experience with newspapers and photography

[Scooter Pie]

So I went in for an interview with the local newspaper to be one of their freelance photographers and scored it....hold the applause (lol)

During the interview the duties of what I had to do were gone over lightly...they briefly discussed pay rate etc. The very next day my email was inundated with assignments - my saturday started at 8am and ended at 11pm! I was excited, traveling all over my area, introducing my self...gathering ppl, arranging shots and taking names etc....rince and repeat for saturdays.

So today, the same deal...my day started at 8:30am and I decided my day is going to end at 3pm and it did...i relinquished the position at the newspaper.

through the course of last week, speaking with the photo editor, I was trying to figure out how often I am going to get paid and when. Come to find out that not all assignments are not guaranteed pay....only if the pictures are printed will I get paid! I get no press pass, travel expenses are not compensated for! Oh heres the kicker: If the pictures are printed in the paper...you don't get a check at the end of the week...you have to submit paper work along with the cut out of your photo and when confirmed - you will receive a check any where between a month or 2 months!

Now I know there is a lot of liberty "freelancing" but I had no idea its this....unpredictable. Work all day and a possible wait of 2 months for a check if your pictures are printed.

So after the glitz of saying "hi im justin, a photographer with ****** newspaper" faded away, I realized there were too many variables for me to stay!

I know this is a bad experience and it should cloud other freelance positions that I may come across but I much rather stick to what I know for now....portraits and landscapes!

...I need a hug lol

[Kole~Slaw]

((((Scooter Pie)))) you have been hugged. Sorry things didn't go well for you.

[jdepould]

Screwy. Nothing I've ever done has been remotely that absurd.

They didn't touch on the "you only get paid if it runs" bit before you took the job?

[mad editor]

Wow. With freelance writing you often don't get paid until it runs (and you do have to submit an invoice) but there's usually a "kill fee" that they pay you if your piece does not run.

[Scooter Pie]

ya they didnt mentioned how when i'd get paid and or how often..i was blinded by excitement heh

ya no kill fee either...i mean..i would have been cool if they gave me gas money..meh

its all a learning process right?

[Amanda0102]

I live just outside of NYC and am dying to know what rag this was from!

Sounds ridiculous and unprofessional to me. I'm so sorry you went through that experience, but at least it was for a very short time.

[theosus]

I heard a joke recently; Whats the difference between a large pizza and a freelance writer? A large pizza can feed a family of four.

I guess this applies to freelance photgraphers as well. The one thing I dont understand - you say you had "assignments" pouring in every day. That sounds like a real job, not "freelancing". Do you have to do every assignment, or can you pick and choose? For example - "im going to be at the walmart at 6am anyway on black friday, so Ill take that one on holiday shopping, but to heck with the one the day after x-ma$$ taking pictures of the returns line, Ill be hung over.

[andyw]

All I can say is they saw you coming mate.

If you are submitting images to the paper on spec. then you get paid if they are published.
If they are actually sending you to assignments then you should get paid whether or not the story/picture runs.

[tuxcomputers]

Sounds like they screwed you by giving you the worst of both worlds.

[tuxcomputers]

Originally Posted by theosus

I heard a joke recently; Whats the difference between a large pizza and a freelance writer? A large pizza can feed a family of four.

If the pizzas are from Dominos that should read "a stack of a dozen pizzas", a single "large" pizza from them would hardly put a dent in the hunger of a starving 4yo Ethiopian child.