What to charge for photos published in small town newspaper

I'm a "serious amateur" with good equipment and a pretty good set of skills. I live in a small college town and have had many photo published in the small town weekly newspaper without any payment. That publication is also part network of other small town newspapers in the area. I'm about to enter into retirement and would like to continue shooting photos of local events for the publication, but also seek some kind of reasonable payment for photos published and/or for expenses. I'm not out to make a living from this, but at least get some payment to offset the cost of the equipment in my shoulder bag. I'd appreciate advice on what to ask for.

Thanks. Tom

Ask for anything however, as a business the newspapers (and magazines) have already established what THEY are willing to pay for the content from contributors, whether by the word, story or image.

I'm surprised you haven't already discussed this with them, or they with you. Maybe they view you as "just another free source, like so many other sources". Thus the value continues to decline as so many are willing to shoot for free or for a byline

I think they'll run away from any payment, but you might try $50 for the first shot of some event, and $10 each for additional shots from the same event.

So a college parade, with a front page picture and three inside the paper, works out to $80.

$50 is what a big paper I know pays writers for a published picture the writer takes and supplies with a story. The story gets paid for seperately.

Which brings up the idea that you might also start writing for the paper.

BAK

The mid-sized daily round here will pay $15 per image for something like high school sports. It might go up to $30 if they really need the image. The smaller paper might pay $10.

At the recent NCAA BB tourney, out of town newspapers were offering to pay $60 an image, with a max of two images used. (Keep in mind this was in arenas with crappy light where you were shooting with D3 bodies, 300mm and 70-200 2.8 lenses, so figure out how many jobs it would take to justify those costs)

Gnome said:

The mid-sized daily round here will pay $15 per image for something like high school sports. It might go up to $30 if they really need the image. The smaller paper might pay $10.

At the recent NCAA BB tourney, out of town newspapers were offering to pay $60 an image, with a max of two images used. (Keep in mind this was in arenas with crappy light where you were shooting with D3 bodies, 300mm and 70-200 2.8 lenses, so figure out how many jobs it would take to justify those costs)

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I really appreciate the four responses to my message. Helps to give me a frame of reference. Many thanks. Tom

As a reference, another paper nearby that I'm familiar with (weekly with a paid circ of about 15k copies) pays like this:

Standalone photo assignment, 75 dollars + 15 for each additional photo.

Standalone story $100.00

Story with photo $150.00 + $15 each additional photo.

Not great rates, but it does give you something to compare to.

One thing to iron out is if you're going to get paid by the assignment, or only if it's printed. If you are given an assignment and produce a photo, they need to pay, even if they choose not to use the content. Some places pay only on publication, so ask first.

Jim Dean

There's a good chance if you ask for payment, they will accept a different contributor's images who is willing to supply them for free.

The bar is owned by someone who has the right to restrict entry to or eject from the property, so it is private property visited by the public. The owner ha the right to restrict specific types of behavior on his/her property. Since there was no restriction on or enforcement os any existing restriction when you photographed, it seems to me that you have acquired the photographs legitimately and are free to use them in certain ways without concern.

Posing for an informal or formal photograph is not a consent to publish or exhibit the photograph. So when do you need consent? You need it when the photograph will be used for advertising or trade (business) purposes like an ad, brochure, commercial product, etc. Editorial uses like a magazine, newspaper, informational website, and exhibits anywhere do not require permission.

Of course, photographers have been sued for using images in ways that did not require subjects' permissions. Your right to shoot and publish only helps you avoid losing the case. Personally, based upon the info you have given, I would not hesitate to use the photos for anything except advertising, and if they were on the bar's website I would only allow it in a gallery of photos with no commercial message attached to that gallery.

--
Richard Weisgrau
http://www.weisgrau.com
Author of
The Real Business of Photography
The Photographer's Guide to Negotiating
Selling Your Photography
Licensing Photography

Hey Tom

You've already established that you'll work for free. Plus, these little weekly are operating on a thin budget in the first place. If you start asking for payment, chances are they just find another free source. It doesn't hurt to ask, but if you enjoy it, it'd be a shame to mess something up which you do enjoy just as you get into retirement.

Having supplied work for several local rags before, I CAN virtually assure you that, if you have a good working relationship with them, they very likely be happy to give you a prominent photo credit, and maybe even a brief bio point here and there. There might be a chance then that someone would contact you for work outside of the paper that would be worth much more than a few dollars at best that the rag would pay.

Just measure it carefully without failing to understand that the perception of photography is becoming more and more as something that anyone with a half-way decent camera can provide with ease. In the old days, the technology of the darkroom intimidated the lay person and a photographer was seen almost as something of an alchemist. Today, digital provided EVERYONE with a peak behind the curtain, and it only takes a few minutes and a camera to become "an expert". Don't expect paper to see how much better your work is when today mediocre is the accepted norm.

P001 said:

I'm a "serious amateur" with good equipment and a pretty good set of skills. I live in a small college town and have had many photo published in the small town weekly newspaper without any payment. That publication is also part network of other small town newspapers in the area. I'm about to enter into retirement and would like to continue shooting photos of local events for the publication, but also seek some kind of reasonable payment for photos published and/or for expenses. I'm not out to make a living from this, but at least get some payment to offset the cost of the equipment in my shoulder bag. I'd appreciate advice on what to ask for.

Thanks. Tom

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I was in a similar position and when I started charging that was an end of the work. But they did pass my name on to a couple of big city newspapers which now use me whenever something comes up in my area and they have never complained about paying, I always charge by the hour plus expenses. If I had not done the free work I would never have had the work from the big newspapers.
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Signmaster
http://www.stockphoto.com.au/blog/

I am from a very small town. In fact, the population of the entire county is only 11,000 and they have a county paper. They pay NOTHING..either you submit it for free or the owner goes and shoots himself for what he wants in his own paper. So don't expect much if anything.

Hi,

I'm a little late for the party. You may want to have a look at the follwing site which gives a good base for comparison

http://photographersindex.com/stockprice.htm

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Cheers,
Michael Fritzen

These little papers that are a part of a group hardly even pay their editor anything, who also functions as their photographer and design artist. The one we have here just layed their editor off. The publisher is doing everything. You'll be very lucky to get $5 per pic, and I doubt you'll even get that because you have already established what your work is worth--nothing.

Someone just like you will come along with free images from a P&S (or maybe even their cell phone) that are good enough, just so they can show their family they had something published. That's just the way it is, and the reason the market is dying.
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In the end, the only things that matter are the people we help and the people we hurt. http://pa.photoshelter.com/user/ronkruger