One of my neighbours recently asked me to take a few before and after photos of a house for his friend, who owns a windows and doors business. I agreed, thinking it was just as a favour, but now the business owner is talking about using the photos for a magazine and wants to know how much I charge! I've never done photography as anything other than a hobby before and I have absolutely no idea... Can any of you with a bit more experience give me any advice? Thanks!
Where to start?! You have two choices - license the use of the images, or sell them. If you get a license agreement drawn up, you remain the owner of the images and can use them on other projects if you wish and also continue to make money on them (if they're good enough). In this instance it's probably better to sell the images outright, so charge what is appropriate to your level of skill and experience and maybe do a package deal. Whatever you do, NEVER charge for your time - you'll lose money and clients! I once did a job for a jeweller who didn't want a license agreement so I sold the digital images for £100 each. And that's not much compared to what you can make from newspapers. This is the business side of photography which - to be honest - is not in the least bit glamourous or fun; it's one of the main reasons I stopped working as a freelance photographer. You really need legal advice (or some kind of training in contract law, especially copyright etc.) if you want to earn good money from this kind of photography.
