Freelance photojournalism: What's a fair price?

[Experiment_626]

I'm long-winded -- the short question here is: How much I should be willing to accept for doing freelance high school sports photography for a small-town newspaper? For additional factors that might affect the bottom line, read on …

Back in the mid-'90s, I spent a couple of years as the managing editor of a small-town newspaper. There were actually two papers in two towns, about 12 miles apart. I was only the editor for one, but I contributed to both. We published a total of three papers per week, two of "mine" and one of the other.

At such a small paper, you tend to wear a lot of hats. I did a little of almost everything except run the press and sweep the floor. Probably the thing I enjoyed most about the job was the sports photography. I did lots of high school football and basketball and a little baseball, and even a bit of major college football. I often shot one game until halftime, then drove to another for the second half to shoot more if it was close enough. The point being here is that I'm not just some guy with a camera -- I actually have some real-world newspaper experience.

I want to try to supplement my income and do a little sports photography again. I live in another community now with another small-town newspaper roughly comparable to the one I used to edit. I have a day job -- and I really don't want to do much other than sports -- so I'm not looking for a staff position. And as my equipment and skills have certainly improved over the years, I'm sure I would produce results superior to what I used to get -- once I shake off the rust.

I'm not looking to get rich doing this (a good thing, since I won't), but even if all I can do is eventually use this as an avenue to justify getting a D700 or the future equivalent or new lenses, I'd be happy. I'd probably not drive more than 50 miles one way for any game I cover as a general rule, and usually significantly less. I wouldn't want to be locked into covering every game, so obviously I'd only get paid for games I actually cover and for which I deliver usable photos, naturally.

Unfortunately, I don't have much in the way of sample images to show -- we shot film in those days, and almost everything stayed at the paper when I left. I do have the following basketball photo, which was my personal favorite:

Most of the staff at the paper I used to edit has changed -- along with the ownership. There are two people still there from those days; I have established contact with one (so far) who would be willing to vouch for my ability if asked.

One other note: Photos help sell newspapers. As far as I have been able to determine, the paper here in my town doesn't have anyone doing this, at least on a regular basis -- not for sports, anyway.

Has anyone else done anything like this? What's a fair price? Should I ask for compensation for my mileage, or just build a little into the per-game price and hope it averages out? How do I present myself to the paper's management so as to increase my chances? I know I can produce results. Should I ask them to let me photograph a couple of games provisionally to prove myself, since I don't have stacks of samples? Is there anything else I may not have considered? I'm open to any and all suggestions ...

SSB

 

[WDWFigment]

I can't answer this question, but I will be interested in hearing an answer.

 

[Experiment_626]

Thoughts? Ideas? Wild guesses?

SSB

 

[coloneldebugger]

My thought is given the state of most newspapers, especially the locals, you should take whatever they'll give and be happy with it. Use the time as a resume builder towards more freelance work.

 

[MarkBarbieri]

I've got to agree. Newspapers are a dying breed. You can only squeeze so much blood from, what is it, a turnip?

 

[Experiment_626]

My thought is given the state of most newspapers, especially the locals, you should take whatever they'll give and be happy with it. Use the time as a resume builder towards more freelance work.

Actually, I have a feeling that if they''ll do this at all, it will be enough. Truthfully, I don't really know if I want to go beyond this level. I really enjoyed shooting high school sports, and I would (privately) consider the joy of doing it again as part of the compensation. Your comment does make me think that perhaps that anything they offer -- so long as it isn't ridiculously low -- would be acceptable, so long as there's an option to review and possibly increase it based on my results.

The main reason I'm considering trying this is that I want more equipment to feed my other passion for landscape photography. I have a fairly mild case of NAS (mild in the sense that I want a D700 -- or probably a D700x, when it arrives -- but I don't feel I must have it now) -- but I also have a wife, an almost-four-year-old little boy, and another boy due in December. I can't afford to lose money doing this, no matter how much I enjoy doing it. I've done too many jobs "for the exposure" and little to no money over the years -- I'm 41 years old, I have experience, and the time has come for it to pay off, at least in some small measure.

