My First Commercial Photo?

[Littlenose]

A friend of mine was kind enough to take me flying in his plane one evening last summer. The route we took allowed me to take a few interesting photographs of places i knew, one of which included my place of work [an old country house set in nice grounds]. We share the building with several other companies.

Now for a while this photo was up on my website at 800x600 resolution, and the photo found it's way onto the receptionists desktop background image. This i have no problems with... if i post it on the net, then i am not stopping anyone from using it for their own purposes.

However, I've taken this series of pics down from my webpage, and the receptionist has also since deleted the picture, but now the management have asked me if i can supply them with a new copy, as one of the other companies in the building would like a copy of it [for what purpose i don't know]... This to me appears as an ideal opportunity to sell my first picture.

Do you think I should find out what the image is to be used for before deciding anything?

Do you think I should just give the image away for free? Seeing how it has been in the public domain before.

What kind of payment should I be looking for... I really have no idea on things like this... but anything towards my first "L" lense can't be sniffed at ;)

Any comments are most welcome.

Mikey

[dewmuw]

Well I don't know what you should ask for it, but I wouldn't give it away for free if I was you? You say that, because it has already been in the public domain, you might not as for payment. Well that would prevent guys like Andy Rouse selling their images because they post them on their websites!


I'm not sure about asking what they want to use it for - have they specified as size of print?

[Littlenose]

Cheers for the comments Damian, anything's apprecaited, as like i say this is new territory for me. And no idea what's what really.

i'll post up here as and when :)

[EoSD30fReAk]

i certainly would ask what they want to do with it! if they want to use it commercialy then the price should be higher!

if not you could just let them cover you expenses for the picture, like the cd you put it on or the paper and ink if you print it for them but that's just my opinion ;)

[Littlenose]

Thanks for the input... after talking with my better half over the weekend, we decided that it would be best just to let them have it, and if its as a background / screen saver just have an incospicuous "watermark" in the bottom right with my name on it, or if printed, i'd just like to be named, then they could use it for free.
The image is nothing special other than it's a nice aerial shot of the building i work in, with the gardens... I think i just got a little excited that someone wanted a pic that i'd taken :D

Excellent going BlooDog on the bridal shot btw... i'd love to think that a photo i took got that kind of exposure.

Mikey

[jO3]

Where can I see these two pictures?! The bridal shot and the aerial shot? I want to see what all the rave is about!

[benhasajeep]

I have a similar situation with a picture at my company. I freely gave a copy of one to a coworker. He then apparently emailed it to another coworker, and then the picture was then released on the company server and everyone has it. Then about a year later I am in the front office area, and there it is on the wall. Not sure of the size but probably around 13 x 19. I asked the receptionist where they got the picture, and she replied someone took it and it's on the compnay computer. Would you like a copy?? Talking about being upset at the time. But I am over it now. Knew I could have handled it better.

[robertwgross]

I never give away or web-publish any images that are high resolution. I will give away an image that would produce a very grainy small print, and that is about it.

---Bob Gross---

[Littlenose]

Jo3... To keep you happy, here's the pic i was talking about.

I think i will be wary about flinging pics about willy nilly nowdays... but it does seem a bit harsh to me when friends ask if they can have a copy of something not to give them the full pic.
Ben, I hope I don't find my pic hanging up on a wall and for someone to then asak me if i want the digital copy, i think that without this thread, i would also not handle that the best