By Matt Brown
Stop working for free!
Next time you’re in the local hardware store, ask the salesman to give
you free tools and tell him in return you will tell all your friends
you got your tools from his hardware store.
Or try it at the grocery store. I can see it now, standing at the
check at line:
“That we be $102.85, sir.”
“You don’t know me but I will tell everyone I know to shop at Ralph’s
if I can just get my groceries for free”.
“Sure Mr. Brown nobody knows about us yet, here’s your food and have a
nice day!”
Sweet!
Can you send me a photo? Can I get a photo for free? We will give you
credit for the photo! How many times have you heard that?
Free! Free! Free!
I’ve had CBS.com, Wilson Sporting Goods Global Marketing, Fox Sports,
ESPN.com, ABC, CBS, Fox, Rivals.com, Baseball America, college
websites and yes, newspapers, magazines, all ask for FREE photos. Some
are even willing to give me photo credit.
Wow! Give me photo credit for a photo I created! So these companies
can take it and make money from a product I provided free. Yes, money.
The bottom line here is money. Give me your photos for free and I can
post them on their company website or run it in a publication. .. what
a concept!
I received an email the other day from a CBS College Sports Network
production assistant. Here is the exchange:
“Matt,
I hope all is well. Can you email me six Cal State Fullerton Baseball
action photos from this season?
Thanks,
Mr. X”
I replied that day:
“Mr. X,
There will be a charge for use of the photos.
Matt”
The response:
“Matt,
My boss said no due to the fee…sorry.
Thanks,
Mr. X”
At the same time I was emailing Mr. X, he was emailing Mr. Greenlee,
the Sports Information Director at Cal State Fullerton asking if he
can get me to waive the fee because CBS just doesn’t have the money to
buy photos. Did you know what David Letterman makes a year? Dave
signed a contract in 2006 that makes him a reported $38 million a
year! Why can’t CBS buy my photos ($50 each) for their website?
I emailed Mr. X and asked if CBS ever pays for photos. What he wrote
back was shocking:
Southern California freelance photographer Matt Brown shot this during
a portrait lighting class with Cal State Fullerton basketball player
Frank Robinson during Sports Shooter Academy V.
“Matt:Cal State Fullerton was the 1st school that we came across that
charges a fee to use photos. Other schools just gladly give them to us
for free and we credit the photographer or sports information from the
school…whichever they prefer. I have yet to see CBS College Sports pay
for photos to use.
Mr. X”
Well that answers why can’t CBS buy my photos ($50 each) for their TV
show: Because you or your boss is handing out photos for free! Maybe
you don’t know this is happening or you just like seeing your byline
on a website. But it’s just bad business.
I never had anyone call me up after seeing my photos on ESPN.com and
say we NEED you to shoot our annual report or our next catalog.
Maybe schools have something worked out with their photographers about
handing out photos to websites. Maybe the photographer gets paid extra
for the ability to hand the photos out. Just make sure you know what
is happening to your work. I have a feeling a lot of photographers
don’t know what happens to their photos.
I had another jaw dropping moment when a former athlete from one of my
schools who now works in the SID office at a PAC-10 school, told me
when athletes ask her for photos, she would just burn them a CD full
of photos.
MY TWO SCHOOLS
Two of my bigger clients are Division I schools, Long Beach State and
Cal State Fullerton. I have established the rules for working for them
and the do’s and don’t of using my work are set in writing. 1) I own
all my photos, not the school. 2) Photos can go out to local
newspapers and the newspaper of the hometown of the student athlete.
3) No photos go to magazines, websites, players, family or fans and
all referrals go through me.
One school follows the rules with no trouble. The other school is hard
headed. I have found photos on the websites and magazine and I get the
line: “We should have the ability to publicize our programs.” I
understand their point of view. But here’s my point of view: If the
schools just hand my photos over to another source they are going to
make money from my work and I am getting nothing in return. Isn’t it
reasonable to expect to be paid fairly for photos?
HURTING A FRIEND
As you know, we work in a small community, which is getting smaller
everyday. A good friend of mine, Larry Goren does freelance work for
Baseball America. He covers Major League Baseball, the minor leagues
and college baseball for them on a regular basis. Larry covers 4 - 5
Long Beach State and Cal State Fullerton baseball games a year.
Baseball America would call Cal State Fullerton or Long Beach State
and ask for free baseball photos for its website or magazine. By
getting photos from the schools for free they wouldn’t have to pay
Larry for his photos.
Faculty member and freelance photographer Matt Brown gives advice to
participant Sawitree Crowe while covering an NCAA men’s baseball game
at Cal State Fullerton during Sports Shooter Academy V held in Orange
County, CA.
I put a stop to it after locking horns with Baseball America a couple
times. Remember we are working in a small community and we must
lookout for each other. We can help or hurt each other’s bottom line.
LOSING OUT TO THE WORKING
Last week I had two schools, Purdue and Nevada, email me about
shooting the NCAA Women’s Softball Regional at UCLA. I gave them a
cost for shooting per game. I sent samples and waited to hear back
from them. You would think if someone goes out of their way to get in
touch with you, it might be a done deal and they are serious about
hiring a professional.
The next day I heard from them: Both schools are going with someone
else. I asked them who the photographer was and how much was he
charging and I was told it was a professor from the UCLA Science
Department.
I know some people at the campus and made some calls. I found out his
name and did some homework on being a professor at UCLA. This Weekend
Warrior makes over $90,000 a year, loves taking sports photos and
regularly hands over free photos to schools. He just picked up the
phone and called the schools looking to shoot for them during the
playoffs. The cost he was asking: $100. Not per game, for the entire
weekend! That’s 3 or 4 games for $100 total!
I emailed Joseph Rudnick, Dean of Chemistry & Biochemistry at UCLA,
asking if could work at school on Tuesday and Thursday for free
because I just love science. I told him I received an A+ in
Biochemistry in college.
Think about it for a second. We have people who just love taking
photos for free or dirt-cheap as a hobby and think that they can do
what you do for a living (as a professional photographer) . I went to
school for photography and I have busted my *** to get where I’m at
and for what? So some professor can do below average work for cheap?
Why can’t I teach biochemistry for little or no cost? I never heard
back from the dean, too bad … I was really looking forward to
teaching biochemistry at UCLA.
Well, if you can’t read it, why you even bother answering? Don’t. And it’s nothing what happened to me - it’s a common issue and that was written by Matt Brown, who is a freelance photographer based in Southern California. He is also the co-director of the Sports Shooter Academy.