Someone Has inquired into my work

matrix2003 · December 05, 2009, 02:58:02 PM

HELP !!! ANY ADVICE HAPPILY ACCEPTED HERE. I have never done anything commercial and I have no knowledge of releases or contract law concerning permissions, use, copyright, or such matters. How I should approach this chap? He will be in my state for two weeks over Christmas. I am definitely going to meet and chat.

How much? What would you do? Anyone do this? How does a release work?

Henry Blewer · December 05, 2009, 04:07:16 PM

Try Google. Search under copyright, art contracts, publisher contracts, and licensing. You should find out if he wants to sell prints. If he does you'll want to get a royalty for each print he sells. The Federal Trade Commission may have information.
Someone locally may have an idea of how to go about this. Try visiting one of the art/photo galleries in your area. Talk to the gallery owner and anyone exhibiting.

matrix2003 · December 05, 2009, 04:38:46 PM

Thanks Henry. Anyone else? I have ten days to pull this act off.

neuspadrin · December 05, 2009, 04:47:31 PM

Congrats, sounds cool.

and slightly off topic, looked through your site cool stuff. Especially like your octavarium wallpaper

. my favorite band is dream theater

.

matrix2003 · December 05, 2009, 05:06:42 PM

I love DT. Thanks for looking at my stuff.

rcallicotte · December 06, 2009, 11:36:54 AM

You might look into this service - https://www.digimarc.com/mypicturemarc/how-it-works/default.asp, but maybe only where you worried about someone stealing your work. But, this is also a good way to keep track of what you have sold. Copyright law in the United States basically backs you up if you can prove you created something. Based on that, you could use this service as a way of proving what you sold. Just a thought, but something along these lines will save you trouble later.

Here's another good overall site to connect with professionals and professional software - http://www.photoshopuser.com/

Remember it's your work and your service they're paying to get.

matrix2003 · December 06, 2009, 12:07:49 PM

Thanks Calico. I will give those a look.

*EDIT: I have Googled for hours now and I have a pretty good handle on property consent forms and photography releases. I have been in further contact with this gentleman and he wants me to shoot his entire property, and his intent is to use my images on an updated web-site and in brochures and advertising materials. I am thinking that I will ask him what this work is worth to him. ?? I'm having trouble putting a price tag on this little project, and considering his considerable wealth, I'm might just see what he offers. Should I see what he throws out, or present him with a firm price?

FrankB · December 06, 2009, 06:07:12 PM

in all negotiations, like your salary, it's always better to let the other party give the first shot. Never give in to saying your price first. You should have a rough range in your head, though, on what's payed in practice, but usually ranges are very wide on what prices are payed for a certain thing, or service.
If the other party is aware of a common pay range, they will probably tell you the bottom of the range. That's when you can address again the value of what you will provide (in the end, you already know they want what you have, otherwise they would have looked further), and tell them to think again (still not saying your price, but you can let shine through that their first offer really wasn't adequate. Far from it). Give them time to think about it again. Probability is, that the next price they say is near the upper end of the range. And as i said, the range, depending on what is negotiated, can vary greatly. Good luck.

Cheers,
Frank

mr-miley · December 07, 2009, 07:17:14 AM

Bill

1stly, well done. I know what it feels lik. first time I got a sizable consultancy and development job for the geotechnical database I develop, I went into a real panic

A good way to go about this might be to go to one of the big, international image banks http://www.gettyimages.com/Creative/Frontdoor/theimagebank or http://www.corbisimages.com/?__utma=1.861588300.1260187945.1260187945.1260187945.1&__utmb=1.2.10.1260187945&__utmc=1&__utmx=-&__utmz=1.1260187945.1.1.utmcsr=google|utmccn=(organic)|utmcmd=organic|utmctr=corbis&__utmv=-&__utmk=144682421 , find a similar image (by that I mean simple photo, some post work, heavy post work etc) and get a quote for exactly what you are being asked for. You could also try some of the pros on deviantart. You could try someone like http://pelicanh.deviantart.com/ He does some of the most exquisite nudes, but also does some pretty top end advertising stuff too . I would charge a bit over the quote, as, to all intents, its a bespoke image. This way you aren't going to be far wrong. I agree with Frank, let him make the 1st offer. Mind you, you always have the option of going down the route, then, of saying (to his first offer, if it's wide of the mark) "The going price for an image like this, for your requested usage is $####, but I'll be willing to let you have it for $#### (slightly lower) as its an image I already have in stock" Mind you, that only applies to the one he has already seen. If he wants you to do other work, charge him full whack image bank prices!

Hope it all goes well

Miles

matrix2003 · December 07, 2009, 07:25:27 PM

Thanks Miles. The prospect of this did rattle me a bit! I have been tweaking images for years, and now someone says "oooh I like that, is it for sale?"
I fantasized about this but never really thought about it. TWO DIFFERENT THINGS

Thanks Frank.

Your input here was much appreciated. Direct to the point, and exactly what I needed.

BTW ... here is a link to the image that started this whole discussion.
And I do have a firm date for negotiations and more shooting.

LINK

Henry Blewer · December 08, 2009, 12:51:38 AM

No wonder the owner wants to buy this. It looks very warm and comfortable there. Very, very, good photo!

Walli · December 08, 2009, 02:44:22 AM

very nice and I think thats a very good example for HDR. Many HDR photos simply look to strange, but there you found a real good balance!

One thought about Getty images - keep in mind that you compare with the correct offers there. Stock photos are usually much cheaper compared to custom photos, because the owner can sell them over and over again.

Kadri · December 08, 2009, 03:06:08 AM

Matrix2003 , your photo is really good.
Like Walli said some hdr photos we see are to over manipulated .
This is not every time bad but your photo looks more natural

Kadri.

rcallicotte · December 08, 2009, 02:20:49 PM

Good job, Matrix.

A couple of good sites for royalty free photos for a small price - http://www.123rf.com/ and http://www.dreamstime.com/

Seth · December 08, 2009, 03:58:50 PM

damn !!!
very very good picture Oo
congratulations for this one !