This is an excerpt from my blog...
Some people may be puzzled as to why I won't do free photos. That's because unless the photos have some benefit for me, they're not free.
My digital cameras cost about $1,000 each and the shutters last only 50,000 exposures. During a typical 2-hour event I will shoot around 250 photographs. That's 250 of 50,000 which is 1/200th of the life of the camera. Thus a true cost of solely the camera would be around $5. Add to that wear and tear on the other gear, lenses, flashes etc - none of which is cheap and each session works out at around $20 in wear and tear alone. Then there's computer time, processing time, electricity, transport to and from the event and you're looking at a real physical cost of around $30 excluding my time. The people at the school wanted me to:
1. Spend $30 of my own money to cover their event.
2. Spend two hours of my own time doing the photography.
3. Spend a further 5-6 hours of my own time doing the photo editing.
4. Pay for a CD and put the images on a CD.
5. Relinquish my rights to the images.
6. Not use the images in the promotion of my own business.
I think the correct response to that is BITE ME!
I made it perfectly clear to them that there was a cost involved - they could either pay upfront, allow me to use the images in the promotion of my own business or they could pay royalties. I received no answer to the royalties and refusals to the other options. I dismiss that school as a bunch of crooks.
Now that was my stepson's school. I have met the Principal and the deputy Principal of that school and both come off to me as people that would sell the mothers into slavery for $5. It all started because I'd been asked to help out. Sure - I don't mind helping out but I'm not paying them for the privilege. My helping out is maybe giving a lesson on photography, a talk or some help that way. It's not doing my normal job for no money and with all costs coming to me!
I can post some of the email exchange if anybody's interested.
