whatever additional purpose he likes. But for additional purposes he should have paid $xx + $yy.

I realise that's assuming he would be brazen enough to breach the agreement but it could be difficult to find out. Also, since he's asked for those rights it would suggest he knows a bit about what he's doing. That could be good(he won't breach) or bad(he knows he can buy cheaper and breach later)

Personally i'd only give someone exclusive rights if they paid handsomely for it. I've alos only ever given someone the original hi res image and that was a company that paid for a shot to use in a calendar. Companies have MUCH more to lose than individuals.

 

[The_Traveler]

This is an analogous situation to a programmer who takes an interim job developing code for a company. The the job and the object of the work are suggested and supplied by the company while the ingenuity, art and intelligence is supplied by the programmer. The company owns the code.

This is work for hire. Charge for it and forget it.