Help me to sell some freediving photos..

I dont know if this is the right forum for this question but if not the administrators can move my topic.

My problem is....money & rights :-)

Last trip in Egypt was a success , many good freediving photos... some of the still no publish online

Now the are some athlets that like to have the own photos in High resolution to use them for media (News papers and Magazines)

So the question is how I handle this. Its time to make some money from my Photos but then again some of them are very close friends.

Then there is a article that a freediver have wrote and where he like two photos to be prinett with it.. the Magazine is H2O

Then if i give the phoho i have not control what to user will do with it (Calenders, posters etc....)

What are you recomment me? I am really lost. With everybody that I speek I hear a other opinion. So I ask my UW photographer friends....

Lambis

Lambis,

Friends are friends, business is business. You should not authorize your friends to resell your photos. You can even sell them cheap prints (since they are your friends), but don't provide high resolution originals and clearly tell them that they should not sell the photos. You should deal directly with the magazines, newspapers, etc. that want to publish the photos. If you had a studio of fashion photography, would you give your photos to the models so that they could sell them to magazines? No!

Luiz

Hey Lambis

Well, yes, you do deserve money for your hard earned photos.

It is completely up to you to give photos to friends for their own projects of newspapers and mags. However, if they are being paid for those stories then you have a RIGHT to be compensated for that service of providing the photos. If you're friends are allowing this stuff to be used solely as a press release then they are not likely to be getting paid and then you are just helping them out. However, if these are editorial articles then there should be money involved. Therefore, you should be paid for the usage of your photos.

If you are giving photos to H2O for an article that is already assured of being published and the freediver is not a close friend then i would not deal with the freediver him/herself. I would go straight to the editor or art director of the magazine and email/ftp/cd the photo to them is this is the one they want to use. That way you are "Almost" assured of professional conduct from these people who should not steal your photos for future use. Make sure you send them a contract for one time usage and get it signed and returned.

Send me an email at mantavisions@mantaray.com if you want a blank photo contract

Mike

"ftp"

What is this?

"ftp"

 

What is this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ftp

http://www.google.com/search?q=ftp

Its an online way of sending things over your website. Mostly used for files and things that are either too large to email.

Wow...i can't believe i know something technical/computerish that someone else doesn't! Thats a first!

Motto of old New York photographer friend - If it's free, it aint worth nuthin'. It think he meant something along the lines of the price you charge often reflects the value of the goods.

I think JB makes an important point. If you routinely give your images away you will devalue them and your name as a photography. Not only that but you will devalue all UW images if the market is flooded with good free images. So you are not only doing yourself a diservice, but also your peers.

Of course it is fine to give away images for free, to your friends or in return for goods, free diving or other forms of promotion etc. But make it the exception rather than the rule.

Alex

Thanks guys

Thats a great help. Off cource I dont give anything for free. My friends can use low resolution images for the own webpages but I prepare them and be sure that a liknk to my webpage is provided.

Other that this from what i learn is that prints in form off posters are the best way just now to make some money.

Every freediver whant a photo of him in his wall so a create posters that i they can buy .. in this way I promote myself and get some money.

I really thank you alot. its everything easear for me now.

I hope I will not bother you again, but I am sure I will do it :-)

Lambis