Honestly, I'd do this for a week or so for nothing more than a press pass that would get me to the sidelines. I have the experience, but it has been a while -- I'm sure I have some rust I'd have to shake off.

The county in which I live has a population of about 46,000. There are two public high schools in the county. Driving to and from either of them is nearly a 40-mile round trip, presuming I start from home. The county seat, the nearest town to my home, has a population of about 7,000 and is, for what it's worth, the most populous city in the county.

My impression of such very small local papers is that they haven't been hit as hard as the print newspaper business as a whole, for a variety of reasons. The main reason I believe that is because people read a small-town paper for different reasons that they would a fairly large daily paper. They read them for the type of local news the larger papers and television usually don't cover. They buy them to see and read about themselves, their friends and their extended families. Of course, all that said, small local papers are rarely swimming in cash even in good economic times -- I just suspect things haven't changed as much for them these days as they have for larger papers. I could be wrong, of course.

I will say the figure that's been rattling around in my head is something in the $30-$40-per game range. If I were to do more than one game in the same evening, maybe there would be a reduced rate for the second game, since I'd already be out and about. Realistic?

What do you think, sirs?

SSB

 

[ssanders79]

Here is an idea to get you started.
First determine your expenses: the cost of travel, admission to the game/event, time and effort to get sideline access ect....

Then determine what you want to put in your pocket.
This should give you a minimum amount you would accept. If at first you want to build up a track record with paper consider doing a week or two for free and then negotiate a fair compensation package.

I wish you luck as it seem everyday a newspaper is cutting back. Freelance work seems to be in thier interest as it lowers thier overhead, but times are tough.

 

[MICKEY88]

my experience has been that the small town newspapers near me, don't pay photographers for HS sports, since they can get plenty of free photos from parents, with the proliferation of DSLRs,

another option would be to check and see if the local teams have a sports boosters organization. if they do, approach them to see if they'd be willing to pay you to shoot their games, with the agreement that you will make the photos available for purchase by parents..

I did that last year with the local HS Football team. .. the High School then gave me sideline access for home games, and a letter stating that I was shooting the games for the HS.

For away games I'd contact the Athletic director from the other school, explain that I had been hired to shoot for the team they were playing that week, and then I would ask if there was anything special I needed to do to gain sideline access at their field.

Most told me I didn't need to do anything, a few asked that I locate them, game night and introduce myself before the game..



I'd shoot the game friday or Saturday, upload the pics to my website, then sit back and watch as photo orders rolled in,

I was then asked to shoot Basketball, baseball, the prom, class nite, baccalaureate, and graduation..

 

[Experiment_626]

my experience has been that the small town newspapers near me, don't pay photographers for HS sports, since they can get plenty of free photos from parents, with the proliferation of DSLRs

I thought of that, but this one doesn't seem to publish much, if any. That tells me they're either choosing not to publish what they get (unlikely, unless they aren't getting stuff they consider worth publishing), or they aren't getting anything at all. This a relatively low-income county ... there probably aren't as many SLRs out there as you might think, digital or otherwise. Also, parents tend to shoot from the stands -- and concentrate heavily on their own children.

I'd shoot the game friday or Saturday, upload the pics to my website, then sit back and watch as photo orders rolled in

Now that's not a bad idea ... no reason I couldn't do both, if possible. I like your idea, either way.

What sort of equipment did you use for the games you shot? I'm thinking a flash is probably still a must, at least for football -- I've seen the guys from larger papers -- with their big f-2.8 teles -- struggle mightily to shoot with available light. After all, it isn't just getting a shutter speed you can hand-hold; you've got to be able to freeze the action as well. Basketball was always the easiest sport to shoot -- pick a spot under the goal, just to one side of the paint (after you figure out which side the refs are likely to take, choose the other side), and the action comes to you -- see the shot I posted earlier). Baseball as the most difficult -- you're typically farther away from the players, and there are long stretches when little happens. Also, baseball photos are harder to make distinctive. On the other hand, lots of baseball games take place during daylight hours, so that's easier at least.

