Paper Photog Didn't Show

[OregonRebel]

I was at a rally of my car club today, and found they had a reporter for the local newspaper coming to do a story on it. When he showed up, he saw me photographing the cars with my XT and asked if I was the photographer for the paper. :) The photographer never showed up, so I offered to give him some pictures for the story. He took my email address and phone number, but hasn't contacted me yet.

Any advice on what to do when he contacts me? It would be nice to get at least a small payment for the pictures and some kind of credit in the paper.

[fslshooter]

Newspapers usually pay a standard fee for a stinger's images. Ask what that fees is and take it if you're happy with it. Make sure they understand that you own the copyright and that they'll credit you for the photo if they publish it. They'll probably want an exclusive on the use of the photo for a period of time so ask them if they don't tell you. Ask them to send you two tearsheets when the article with the photo is published.

[OregonRebel]

Thanks for the advice. I haven't heard from the reporter yet, but hopefully will this week.

[stormywhether]

In circumstances like this it may well be different over in the US (in fact, I'm sure it is), but if it's a provincial newspaper over here (speaking as a former newspaperman) then you'd be very lucky to get a fee for providing a photo that promotes your own club. Even if you weren't taking the photo to promote the club per se, once in print it will certainly promote the organisation and that's the angle the newspaper may come from to wangle the image for free.

Certainly in my experience as a senior reporter, I didn't once pay a stringer for a photo. I had a lot of sources - and a lot of people keen to see their work in print. Very often we didn't even use a credit.

But as I said, that's not the US.

I hope you get paid. Good luck!