First commercial deal

[pasoviennese]

Hi all,

I'm very excited at the moment as I got my first commercial photo offer.

Went to shoot some dancing event a few weeks back and now one of the dancewear companies want my photo for advertising purposes.

Also a professional dancer has asked me to be their designated photographer at competitions and showcases.

Completely new to this, so I have no idea how much to charge.

Better to charge a fixed rate per event of shooting or a per photo taken or per photo used for commercial rate?

And what to charge for the advertising photo? It's going to be printed in A4 magazine.

[Jim Bryant]

Find out the circulation of the magazine. Payment depends on the circulation size and if they have big time ads displayed such as car ads. Check out any major magazine at a bookstore or library and you'll get an idea of the type of ads that are displayed in the major magazines. Is this a national dance magazine with a nationwide circulation or regional magazine? These are questions that you need to ask the magazines Art Director. Normally full page photos go between $700-1200 for major magazines such as Time, National Geographic, Travel & Leisure, Red Book, Southern Living, Sunset Magazine to name a few.

[sk66]

What usage right does the magazine want..one tim print...a few hundred I'd guess...
Better off getting paid by event as opposed to by pic; more "certain" average...

[Niresangwa]

sounds to me that the dancewear company wants the OP to take images for them to use in advertisements they will pay for, right? Not a magazine asking for editorial photography..

[Grumby]

Pasoviennese
I have no advice to offer on your pricing dilemma, but just wanted to say congratulations on getting on the first rung of the photographic career ladder. Well done - you must be absolutely stoked - I know I would be!

Good luck
Grum.

[Jim Poor]

Wow, you've come far from "should I sell them for $1.00 a piece?" not to terribly long ago.

Dancesport Photography

[pasoviennese]

Originally Posted by Jim Bryant

Is this a national dance magazine with a nationwide circulation or regional magazine? These are questions that you need to ask the magazines Art Director.

The photos will apear in the national dance review with nationwide criculation. It will be used by the dancewear seller who wishes to advertise their business on these magazines. On top of that, it will also be included in the programs of all major national or state championships for advertising purposes.

The company has signed a sponsorship deal with one of the professionals I often take photos of, and they loved my photos.

[pasoviennese]

Originally Posted by Jim Poor

Wow, you've come far from "should I sell them for $1.00 a piece?" not to terribly long ago.

Dancesport Photography

I know, I was quite surprised when I got the offer because honestly I didn't think I'd go so fast.

It all came from a state championships I shot at and offered to give photos away to friends, well I did take a couple thousand photos and had a few hundred alright ones. So I gave some of the photos away, but the calls kept coming in offering me money. I told them I only did it for fun and by no means professional, but they insisted the quality of my photos are worth paying for. Go figure!

So last week I got a email from a professional asking to use my photos for their new sponsorship deal, and advertising, which will appear in the national dance magazine and programs of dance comps.

Difference of my shooting if you ask, well I pracised at a few more events. Got myself a 24-105L instead of using the Tamron 18-270. Shot at the floor side instead of 20 meters away. Been playing with manual exposure. Oh, the back button focusing.

And a LOT more shooting of different subjects.

[pasoviennese]

Sample photo:

1980 by jqw1987, on Flickr

At 200%

logo by jqw1987, on Flickr

Jim, I hope that in your professional opinion that my photos has improved.
I guess now I finally understand the idea of having sharp images, even magnified to 400%.

[danbaileyphoto]

Congratulations- it sounds like you've come across what could be a good opportunity.

First thing to do is to step back and take a deep breath. Now, remember, you're in the driver's seat here- they really like your photos, so you don't want to act desperate.

Magazine advertising rates for imagery are based on the size of the photo and the circulation of the publication. It can be all over the board, but here are a couple of resources to get you started.

First of all, here's a very simple stock photo pricing calculator. Find how big they want to use your photo and how many magazines will be printed and enter the info into the Advertising section. That will give you a starting point. You may need to negotiate.

If they want to run the same ad in more than one issue or magazine, then the usual rate is this: First use = full price. Each additional insertion = 10-15% of the initial price. If they want to use the photo is multiple ways, try to price each use individually, but there's room to negotiate.

Stock Photo Price Calculator

Another method is to find out the ad rates for that magazine, (what they charge advertisers for space in the mag) and charge 2-5% of that fee. For example, if the magazine charges $10,000 for a full page ad, then you'd charge $200-500 for full page shot.

You can find ad rates here:

Magazine & Publication Advertising Costs

Remember, you're in the driver's seat, so don't let them push you around with the whole "it will be good exposure for you..." line. The truth is just the opposite- with your good photos, it will be good exposure for them and they should pay for that exposure. The most important thing, though is to establish a good working relationship with the client, because it could lead to future jobs.

Good luck.