One other thing I forgot to mention: there are two, possibly three small papers in the county -- and there would be some competition between them.

SSB

 

[MICKEY88]

I thought of that, but this one doesn't seem to publish much, if any. That tells me they're either choosing not to publish what they get (unlikely, unless they aren't getting stuff they consider worth publishing), or they aren't getting anything at all.
Now that's not a bad idea ... no reason I couldn't do both, if possible.

One other thing I forgot to mention: there are two, possibly three small papers in the county -- and there would be some competition between them.

SSB

one problem with doing both, is, if the paper is going to pay you to shoot the game, they probably wouldn't want you selling the photos,

I'd make sure to get the agreement with the booster club, or team, otherwise you run into a grey area of law as far as selling images of the kids without a release..

 

[Experiment_626]

one problem with doing both, is, if the paper is going to pay you to shoot the game, they probably wouldn't want you selling the photos,

I thought of that too -- might have to let them have publication rights to the images they print. Of course, as a freelancer, I could choose to stop any time I get ready -- especially if the other avenue proves more lucrative.

I'd make sure to get the agreement with the booster club, or team, otherwise you run into a grey area of law as far as selling images of the kids without a release..

Definitely -- I thought of that as well. It's always a good idea in this sort of thing to develop good relations with coaches and such, anyway.

SSB

 

[giantstu]

I agree with Mickey88, i do basically the same thing over here in the Uk, football,rugby and gymnastics as official club photographer.
I charge a fair price "£6.50 for a framed a4 print compared to the pro company charging £20."

I put them on my password protected website and sell the photo's from there.

I also supply them free of charge to the clubs for magazines, websites and programmes(and whatever else they want)

I am doing well with it, people are inviting me to different events and i am getting to buy my new camera gear that i want.

I think this would be more beneficial than a photo here and there of a game, the coaches tend to email game reports to the newspapers anyway.

 

[Chikabowa]

I don't do sports. Most likely never will as I just don't have an interest.

But add up the time of commuting between places, time away from your family, the equipment needed, the time spent processing and/or uploading, and then divide that by the price they are willing to offer. Sometimes you'd be surprised to learn that you are working for $2.00/hour. Sometimes it's better than that price, sometimes a lot worse. You've got to take into account all of that!

Honestly, photography for fun vs. photography as money is a WAY different ball game (no pun intended). Sure, I can easily say that I love what I do, because I really do. But at the same time, when I shoot a wedding, it is a TON of work. It's hard on my body (10 hours with no breaks - even for bathroom or food), it's a lot of time away from my family and it's a lot of work on the back end dealing with clients expectations. I easily put in 60-80 hours worth of work for every single client. Would I do it for free? At one time (long ago) I would have said "Hell, yes!" and jumped at the opportunity.

But now that I know all that is involved, it would be a big NO... even though I love what I do... it's GOT to pay the bills.

Now I understand this isn't a full-time gig or anything like that, but once you jump into something like that, really do some hard thinking as to if it is worth the money. Because you might find that you are actually LOOSING money (even if the intent is to make a little money to feed the obsession. I just hate to watch people take on this kind of thing (and I've seen it a hundred times) and then burn out quickly because they feel bitter and used.

One question though... don't you need liability insurance if you are doing this kind of thing?

And by uploading images to a site, aren't you dealing with some pretty hefty problems in terms of model releases and stuff?

I know when I worked in division 1A college athletics, we had this 'photographer' (I called him creepy) who would show up at games and take pictures of the cheerleaders. He then uploaded them to his site - just like Mickey88 suggested - and then sold them. There were some real issues with him doing that. Not only did it TOTALLY creep the girls out (having their picture just OUT THERE for people to buy and not sanctioned by the university), but it just seemed really wrong for him to be making money off of these girls. I'm not sure of all the legal ramifications honestly. It maybe legal, but creepy as can be. It honestly gives me the shivers thinking about it.

With that said... college athletics is a huge money maker and I know that and understand the differences between college/high school athletics.

