Photography Ethics Question

[ann]

Only you can control the guilt feeling, don't buy into his actions.

Others have already given you good advise.

 

[KmH]

He is giving me guilt by telling me I am taking money from the school by my actions.

Apparently, he is kicking back some portion of his revenue to the school?

IMO, the guy is way out of line. Let him take care of his business. By only providing a DVD he has little to no hope of "breaking even" and won't be around long regardless what you decide to do.

 

[Forkie]

Forkie: I suggested that I can help him enhance his 'business' by helping him expand the products to sell. I am not looking for any money, it's just fun for me to shoot and I like sharing with players. He says he is not interested in offering anything more than his photo DVD. Perhaps by offering a different product, he might make up the lost revenue. His position is that if he can't break even with his sales, he will stop shooting. My positon is I am not even close to breaking even but enjoy the hobby (plus my photos are much better than his).

In that case I agree with everyone else. If he's not willing venture out and try new stuff then he'll never get ahead and if he's willing to give up photography altogether over the loss of a few sales to a hobbyist, then he's already lost his spark for it anyway.

 

[osumisan]

an interesting side note is I went to a San Diego Padres game last year at Petco Park. You can bring in all your camera gear to the game. I was in shutterbug heaven shooting a professional game must less a high school softball game.

 

[gsgary]

Tell him to take a long walk off a short pier

I spend a LOT of time taking surf photos, at Widemouth bay, Devon and put them in the car when I go, people are FREE to download them from my photobucket site at 6x4 or I am happy to send them the full file for a "tip" say £1 some give me £5 one gave me £10 wow, but if a pro came and said can I stop as he wants to do it as a pro I would politely say get................

I shoot at Porthmeor St Ives every chance i get when i'm at my mums, but i would not let them go that cheap

 

[ann]

an interesting side note is I went to a San Diego Padres game last year at Petco Park. You can bring in all your camera gear to the game. I was in shutterbug heaven shooting a professional game must less a high school softball game.

Interesting, i am going to be going to a game later in the year when I visit San Diego and will be taking a camera and I wondered about a monopod.

 

[JSER]

Tell him to take a long walk off a short pier

I spend a LOT of time taking surf photos, at Widemouth bay, Devon and put them in the car when I go, people are FREE to download them from my photobucket site at 6x4 or I am happy to send them the full file for a "tip" say £1 some give me £5 one gave me £10 wow, but if a pro came and said can I stop as he wants to do it as a pro I would politely say get................

I shoot at Porthmeor St Ives every chance i get when i'm at my mums, but i would not let them go that cheap

I looking forward to good weather everything I have shot this year so far has been overcast and rain as can be seen above, when I took this 30' further on was thick fog

 

[Josh220]

The way you get business is by being better than those around you. If he wishes to sell his products, and cannot outperform the other hobbyists, then that is his own issue, not yours. He should focus on improving his level of skill, not whining to you about it. If his photographs were good enough quality, he wouldn't have to convince the other photographers to stop shooting.

 

[480sparky]

The way you get business is by being better than those around you. .......

The way to get business is to learn how to sell.

 

[Josh220]

The way you get business is by being better than those around you. .......

The way to get business is to learn how to sell.

Whining to those who are better than you or competing with you isn't the ideal business plan... Ha ha.

 

[imagemaker46]

There is no professional respect in play here, and what I mean by that is. As a professional photographer I won't poach another professional photographers client. You are both amateurs playing in the same game. If he's not willing to work with you, then that's his loss. If he decides to step down, you just step right in and do the job.

 

[Kolander]

...there is a current team photographer that has asked me not to give my photographs to my players anymore because it is hurting his year-end photograph DVD sales...

:shock:

The owner of a restaurant demands you not to invite your friends to lunch ever again, because of it hurts his turnover.

 

[TCampbell]

It sounds as if he is under some mistaken impression that he is the only one with a right to take photos. The rest of the world isn't obliged to stop shooting just because someone wants to sell photos of the same subjects.

 

[trcapro]

I am a hobbyist photographer with an ethics question that I need advice with. For many years, I have shot action photographs of my daughter and her friends as they have grown up and have coached many of these girls. They are considered friends and their parents are family friends. Now that these girls are in high school, there is a current team photographer that has asked me not to give my photographs to my players anymore because it is hurting his year-end photograph DVD sales. He is not a professional either, just a hobbyist as well.

Does my relationship with 'my players' trumph his right to sell his photos to these same players that he doesn't know? I suggested to him that the current group of players do not want to purchase a photo DVD and maybe I can help him offer more products that these players are not used to (posters, mugs, blanket prints, etc). He has resorted to suggesting that he will step down as team photographer it's not worth his while anymore; which is not what I ever intended.

Can I get some experienced photographer's opinions on this matter. There are more details, but I painted the basic picture above.

Thanks for your help,
Jon

First off, you are not doing anything wrong. You have a right to shoot the photos in almost all cases. I'd say the only potential time you might not be able to do so is if you're selling the shots AND the other photographer has a no-competition agreement with the school.

I'd say keep doing what you're doing and don't worry about it.

 

[Roger3006]

In my opinion, you are doing something nice and beneficial. You are "doing you part" to help the team and their families. I would not be surprised if some of the children could not afford his DVD's. He should be ashamed of himself and offer to team up with you.

If he approaches you again, you might want to ask him if he has the necessary state and local permits to conduct his business. I will give you 4 to 1 he does not have any of the above and is not declaring the income. Be shuttle. "How much did it cost you to get the necessary permits and licenses and was it difficult"? You will never hear another word and most likely will never see him again. I don't know what it is like in California but in Arkansas the last thing you want is the "Sales Tax Revenuers" after you. They are like a snapping turtle, when they bite they do not turn you loose even if it thunders!