help with replying to and ad..

[troyer16]

Hey all,
I recently replied to an ad for a company that was in need of a freelance photographer. The job requires you to photograph events and a lot of night life (bars,clubs,etc.) within the city. The ad stated that the first two assingments are unpaid so they can review the quality of the work. I can sort of understand and would agree to this, IF they did not use my picutres from the first two assingments but rather reviewed them and determined wether they wanted to continue with me or not. Is this a fair statment on my half?

[RTMiller]

I tried this technique with my auto mechanic. I proposed that he fix my car for free but if I was satisfied with the quality of his work, I would pay him for all future repairs.

He never did give me an answer because he was laughing so hard.

Edit: You should be able to show him pictures from your portfolio. That should allow him to make a decision as to whether your work meets his standards.

[NFRs2000NYC]

Yup. Great scam that runs rampant in NYC. It is just a way to get free photos. You dont want to work for people like this. Tell them that you will NOT provided them with any photos, but will let them review them. Watch how fast they state that they are not interested.

[PhotosGuy]

Tell them that you will NOT provided them with any photos,

Put a big © notice on them.

[dbvirago]

This sounds like a Craigs list ad. I see them every day in ATL. I have gotten a few legitimate leads from CL, but you have to week through a ton of this crap to find them.

[Converge]

Ummm, isnt that what portfolios are for?

[rhys]

Originally Posted by troyer16

Hey all,
I recently replied to an ad for a company that was in need of a freelance photographer. The job requires you to photograph events and a lot of night life (bars,clubs,etc.) within the city. The ad stated that the first two assingments are unpaid so they can review the quality of the work. I can sort of understand and would agree to this, IF they did not use my picutres from the first two assingments but rather reviewed them and determined wether they wanted to continue with me or not. Is this a fair statment on my half?

Tell them: "there's no such thing as a free lunch" and "in god we trust. Others pay cash". This scam is rampant in e-europe.

[sfaust]

Or, you can say sure, shoot an event, register your copyright the next day fed ex overnight. Then wait a day and send in the images for their review with your copyright on each image.

Let them say they weren't good enough, then watch for their use. If they use them anyway, its willful infringement since THEY clearly stated they were only for REVIEW, were watermarked which they REMOVED, and then published.

Let a lawyer send them a cease and desist order, and ask for the legal limits of the law for willful infringement $75-$150K per infringement. Then settle for say $10K if they cough up now.

Or, just ignore the whole scam (preferable action)

[rhys]

Lol. A popular scam is for E-European English language schools to ask people who enquire about teaching positions to give a lesson as a "test". They then charge their students for the class but never employ the teacher. They take it as a freebie. This sounds very similar.