Friends wanting free pics?

[Alex_B]

Completely different.
Permission is given to edit - not to use or sell on.

I think what he means is, that people will download them to edit, and then they have your images on their computer and god knows what they will do with them

.. this is not about what is allowed and what not I guess ...

 

[Christie Photo]

I think this problem will work itself out.

I remember how everyone just loved my work in the early days. As soon as they had to open their wallets, everyone became a critic... and much more selective too. All at once, they found the could easily live without as many prints and wanted to know, "How much for a wallet sized print?"

 

[xfloggingkylex]

as for the company wanting pictures, they can pay for it, if they are going to be making money off your work, I think you should too.

Just ask your friend not to give it to them, or you go directly to the company and sell them, and if they dont want to buy, remind them that the photos you took are legally yours and it is a breach of copyright to use someone elses work in that way.

 

[Efergoh]

For me it comes down to a couple of different factors...

1. How good of a friend is this person?
2. How can it benefit me?

We all have different definitions of what a friend is. A friend isn't just someone with whom I chat on occasion. He or she is someone with whom I have developed a close relationship with that is based upon mutual interests or common bonds. I consider a true friend to be no different than family.

One of my friends is a grease monkey by trade. We works for a Ford dealership 9-5, but he also earns a few extras dollars on the side doing auto repair outside of work on non Ford automobiles.

The brakes went out on my GMC truck recently. The brake lines rusted through (300,000+ miles on this vehicle). He replaced the lines for free. I bought the line itself (less than $10), but he spent a couple hours under my truck in the cold and snow fixing it for his friend. All he got from me was a smile and a 6 pack of beer.

I once got a call from him (or rather his wife) at 2:30am on morning. He and his wife had been cooking food all night for a party that was going on the next day. around 10pm he cut the bejeeezus out of his finger, and couldn't get it to stop bleeding. Four hours later I got the phone call (yes, I was in bed). He does not have health insurance, and couldn't afford to go get the stitches that be needed quite badly. I grabbed my kit and drove to his house and patched up this finger and saved him a trip to the hospital. I check on it every day for the next few days for infection, and he ended up being fine.

That is what friends do. Close friends do things for each other. We don't always expect it in return, but good friends always make up for it.

As for photography, my friends know that I am trying to make a living of this. They always see me with a camera, and I always share my photos with them. When they ask about prints, I give them low discounted prices because they are friends. If they are a really good friend, I offer them.

This same circle of friends has also provided me with oppertunity.
One friend writes for a firearm/law enforcement publication. He asked me to shoot photos for an upcoming article. Since this would mean exposure for me, I told him I would do it for cost plus lunch.

If I were a Greedy Gus and held all of my pictures in secret and never let anyone have them, no one would see them, and no one would know what I am capable of.

Friends and Family are excellent sources for networking...

 

[DeepSpring]

I was upset with my friend this past friday on this issue. He asked if I could come and shoot his band last friday. He never once offered to get me in for free. I know thw owner since my band plays their often so he let me in but my friend didn't know he would After the show he never thanked me for taking the pics, not even a thanks for coming. We all went to Dennys after the show. Over dinner he doesn't ask if I could make him a disc with the pictures, he basically tells me to make him a disc with the pictures. Not once offering to pay for my dinner or anything. I had been planning on giving him what he wanted before the night began but after that I decided to just give him low-re websize with my name and website on them.


I don't think many of these people who just want stuff for free understand the time involved. About 1 1/2 hours just to put all the pics you shot on your comp, an hour to review all the pics you took and decide what you want to edit. And then depending on what you want to do and how many pics it could take hours to edit everything. By the time you are done you have spent about 10 times the length of the show.


As far as other friends go for portraits, I have been doing a lot of them for free. Right now I'm still young and don't have the biggest portfolio yet so I have been asking a lot of my friends to model for me. In return I give them the link to the photobucket where I upload all the edited shots from the session. So far all of them without my even asking have put them on their myspace and given me my rightful credits and a link to my page. A few people have then messaged me "hey I saw so and so's pics and they look nice, I'd like to hire you"

Like Efergoh said "Friends and Family are excellent sources for networking..."

 

[craig]

My friends know that if I am shooting they may be able to see them. Generally not. If I get a good photo the subject gets a print, but only if we are close friends.

 

[chakalakasp]

If they're really good pics, give them CDs in exchange for a model release. Then, send the photos to a stock site like Alamy. With luck, someone will license one of the shots and you'll have a few hundred bucks in your pocket (or more).

 

[xfloggingkylex]

I was upset with my friend this past friday on this issue. He asked if I could come and shoot his band last friday. He never once offered to get me in for free. I know thw owner since my band plays their often so he let me in but my friend didn't know he would After the show he never thanked me for taking the pics, not even a thanks for coming. We all went to Dennys after the show. Over dinner he doesn't ask if I could make him a disc with the pictures, he basically tells me to make him a disc with the pictures. Not once offering to pay for my dinner or anything. I had been planning on giving him what he wanted before the night began but after that I decided to just give him low-re websize with my name and website on them.


I don't think many of these people who just want stuff for free understand the time involved. About 1 1/2 hours just to put all the pics you shot on your comp, an hour to review all the pics you took and decide what you want to edit. And then depending on what you want to do and how many pics it could take hours to edit everything. By the time you are done you have spent about 10 times the length of the show.


