My dilema - how do I deal with this

Hi all. I'm in a quadmire and I'm hoping I can get some ideas on how to deal with this issue.

OK here goes.
I am a resident photographer for a dance organisation. They pay me (not a lot) to take images for them. Those images I post to my facebook page. They get a copy and paste them to their facebook page and their company website. Great this is all good right?

Hell no it sux! It sux because the quality I post is so good that they a printing my stuff right off the pages.

Ok, so I can't watermark them thats for sure but how can I perhaps downgrade the images so that they look good on screen but will print badly.

To this I must say that I have a webdesign company working on a e-commerce commercial site for me where I intend to watermark these images. So you can see my dilema here. Yes I still want people to say what great images I take but I want them to buy them too.

My head hurts

Any advice is good advice at this stage.

Many thanks and happy new year

snappy

Um.... do you have a contract with them? Why are you tolerating this?

And why can't you watermark them? They're your images. Are they not?

What dimensions/resolution are you uploading to Facebook?

You should point them to the part of your contract that lists acceptable usage of the images - FB usage being ok (based on your post above) but printing not being ok.

What size images are you posting to facebook? Resize them so they are small enough that they print poorly, but still display okay.

you see they don't see it like that. There is no contract and to be fair I do get good promo thru these people and we do have an agreed price for me to work. So I do need to post the images free from watermarks I can't get around that.

I guess the only way to do it is to give them small images so if the do print they are really small. I can't stop them using them a facebook images. If I tried to bang to rights I'd just loose the job.

snappy7 wrote in post #13652463
you see they don't see it like that. There is no contract and to be fair I do get good promo thru these people and we do have an agreed price for me to work. So I do need to post the images free from watermarks I can't get around that.

I guess the only way to do it is to give them small images so if the do print they are really small. I can't stop them using them a facebook images. If I tried to bang to rights I'd just loose the job.

It sounds like it might be a job worth losing. But you can post photos that will display fine in facebook, but be rubbish if they try to print over 4x6 or so.

ia a "quadmire" a cross between a quandary and a quagmire ?

75 DPI is all you need for Facebook or anywhere on the web

neil_r wrote in post #13652474
ia a "quadmire" a cross between a quandary and a quagmire ?

75 DPI is all you need for Facebook or anywhere on the web

The dpi means nothing, it's total image size (in pixels) that's the issue. Why do people keep repeating this misinformation?

I'm afraid that the agreement you have has you backed into a corner. If your shooting fee is low because you planned to make sales, you need to protect those sales with watermarks etc. or you need to increase your fees to allow for the lack of up sell.

If you can't make the money within your current agreement then you might be better off out of it.

Phil V wrote in post #13652532
The dpi means nothing, it's total image size (in pixels) that's the issue. Why do people keep repeating this misinformation?

It's not misinformation, 75 DPI is all you need for the web, that is all is said, what you chose to infer from that is totally down to you

You're giving them way too much for not enough pay. Its time you limit what you give them and request more pay. If you're not happy with the way you are being treated, it shouldn't be hard to be in a position to leave.

My dance company contract goes something like this:

1) XX price for company
- Up to 50 social media optimized photos for use on Facebook and other sites (600 pixels on the long edge),
- Up to 10 high resolution photos for self-promotion, use on website, etc.

2) Additional files and prints available for purchase directly on my website.


Then its time to set up a website with e-commerce and print fulfillment, so all you have to do is upload files to the server and collect money. I use Photoshelter and I know they have print labs in the UK.

Feel free to check out my website at www.soskiphoto.com to get a feel for its layout. I hope that helps.

neil_r wrote in post #13652597
It's not misinformation, 75 DPI is all you need for the web, that is all is said, what you chose to infer from that is totally down to you

It's equally as true as "1 DPI is all you need for the web" or "3000 DPI is good for the web". Just an odd thing to toss out there...

Dave

neil_r wrote in post #13652474
ia a "quadmire" a cross between a quandary and a quagmire ?

75 DPI is all you need for Facebook or anywhere on the web

indeed. A horrid hole )

snappy7 wrote in post #13652463
you see they don't see it like that. There is no contract and to be fair I do get good promo thru these people and we do have an agreed price for me to work. So I do need to post the images free from watermarks I can't get around that.

Don't want to appear harsh but you really need to make up your mind. If the benefit you are getting (money and promotion) is fair compensation for them to do what they want with your images then why complain? If it isn't enough then it doesn't matter that "they don't see it like that". The deal has to be acceptable to both parties and if you aren't happy then take action to change the deal so that you are.

Tell them there is a misunderstanding over the terms of your deal and that you need to sit down and sort it out. Make clear to them in a friendly but professional manner that your understanding of the deal was that images are for web/social media usage only. They either need to stop making prints of your copyright images or they need to pay more for the right to make prints. Once you have an agreement you then document it in a contract.

"Good promo" can mean "lots of attention" and lots of attention isn't the same as profitable work. However, if a business deal sent a lot of good promo my way and it turned into profitable work, I'd let a few things slide, even if it means that specific deal isn't on its own profitable or as profitable as it could be.

IMO, if they are paying you to take photos then I see no problem with them doing whatever they wish with the photos. You have no contract so no actual agreement so if it ever came to a dispute, its going to be a headache.

Either get a contract drawn up which most likely they will just not bother with and find someone else for cheaper or drop the job. If it is not paying much and your effort is outweighing the work then why bother.