A dance studio wants to buy my photo. What should I charge them?

[Jessiedee]

I had the opportunity to shoot a top Aerial Pole Artist who's also a dancer in the Lion King. For a few shots, her fellow dancer joined us and we got some really cool co-ed pole shots - which is apparently quite rare.

I got approached by a dance studio that's introducing a new co-ed pole artistry class and she wants to buy my photo for advertising the class. It's not for billboards, tv or anything, just a flyer for email, social media, ect. I know she's not going to pay an outrageous amount but I'd like something to start off the negotiations. I most likely won't get much work from it, even if she does give me credit, because the studio is on the other side of the country. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!!

 

[jwbryson1]

$2,000

 

[tirediron]

First of all, you're not going to sell the photo, you're going to license the studio to use the photo, which means you will need a licensing agreement (You could sell it outright, but that would be silly). Next, since this is going to be commercial use, do you have the right (as in 'release') from the subject(s) which authorize commecial use. Next is the fee. This will depend on whether or not the license is exclusive, for how long it is, for what size image, and for what media. If it were my image, it could be anything from $200 - $10,000, but assuming a not too large studio, and limited regional circulation, $1-2000 seems like a sensible figure.

 

[Overread]

First iron out fully the details of what they want - tirediron has listed a good number of points to consider with reference to licensing and uses as well as the duration etc... After you've both got a very firm idea of what they want have them put their offer on the table first. Chances are they've both done this before and also got a budget and price in mind. Do, by all means, work on some estimates and get an idea of how much you'd "like" to charge, but let them be the ones to put the numbers on the table first - from there you can see if they are offering you way under, about the same or heck they might even offer you more than you estimate.

 

[KmH]

Yep, you sell the dance studio a use license for a stock photo.

Exclusive use of a fairly unique photo should be fairly expensive, but I would discourage an exclusive use of a unique image so I could license the image to many other users.

So print media (flyer), email, and social networking are 3 different media types, but all 3 are advertising.

Non-exclusive use, for 12 months, limited geographical area for the flyers (like Southern California south of Castaic), limited to these 3 media types - flyers, email, social networking.

For the flyers (50,000 max) - $475.00 ($475 more for 50,001 to 100,000)
For the email - $550.00
For the social networking - $300
Total ............$1325

Negotiating and salesmanship are essential skills for working photographers. Visit www.asmp.org and on the left of the page click on Business Resources.
The Photographer's Guide to Negotiating
Best Business Practices for Photographers, Second Edition

 

[orljustin]

You don't have a release, so it's really a non-issue.

 

[KmH]

The OP did not mention a release. That does not mean the photo has not been released.

Lots of businesses use non-released photos for their advertising. they know they are taking a risk but deem the risk of being sued to be very low.

 

[CowgirlMama]

The OP did not mention a release. That does not mean the photo has not been released.

Lots of businesses use non-released photos for their advertising. they know they are taking a risk but deem the risk of being sued to be very low.

Can a release not be obtained from the subjects now, if the OP does not already have one?

 

[Mully]

In my way of thinking selling photos without a release is stealing and both the photographer and the "buyer" are at risk.

 

[KmH]

The OP did not mention a release. That does not mean the photo has not been released.

Lots of businesses use non-released photos for their advertising. they know they are taking a risk but deem the risk of being sued to be very low.

Can a release not be obtained from the subjects now, if the OP does not already have one?

Sure, a signed release can be gotten at a later date. It's just a lot easier to do at the time the photo is being made, which is why the release is usually gotten by the photographer.

Many people don't seem to understand that the release is protection for the people in the photo, and protection for the publisher of an image, not the protection of the photographer. However, often the photographer is also a publisher of the photo. Like when the photographer uses it to promote their photography business.

 

[orljustin]

The OP surely does not have a release. The owner of a small dance studio "on the other side of the country" is not going to hunt down some random passing-through artists. For the OP to license the work to the studio without explaining the need for a release for advertising purposes would be in line with the "I just bought a camera and now I'm a business" mentality we normally see.