Am I Doing the Right Thing ??

[asnow]

Am I doing the right thing? Just sent my picture to Q1 and the guy in the UPS store likes the print so much he want to put a copy up in his store. I insisted that I be given credit. He agreed to put up a plaque with my name and phone number. Not getting any money for it, but who perhaps the exposure could lead to a some photography gig. I'm being realistic, it's a long shot, but who know it's probably worth a try.

I'll let Q1 comment on the quality of the pic once she receives it.

[QuietOne]

This is a hard question being asked in a lot of different industries. I don't get the impression that you're actively trying to start a photography business. Correct me if I'm wrong. If you aren't, then, yes, it's fine, as long as you recognize the odds. If you've got business cards for doing photography on the side, then see if he'll take a few of those, too.

The difficulty is, I'm seeing too many stories on "working for exposure", and they often mean, "we think we figured out a way of not putting it in the budget". In photography, it's the free Craigslist ads trying to build a portfolio. Or models wanting to allow use of the results their session in exchange for a free session and prints for their own portfolio. Or a rant I read from a sports photographer, where apparantly, a major pro tennis tournament wanted experienced sports photographers, with their own equipment sufficient to the task, to pay their own way there and shoot for free. "Think of the opportunity!" The tournament in question was established, and raked in millions.

I lurk on ENWorld, which is a board devoted to games of all kinds, but mostly RPGs. With Drivethru RPG and its sister sites, all you need is an account and a will to churn out material, and you, too, can be in the business of selling core rule sets, supplements, class redesigns, and so on. And there's a lot of it. Most, as you can guess, don't go anywhere. Even the well regarded ones are frequently a one person shop, or perhaps a few friends. Some do a bit better - they aren't Paizo or Wizards of the Coast by any means, but they're recognized and they're making a bit more than beer money. And some of them want freelancers to work for exposure. Not because they can't afford it otherwise. They can't pay out huge amounts, but they can afford at least a modest amount in the budget. It's so bad that the board's owner has flat out banned "work for exposure" ads in the forum he's established for advertising work.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, if it's just a nice ego stroke, with the long shot possibility down the road, sure, it's fine. If it's a bit more serious, you have to ask whether you're getting enough in exchange, whether the definition of "enough" involves exposure, introductions, or something similar. For building portfolio? Too often weaselspeak for "I don't want to pay for it, even though I can and should". For exposure? See the previous translation. Especially see that translation if they want you to be very experienced, have top-notch equipment, and work an assignment that takes hours or days just to shoot, never mind delivering the edited results. My two cents, and I'll let others reply to the particulars of the type of photography you're doing.

[Marko]

Seems to me that the new trend is - please decorate my space for free - it's everywhere. It's part of the new 'economy'. And if you won't do it, they have a nephew that just got a great camera so why should they pay you?

If there's no price attached to the image for a potential sale, imo this is a waste of your time. You are decorating their store for free...But that's me.

That said, many people would love seeing their work exhibited in a public place with nothing in return - depends on the person I guess.
..but this is a new phenomenon. When film was the medium of choice, photography had exponentially more respect.

[Iguanasan]

Everyone you ask about this will have a different opinion and I'm no different! If you are asking us then you probably feel like you got taken but you are too nice to say so. I generally give away my images when people ask as well but not to businesses. There's no right or wrong here. It really depends on how you feel about it.

[asnow]

I'm surely not looking into starting a business, yet if work did fall in my lap that I felt I could do I certainly wouldn't turn it down. In one way it would be nice to see it up there with my name (I do have some ego) , however it is probably as Marko said " please decorate my space for free ". That's why I'm not feeling totally comfortable with this and wanted to get others opinions.

[QuietOne]

So your 3 choices would be to pull the offer back (personally, I have a hard time with not following through when I've said I'd do something. I think I should do it more often than I do, but it's hard to find that balance), take it as a "live and learn" lesson, or try to figure out what would make the deal fairer for you and that he would agree to.

The second part of the third option is important. I mentioned business cards - would that help? Him being prepared to hand them out to someone who says, "Gee, that's a nice picture"? Allowing you to leave a paragraph or two about your work, with copies available to anyone who shows interest? He might not do it, for reasons ranging from getting requests from others for the same deal to he doesn't want to, but if you can get something to shift the balance so you don't feel quite so "took", you got more than you had before. And now that you've been through this, you might have a better idea of how you want to respond in the future.