Photography For Freelance Writers
Posted on October 22, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized |
Thinking of becoming a freelance writer? Then you should also think about photography. Your articles will be much more valuable if you can include some good, original and pertinent photographs in your articles.
As a freelance writer you will get paid a lot more if you include original photographs from your travel assignment. Be sure that your client is willing to pay extra for any photographs attached to your assignment, you don’t want to go to the added expense and risk of carrying an expensive and heavy camera with you if you aren’t going to be paid for the photos.
With a digital camera and a quality memory stick, anyone can take a reasonable photo. Why not add photography to your repertoire, you will be adding to your value to you client.
A handshake deal will always cause you problems, either you or your client will remember something differently. Trust is a good thing, so trust in your contract or written agreement, not in yours or your clients memory or honesty.
If you have agreed to be reimbursed for your travel expenses you must be absolutely sure that you are giving your client what he wants. It is no good going to Spain and writing and taking photographs of the most wonderful things that Spain has to offer if your client wants an article on Portugal.
You will need to know how many photos he is willing to pay for. What photos he wants, and what the subjects are to be. How much per photo are you going to get paid, and who holds the copyright.
You may be lucky enough to get a pic of something that may have historical significance. If you give away the copyright, you give away any potential future income from that photograph. So my advice is never give or sell the copyright of any photo you take.
To the uninitiated it may seem a waste of time and effort to take so many pics of the same subject. But it is better to have too many photos than to have the few that you take turn out to be useless and amateurish. Take lots of photos then you won’t have to go back to your location to re-shoot if something goes astray.
This is why digital photographs have become much more popular. Taking hundreds of photos on film was a very expensive exercise. With a digital camera you can take thousands of photos, download them onto your computer, chose the ones that you want to keep and discard the rest and it wont cost you a cent.
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