I got published... sorta

T

That Guy

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Last summer I had an opportunity to volunteer for a local environmental group, Keep Greater Milwaukee Beautiful. The program director said she needed help documenting some of the organization's upcoming events as well as getting pictures for their new website. I got an email from her last week saying the website was updated and that some of my work was used. So I went to look and sure enough, there they were, if a little small.

So kinduv a personal triumph for me. Looks like all the shots they used were from my Bessa R, and they're scattered around the website. Not all of them are mine, but I saw seven that are. One of them's even in my gallery.

I mentioned to the program director that I'll be available this summer to volunteer again. She even mentioned that there were other non-profits in the area looking for a photographer. Should be fun!

KGMB's website
 
Congrats!

I'd say that immediate compensation is not all that important - getting name and rep within a community that needs good photography is worth a boat load in the long run. I did some free work over the weekend for my wife's church with that in mind.

but definiately clarify with them the copyright status of the work. Or it could bite you down the road.

In the meantime, have some major fun.

William
 
wlewisiii said:
Congrats!

I'd say that immediate compensation is not all that important - getting name and rep within a community that needs good photography is worth a boat load in the long run.
William
Click to expand...

Not to pick on you but it is important. I make my living from photography and just can't understand why some people think it's ok to do work for free.
Would you not have an issue if I showed up at your place of work, said I did it as a hobby, and would gladly do it for free?
Working for free is not going to earn you a good rep. It's going to get you used.
 
Yes and no. I've been on both side of that issue. In this particular case (working for a not-for-profit) more is to be gained _in the long term_ by not asking for $$$ up front. This is not to say you should be a door mat, however with a bit of judicial patience, you can, in fact, make more $$$ by making your work known than by walking in and saying "I'm the best! Hire Me!"

This is, I fear, a philosophical issue that we'd all be better off agreeing to disagree on. I'll not post to this thread again.

William
 
Jason, you forget one thing... most of us have a daytime job unrelated to photography and though we might want to be a fulltime photog we'll most likely never will be. So, we pusrue our hobbies and find gratification in occassional publication, publications that we most likely would not have had if we had charged money for the shots. Heck, most of the shots we take are on a no-good-no-big-deal basis and we regard publication in the same way: nice if it ever happens but no biggy if it doesn't.

For you as a pro photog I can imagine this must seem rather unnatural but we all do crazy things, don't we? Volunteer work is also unpaid, yet many people feel the need to support their community/church/sports club in that way. Others stand behind the soup-and-soda stand all day for free or drive the community's children this way and that; our way of volunteer work is in shooting photos during the (fund raising) activities.

Besides, would you have done this job? For a price that they could have afforded? I think you probably could do several, more lucrative, (wedding) shoots in the course of an entire volunteer day. The crumbs you leave are what we feast on. Yes, we are easily pleased. :)
 
Just a side note on the getting your name out there:
When was the last time you looked at a picture in the newspaper, a website, ect. and remembered who took the picture a hour/day/week later?
They would never remember the name and if you did get paid your name will still be passed around (just a little pay)

Just my .02, I am not a pro and I did not stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night.
 
Yes, I did the work for free. Yes, I would do it again. I've also done weddings for free, and gave the bride the negatives to boot! She was an old friend, we go back a long way, I enjoyed doing it, and to this day my pictures hang on her wall, not the pro's.

In short, I hope I continue to get "used" and earn myself a crappy reputation. But hey, what do I know. I'm not a Pro.
 
Congratulations! Maybe this will become a trend! If you do not make a living out of photography, taking photos for charity and NGOs is a form of community service.
 
As a amature I too would enjoy seeing a couple shots of mine used and available to the public. If by a volunteer group, or not for profit organization happily. I would want to retain the copyright, but just going onto the web site with some friends and saying "hey, I took that shot" would be cool.

Sometimes it isn't about fame fortune or profession, it is just fun. Being able to contribute to a charitable organization by offering a service which is also my hobby would be fun for me.
 
If it was a charity then you can write off those on your taxes. Get some kind of signed document and you can still kind of make money.
 
I don't think volunteer work undercuts or devalues professionals although I appreciate Jason's concern and believe that professionals should be fairly compensated for their work, an increasing problem for photojournalists. There are many professional photographers (teachers, choreographers, visual artists, web designers, etc.) who donate time, prints, whatever to various causes and organizations. Some individuals or businesses do try to take advantage of professionals, but I think that's a different issue than someone volunteering their services.
 
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