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Assignment
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When a photobuyer contracts with you to make a specific image(s). All
terms are generally agreed upon in advance. The resulting photo copyright(s)
belong to you unless otherwise stated in writing.
Captions - Add directly to your digital
high resolution files - or on labels on your slides. Commercial - The difference between commercial
and editorial is that the commercial photographer makes images primarily
for advertising, endorsement, or promotion, while the editorial photographer
sticks to the editorial side of things. A model release and/or property
release is required for commercial work, whereas editorial work generally
does not require such releases. There are exceptions to every rule, and
this is no exception. Digital - Most common format for editorial
stock photography. Go for a Digital SLR with no less than 8 mega pixels
and a sensor size no smaller than 23.7 mm by 15.7 mm. See our Digital
Marketing Guide for more information. Editorial - Editorial photographs usually illustrate a concept in an article or story, in a book, magazine or newspaper. They are sometimes documentation of a subject. Generally speaking, creative editorial stock photographers "make" a photo, rather than "take" a photo. Image Submission Sheet - A simple sheet that you send along with your image submission of photos, that allows the photobuyer to quickly and easily let you know if and why he or she needs to hang on to your images for a while. Only for when you are sending slides or prints. Also see "Stock Photographer Starter Kit". In-camera Duplicates - Basically means to snap more than one frame of the same thing. The cheapest way to assure you that you have plenty of slides of a particular subject. With digital, dupes of all kinds are becoming a thing of the past. But the principle is sound and even if you are using a digital camera, taking one or more extra exposures of a scene is a good way to insure against minor mistakes, people blinking, etc. Keywords / Keyphrases - Essential for photobuyers to be able to find your photos. Add to your digital files, to your web site, and get a psBANK page from PhotoSource International where you can list up to 3,000 keywords that will drive photobuyer traffic to your site and your photography. Manila Envelopes - Avoid them. See Packaging, below. Model Release - Rarely needed for editorial stock. Almost always required for commercial work. See the "Kracker Barrel" archives for more information on this, at http://www.photosource.com/board/wwwboard/wwwboard.html Packaging - Perhaps the single most important part of your submission, aside from your images. Spend some extra money on getting deluxe packaging material: mailing cartons, envelopes, mailing labels, etc. Every dollar spent on these items will be a dollar wisely spent. Use white packaging envelopes rather than the common manila envelopes. Photobuyers are extremely busy people and a package that doesn't look professional often gets put aside and perhaps not even looked at. Professional packaging gets your submission over the initial threshold, makes it more likely that the photobuyer will actually look at your images. ("You never get a second chance to make a first impression.") Packaging remains important in this digital age. Payment on Acceptance - Means that a photobuyer will pay you when your image is accepted for publication, not waiting for when it's actually published. The number of days before the payment is issued varies, though. Always insist on "Payment on Acceptance." Payment on Publication - Means that a photobuyer will pay you after your image is published (normally within 60 days after publication). Avoid photobuyers who "Pay on Publication." Photobuyer - The people that buy images. Photo Editors, Art Directors, Designers, Book Publishers, and so on. Photo
Guidelines - Informative sheet(s) you should request from all
photobuyers you want to submit images to. Photo guidelines inform you
of specific details about that market's standard operating procedures,
such as payment ranges, film size and preference, as well as their editorial
lineup for future subjects. Send them a request for photo guidelines on
good quality stationery, with your letterhead, and include a SASE. |
Postcards
- Perhaps one of the best and cheapest ways
of marketing yourself. There are many printers that will print all kinds
of postcards. Search them out on the Web. MWM Dexter (http://www.mwmdexter.com)
is the printer that prints postcards for PhotoSource International. Contact
them at 1-800-354-9007 for information about prices and a catalog. Another
source is Modern Postcards (http://www.modernpostcards.com).
Contact them at 1-800-959-8365. Both come highly recommended.
Property Release - A form normally not needed in editorial stock photography. However, for work that could be interpreted as commercial work, a property release may be required, especially if the owner(s) of the property is engaged in commercially exploiting the sale of the very same image(s) you are photographing. See the "Kracker Barrel" archives for more information on this, at http://www.photosource.com/board/wwwboard/wwwboard.html Query Letter - A query is a suggestion for photo coverage or a feature that you send to an editor and/or photobuyer. If he or she likes your idea, they might welcome the story and/or pics you have suggested, or they might even give you an assignment. A query letter should be succinct and limited to one page. Rate Sheet - Something that comes in very handy quite often when contacting commercial photobuyers. It's basically just a sheet of paper, on your letterhead, with information about what you charge for various photographic tasks. For editorial photobuyers who might want to draw upon you for assignments, this is a great piece of information for them to have on file, so make sure you enclose one of these whenever you contact a photobuyer new to you. For a sample Rate Sheet, see http://www.photosouce.com/rates.html. SASE - Self Addressed Stamped Envelope. A must if you want a new photobuyer you are sending stuff to, or requesting information from, to return your inquiry. Make sure you have adequate postage on the envelope. Eventually, as encouragement to you for your excellent photography, photobuyers will announce to you that you no longer need to send SASE. This whole SASE question and process is explained thoroughly in the book Sell & Resell Your Photos. Slide Labels - Crucial to making a good first impression when submitting images. Also a good way of getting captions on your images. Also see "Stock Photographer Starter Kit". Specialization- As the World Wide Web grows in size, it will be important for you to utilize the Web to list your photo specialties and descriptions of your photos, to be accessible to photobuyers who use the Web to locate highly specific photos. If you have a favorite subject area to photograph, capitalize on it and become an expert in that area. Photobuyers from across the world will come directly to you via the Net when they need photos in your area of specialization. Stock Agencies—A
company holding anywhere from a few thousand to several million images.
The format is usually 35mm but can range from digital to 4x5. Photographers
are eligible to submit their photos to an agency for inclusion providing
the photographer fulfills the technical and esthetic requirements of the
agency. Members usually receive 40% or 50% of sales. |
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