Wow...I'm being published!

Jeff, common man. Do you see photo or writer credits for any firm that created any add content? No. But that surely doesn't mean those people who work in these circles don't know, or when they see something particularly good, want to know. Additionally, it doesn't take much imagination to think of ways to parle this cover into more business by doing some outbound marketing featuring the cover. Everyone has a copy. How hard would it be to call their attention to it. Doing work for free is never a great business model. At the same time, getting the chance to get your work in front of 200,000 potential buyers, it is an opportunity to take advantage of. If you can't find a way to turn 200,000 impressions into some business, you need to find some other form of work. And no, sitting by the phone waiting for some one to call ya isn't it.

I have two phone book covers (and two more that have my photos inside on full page ads for teams) and it's gotten me absolutely no extra business at all. When people open the phone book they don't even look at the cover, they just open it to the photographer section - after all you'd just assume that photographer would have an ad. That's not the case always, if you get an ad for it then it might work, if not you're not getting called as A) most don't give credit B) even with credit noone looks for it - my credits huge, bolded, boxed in and right where everyone would see it on that page (in the front of the book with all the other info from the phone company - not the photog section), but not one person ever mentioned it to me.

Also, the phone book isn't a "non-profit" organization - they are making money, anything over the cost of print they are putting into there bank. There doing a print run based on census, not on how much is available. If they only have to print 20,000 that's all there printing. However, if they have enough to print 100,000 where do you think that money goes? Like I said before, getting the ad is good, and he/she could swing this into more business, but who knows right now - depends how ya work it cuz it CAN be worked as a big positive.

IndyJeff wrote in post #2827582
First off the phone company is not going to put an ad in a phone book because someone provided an image for another ad at no charge.

All this talk about the photo credit getting him publicity and getting his name out there, have any of you looked to see who did the images for the cover of your local phone book? I did and there is no credit given anywhere on the cover or inside, that I could find so, what kind of free publicity is he getting?

Okay point taken.

Skrim17 wrote in post #2828283

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Mr. Ed....NOOO!!!!!!!!!

Skrim17 wrote in post #2828283

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Why is the wanna-be simpson dude beating the dead horse with a lightsaber?

I guess it's one of those things in life we will never know ...

Croasdail wrote in post #2828194
Jeff, common man. Do you see photo or writer credits for any firm that created any add content? No.

Because they get paid for it.

That's what determines if there is a photo credit? The photographer or creative agency got paid... good to know.

In your opinion.

In my opinion (and let's be truthful, neither of ours matters) if the OP is happy then good on them!

Grats on the cover. Enjoy showing it to your family and friends. If it gives you some exposure even better. To those razzing ya, plllllltttttttt. Photography isnt just for pros and boo wah for them if they can't deal. If someone can do my job better for less money then I'd better be looking for a different line of work. Nobody 'owes' this or any industry anything.

Sam

in my area, they have a kids' art contest, and the winner gets to be on the cover. I wonder if the winning 9 year-old gets flamed for undercutting all the other kids' prices...lolz

Well, for what it is worth, congratulations on getting used for this big project. Definately cut out a cover, frame it and use it as a conversation piece. Good conversation with a customer already in your office builds rapport... and THAT does sell !

I think the message delivered is very valid, but the delivery was pretty rough around the edges. Never give your work away, because you can always negotiate for something in return. In this case, a business card size add, in bold, red, etc, would be a reasonable 'something' vs 'nothing'.

I've had magazines and compaines call to ask to use an image, and they usually try to convince me that I already shot the image, so the cost to allow them to use it is nill. In a very polite way I just counter with asking them to run a full page ad for my business since the ink can't cost all that much either. The value of both usually comes across in the ensuing exchange

The point is that there is usually a way to get something in return. Something that would be easy for the buyer to give, and something that is of value to the photographer. But any working photographer will tell you that a 'credit' is of little value 99% of the time. If they can't offer anything at all, then run, don't walk.

The fomula I use to determine if a trade is worthwile to me is to assign a normal value to my work, then think about whether or not I would buy what they are offering for that value. In this case, would I pay $2,000 of my advertising budget to have my photo on the front of the phone book with a credit line? If the answer is yes, its probably a reasonable trade. If not, I would need to negoitate for more.

On the other side of the token, if Sprint would just move on to the next person willing to submit the photos for free, then the $2,000 value is a hollow value to begin with. The cover of a Sprint phone book would no longer be worth $2,000, but more like Free to maybe a few hundred at most. IMO, the OP didn't loose $2,000, because that figure would never be on the table to begin with. Maybe 10 years ago, but not today. Thats the effect of lots of people willing to give away their work, microstock, etc, and how it devalued the market. Thats a perfect example of how people giving away images have take work away from the working photographers. Phone book covers used to bring in a decent pay rate 10 years ago. With microstock, a phone book cover is now about .20 a download, or free!

Yes, it is cool to be published. And congrats to the OP. In this case the OP can probably still use this to their advantage. Ie, reproduce the cover and use it as part of a promo peice. Submit a press release to the local papers whooping it up that Sprint as selected her image for the cover of their phone books. There are plenty of ways to put a positive spin on it and still get lots of value out of it.

But also take it as a lesson learned. In the future, negotiate for as much value as you can get. Ignore credit lines, as they really are worthless based on every pro I've spoken to. If a client offered me a credit line for my images in exchange or $15 off my regular invoice price, I'd decline and take the cash instead. That puts a value on a credit line for me right up there with .20 a download

Hi, Stephen! Your work is tops. Do you use a fast prime like the 85L for your extreme DOF portraits, or is that a Photoshop effect?

Ryan, Thanks. I use a 85mm 1.2 or 300mm 2.8 to get the extreme DOF. I never manipulate it in PS because it is far too much work, and it never looks real

Damn corporate Sprint.
I would resist the temptation of "fame" and squeeze Sprint for their corporate bucks.
Dang, this America, money talks. But that's just me (no PHOTO publication in my name,lol)

DocFrankenstein wrote in post #2842714
Because they get paid for it.

Not true. I alway sget paid for commercial work (ads etc) and 80% of the time I get photo credit as well, sometimes very large actually.