Photographic Agencies - any advice please

[geoff_c]

I'd be grateful for any advice that anyone has please ...

I have been contacted by a photographic agency who has found my work through Pbase. They claim to source photos for National media, and have invited me to submit work through themselves. So far, I have submitted one photo to them, in response to a need for a specific shot - although a publication date was mentioned, nothing has happened yet.

The agency have asked me to send them a range of shots at high resolution on CD, which they will then key-word and send on to (un-named) papers for inclusion in their photo library.

Any fees would then be split 50/50, with me getting a statement once every 3 months.

On the face of it, this sounds really good. I do have a draft contract which highlights that I would retain copyright, and the right to sell my photos elsewhere. However before I take the plunge I would appreciate any advice.

I am a little concerned that the first photo has not yet been pubished, and am concerned that this may be a taste of things to come. I am also a little confused as to whether the wholesale submission of my work is a sensible thing to do - do other agencies work this way ?

No money has changed hands in either direction, so I am a little reassured in that way, however I would appreciate other people's experiences and some guidance as to what I should expect from this sort of approach.

In short, do people think I should steer clear, or is it worth taking the plunge ?

Thanks in advance

Geoff

(http://www.pabse.com/geoff_c)

[sheila]

That's the way most large stock libraries work from my experience. It is a trust thing! A few years ago I burned several images to a CD and sent it to an agency in the UK and never heard back from them. I have no idea if they used or sold any of the images ...this is where the trust comes in Large agencies such as Alamy and Corbis are of course not going to rip you off (well, one hopes not).

Selling stock is a risky business and one which is getting less lucrative every day. I would ask the agency what happened to the first image which they said was going to be published (and when can you expect the cheque ). Get more details of this before you do anything else.

Other stock agencies work differently. You upload very low res to their sites (ie Photographers Direct and OzImages) and if they get a nibble from their clients, you negotiate directly with the client regarding the price and then send the client the high res image (along with your account). In other words you don't send high res (and very saleable images) on spec.

Cheers
Sheila

[andrys]

That's the way most large stock libraries work from my experience. It is a trust thing! A few years ago I burned several images to a CD and sent it to an agency in the UK and never heard back from them. I have no idea if they used or sold any of the images ...this is where the trust comes in

Scary. I've never been approached for that kind of CD-thing.

But I had 4 sales this month, 3 of them licenses. I think more agencies are checking out pbase.

=======
Editing this to correct that last paragraph to say I think more
publishing houses are checking out pbase.

[jimcritchley]

Never send high-res images that could be used straight away. If you send low-res that could not be reproduced it is much safer. If they want to use one of your pictures they would tell you which one, you would negotiate a price and after everything is finalised you would send them the high res image. While I have never sold any photos and Sheila has more experience at this I may be wrong in my appraoch Just something I would bare in mind.

[geoff_c]

The advice that you're giving me is striking a chord really.
After all, I have a ready made on-line catalogue at Pbase, and am spending a great deal of time indexing and key wording my shots to make them easy to find.

My hope had been to use these as a trigger, and send the high res shots on afetrwards.

Perhaps I am being a little too optomistic ?

[ericvision]

You really should consider signing up to photographersdirect.com. They only let you upload very low-res pictures and then slap a watermark on 'em.

They do pretty much what you want to do with PBase, but with the added advantage that the people looking there are actively seeking to buy shots. I am a member and its very little hassle for me to upload anything that I think might sell to both sites (I make two images, an 800 pixel long one for PBase and a 300 pixel long one for photographersdirect). I haven't sold anything at all yet (your pictures look to be more saleable than mine, though) but even if I sell one ever, it'll reimburse me nicely for the added hassle of uploading to two sites.

Also they'll email you a list of often random and obscure pictures that people are looking for; they really are the kind of thing you'd often delete, so they could well be lurking on a dusty disc full of RAWs that you never bothered to process!

[lightmatters]

I've worked for years as a photojournalist dealing with agencies editors etc.
There's so much going on right now with copyright, public domain and marketing. There's not enough room here but I do encourage you to check out some of the advice and forms and contracts mostly all are free to look at on editorialphotographers

It is basically a photographer support group. It has helped me immensely throughout the last few years. They even have a price calculator of what the going rate is for certain kinds of pics and how much to charge depending if the picture is going to be used 1/4 page or full. I had tried posting this before and it didn't go up -hope it does this time.
Sherrlyn Borkgren, photographer google me to see my images

[geoff_c]

Plenty to go on here.
I think I'll bide my time for a while, and look at some of the sites that everyone has mentioned. Thanks too to Sherryl Borkgren who sent the following email:

Hi
I'm not registered yet but saw your question and wanted to warn you. There are some groups out there that may sell photos for $1.00 and you then get 50 cents. I'd really check out who they are and what they are doing. Check out their website and ask what prices they sell for.
Also take a look at editorialphotographers.com they have lots of advice for free, going rates contract forms you can post this response since I can't on pbase if you would so others can see too. I've worked in the editorial world for about 15 years and you do need to be careful. There are some agencies out there who upon reviewing your portfolio may represent you and they will give you a lot of infor about their agency.
Sherrlyn Borkgren
http://www.borkgren.com