Photo work for employer. What is fair?

Thanks everyone for your input. I told them $650 for thr price of my 40D plus use of lenses, software etc. Technically they would own it but I'd still be keeping and using it. The $650 would be put towards the 7D which I would use for both work and personal photography. I hope I did the right thing.
I'm expecting bigger things ahead! Gotta start somewhere..right?

iwannabe wrote in post #12073363
Thanks everyone for your input. I told them $650 for thr price of my 40D plus use of lenses, software etc. Technically they would own it but I'd still be keeping and using it. The $650 would be put towards the 7D which I would use for both work and personal photography. I hope I did the right thing.
I'm expecting bigger things ahead! Gotta start somewhere..right?

Good for you. Good luck.

Well, if this photography thing is an extra duties you have to do on top of what you have been hired to do, I would really think twice about this. First, is your company a large corporation? Does it have a HR department? Are you hourly? Or by salary? If it were me, I won't do it at all. There is no point in bringing work home. If you are working for a large company, I see it as ways for them to be cheap and exploiting you. With a large corporation, you don't always get the extra appreciation you deserve just because you have performed your job above your duties.

I would just tell them that my 40D stopped working.... And my computer just died....

I wouldn't really have a problem shooting photos should my employer asked as part of some project and provided it was during normal business hours. Wear and tear on my gear? Wouldn't even bother me any.

Update for those who care. My offer was accepted and it looks to be an ongoing thing. Who knows where it will lead into but I'm excited about it. Breaks up my normal routine without the extra burden and I get to do what I like to do.

congrats.

Most people don't get to do what they enjoy at their job.

Like the Smiths sang, work is a four letter word.

I do the same thing for my PD...I go to departmental events/training and the like. If it is on one of my days off I get compensation time (extra vacation time) and often if the event is while I am on duty I get to put on civvies and go shoot instead of wearing a uniform and patrolling. I also get comp time for any processing I do...the PD doesn't have a computer that could run CS5 without puking all over itself..they can barely run Excel without freezing.

It's a good deal and I never would think of asking my Chief to buy my camera or other equipment for me...however I do, according to my accountant, get to deduct a percentage of my equipment purchases for taxes as I "departmental photographer" has become one of my titles. I also deduct part of my website prices (smugmug pro) account as I store the photos there for the department and city to use.

This Saturday I get to go shoot a bunch of motorcycles at a Motorjock rodeo...while on duty!!

And I get to shoot some cool stuff.

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Police are underpaid overworked heroes. Just like firefighters and military.

olnacl wrote in post #12092352
I do the same thing for my PD...I go to departmental events/training and the like. If it is on one of my days off I get compensation time (extra vacation time) and often if the event is while I am on duty I get to put on civvies and go shoot instead of wearing a uniform and patrolling. I also get comp time for any processing I do...the PD doesn't have a computer that could run CS5 without puking all over itself..they can barely run Excel without freezing.

It's a good deal and I never would think of asking my Chief to buy my camera or other equipment for me...however I do, according to my accountant, get to deduct a percentage of my equipment purchases for taxes as I "departmental photographer" has become one of my titles. I also deduct part of my website prices (smugmug pro) account as I store the photos there for the department and city to use.

This Saturday I get to go shoot a bunch of motorcycles at a Motorjock rodeo...while on duty!!

And I get to shoot some cool stuff.

That's great! Good shots too!
I never thought about the tax deductions. However, I could not see being compensated in some way if this going to be a permanent part of my job and that was the only way I could think of. The way I see it, they are still coming out ahead. The boss agreed so that's all that matters I guess. Congrats on your opportunity!

I work for a high tech company doing software engineering. Our company also has a "Cares" program that encourages employees to volunteer time to local organizations. I was recently asked if I'd be willing to go shoot some of our employees during the "Read Across America" week (reading Dr. Suess on his birthday) and some of our employees doing a career presentation at a local school. They want these photos to help promote the "Cares" program to employees going forward.

I volunteered my time and used my own equipment. I gave them a set of edited full resolution photos from each shoot. I'm salaried and did this during my normal hours. Since I enthusiastically support our "Cares" program and what it encourages, I'm happy to do this without any additional compensation.

olnacl wrote in post #12092352

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Love this shot!

Good for both of you for getting to do something you love to break up your normal days work.

Thanks. I recently finished up taking formal portraits of all 524 employees of my PD (sworn and civilian) and am now in the process of creating a memory book for the department.

It's a fun challenge and is forcing me to really learn layers in CS5 as I am creating the pages on my own.

The company I work for has a quarterly news letter that is emailed (.PDF) to all the employees. There may be photos of company events, departments, awards and products. One quarter the department I work for was going to be featured and the boss asked if I'd be willing to take the department photo. They wanted something better than the usual cruddy looking snapshot taken with a P&S camera. I was more than happy to help out.

When the day of the shoot came, I brought a ~$5000.00 kit of camera equipment, setup and took a few photos. After editing, I picked one and forwarded it to the news letter editor.

While I was happy to make MY departments photo look better than the others, the company has a policy that personal property ought to be left at home and assumes no liability if any personal belongings are damaged or come up missing.

I started to wonder what would happen if any part of my kit is damaged or stolen while on company property and finding that my liability exposure would not be covered I told them that their photographic needs would need to be covered by someone else.

These days, being on the radar as demanding or uncooperative is probably a bad idea. It really puts an employee on the spot to ask for extra work or duties, too. Tough choice.