As far as other friends go for portraits, I have been doing a lot of them for free. Right now I'm still young and don't have the biggest portfolio yet so I have been asking a lot of my friends to model for me. In return I give them the link to the photobucket where I upload all the edited shots from the session. So far all of them without my even asking have put them on their myspace and given me my rightful credits and a link to my page. A few people have then messaged me "hey I saw so and so's pics and they look nice, I'd like to hire you"

Like Efergoh said "Friends and Family are excellent sources for networking..."

that is truely disappointing.

as for the good part of your post, that is very cool that your friends who model are helping spread the word, and it is the perfect reason to do some low cost or free photoshoots when you are just starting.

 

[calmom]

i am NOT a pro like many of you but the more serious i get about my photography, the more friends ask me to shoot their kids, etc. and i LOVE to do it. i even like to give them one or two free blown up prints.

what i do NOT like is knowing that they may print them on a crappy home printer or use them for whatever they want, like in their signatures on a message board. i hope that doesn't make me a bad friend. i spend hours a day on my pictures and i'm starting to want to take the credit for them and not have them showing up looking crappy in other places so i've started watermarking them.

 

[rastoma]

Thank you everyone for your opinions and advice This was just a fun trip and I was orignally just taking the pics for me and to improve my skills.

A new problem arose tonight though. The offroad company that my friend bought all his parts saw one of the pics and now they want some. The problem is that they are my buddy's friends the own the company. If I give him a cd I don't want them printing some crappy low res pics for display with my watermark on it. How do you tell your friend, "here's your pics don't give them for others to display"? They also want to send in some of the pics to a couple of the magazines.

In a nutshell regarding your original post and this follow......

It's been covered, but if you were there as a friend just hanging out, even just to improve your skills, I don't think the people there thought it was wrong to ask for pics and CD. Since you're improving your skills I take it this is not your paying profession? If it's not, then why not give them away? Call them later and ask what they thought of them? Tell them you're wanting to start earning money on the side or as your main source of income in the photography business so please spread the word to people who might need a photographer.

The next time you go with friends and don't want to give away something that you didn't go out of your for to begin with, before any activities start, mingle with everyone and just come out say "man, this looks like it's going to be a great day. I hope to get some really good shots for my portfolio since I'm doing this as a professional now and need to start making a return on my investment". MOST of the people will take that to mean you're not giving them away and since you're saying that before the pics are taken it shouldn't offend anyone.


About the business that wants the pics....

They want to publish some of your pics in a national magazine and that's a dilema!!!!!!

If I was you I'd give it to them in a heartbeat in any resolution they wanted.

Do you know how much that 'credential' will mean in future business when you can pull out a magazine to other individuals and businesses and say 'here is a sample of my work'?

You're being given a great opportunity. That should be a no brainer.

 

[castrol]

If someone ASKS me to take photos for them, most everyone I know will at
least offer to pay for my time. Other than that, if I am taking photos because
I want to take pictures, I don't mind passing photos on to the people I am
photographing. I do this a lot at parties and when we go out.

Eh, I bought my photography equipment because I wanted to get better and
better as a photographer. I don't expect to ever make a living at it, but at
some point, little by little, it will eventually pay for itself and to me, that is
reward enough.

 

[MPowerM3]

If someone ASKS me to take photos for them, most everyone I know will at
least offer to pay for my time. Other than that, if I am taking photos because
I want to take pictures, I don't mind passing photos on to the people I am
photographing. I do this a lot at parties and when we go out.

Eh, I bought my photography equipment because I wanted to get better and
better as a photographer. I don't expect to ever make a living at it, but at
some point, little by little, it will eventually pay for itself and to me, that is
reward enough.

Best answer in the entire thread, nailed on the head, what I wanted to say when I posted. Very nice!!

 

[darich]

I think what he means is, that people will download them to edit, and then they have your images on their computer and god knows what they will do with them

.. this is not about what is allowed and what not I guess ...

But permission is still limited to editing and reposting to show that editing work. Not to post on commercial sites and make money from.
Permission to edit means that they'll have to be downloaded, altered and reposted to show the change.
Permission to sell on means that person can download and do what they please with them.

I know what you're getting at (along with Steve) but when it's a legal issue ie copyright ownership then it's important that people appreciate the difference.

 

[ZyxKor]

I think what you are doing is ok. They won't know the difference and probably wouldn't care anyhow.

Castrol hit the nail on the head, well put.

As for the business why not call them up and talk to them about it. Maybe say "Hey, there shots were just for fun. Want to set up a real session and I can make them even better and get more of what you want for $xxxx". That way you can get some shots they want and give them any from the fun session for free as a bonus. Tell them they can bring any products they want and you can stage pictures so they would better fit into what they want for advertising/magazines. If they aren't interested in a full session then tell them they can have the pictures for $xxx.

 

[R.Robbins]

For me it depeds on how close my of a friend they are, and if I can use the shots fro anything, If I need it for my portfolio and its a close friend I'll comp it and let them pay to get prints made. If I dont need the shots and its a so so friend then maybe I'll give them a low res copy and have them pay me for prints. It all depends on the situation.