But I'll tell you... as a mom, I would take SERIOUS issue with someone taking pictures of my son or daughter during a game (with no affiliation to the school or organization), especially at the high school level and when you are dealing with minors, and then having them up on the internet. It's just weird to have them for sale like that and seriously creepy. It's different when it's sanctioned by a media outlet. I just have objections to the private individual going out there and posting them on some website for purchase.

 

[giantstu]

As edited above, i am asked by the clubs(not schools)(as my kids attend and are well known) to go to these events and fully permission to take these photo's from parents from club coaches.
Each event has a new password, so only people who were there will know it as it is handed out by ONLY the coaches, not me.
If anyone request for photo's not to be taken of there child, i do not take them.

The clubs also get a contribution from myself towards club funds from every print i sell.

Now you might think this sounds creepy, but believe me i am not creepy, i have current CRB police checks to show i have nothing to hide.
I hope to be able to make a full time living from this one day and give up my current profession.
My wife is also one of the gymnastics coaches.

It also gives the parents who havn't got several thousand pounds worth of camera equipment to get photo's of there kids.

 

[Chikabowa]

As edited above, i am asked by the clubs(not schools)(as my kids attend and are well known) to go to these events and fully permission to take these photo's from parents from club coaches.
Each event has a new password, so only people who were there will know it as it is handed out by ONLY the coaches, not me.
If anyone request for photo's not to be taken of there child, i do not take them.

The clubs also get a contribution from myself towards club funds from every print i sell.

Now you might think this sounds creepy, but believe me i am not creepy, i have current CRB police checks to show i have nothing to hide.
I hope to be able to make a full time living from this one day and give up my current profession.
My wife is also one of the gymnastics coaches.

It also gives the parents who havn't got several thousand pounds worth of camera equipment to get photo's of there kids.

Like I said... if you are sanctioned by the club and/or school, media etc., not creepy. Totally normal and understandable.

It's just when Joe-Schmoe off the street walks in, starts taking pictures of children with no affiliation to the organization, the parents or children, and then posts them up on the internet for people to buy... creepy.

And I've seen a lot of Joe-Schmoe's off the street doing that... and it's weird and scary.

 

[MICKEY88]

I know when I worked in division 1A college athletics, we had this 'photographer' (I called him creepy) who would show up at games and take pictures of the cheerleaders. He then uploaded them to his site - just like Mickey88 suggested - and then sold them. There were some real issues with him doing that. Not only did it TOTALLY creep the girls out (having their picture just OUT THERE for people to buy and not sanctioned by the university), but it just seemed really wrong for him to be making money off of these girls. I'm not sure of all the legal ramifications honestly. It maybe legal, but creepy as can be. It honestly gives me the shivers thinking about it.

With that said... college athletics is a huge money maker and I know that and understand the differences between college/high school athletics.

But I'll tell you... as a mom, I would take SERIOUS issue with someone taking pictures of my son or daughter during a game (with no affiliation to the school or organization), especially at the high school level and when you are dealing with minors, and then having them up on the internet. It's just weird to have them for sale like that and seriously creepy. It's different when it's sanctioned by a media outlet. I just have objections to the private individual going out there and posting them on some website for purchase.

I'm sure that's not your intent, but including me in that scenario sounds like you're including me in the creepy guy category....

as a father of 2 daughters I can see the concern, of course the type of pictures would decide the creepy factor for me...the ironic thing though is those same teenage girls put pictures of themselves all over myspace and facebook, where anyone can copy them for free..


as I stated in my prior post I was hired by the parents of the football team to take pictures of the football team, and I actually ran into the opposite problem with the cheerleaders I had a few cheerleader mothers get quite nasty with me because I didn't take and post pictures of the cheerleaders..

I received several nasty emails , telling me that they didn't like carrying cameras to games, so they were counting on me to get pictures of their daughters

 

[MICKEY88]

Like I said... if you are sanctioned by the club and/or school, media etc., not creepy. Totally normal and understandable.

It's just when Joe-Schmoe off the street walks in, starts taking pictures of children with no affiliation to the organization, the parents or children, and then posts them up on the internet for people to buy... creepy.

And I've seen a lot of Joe-Schmoe's off the street doing that... and it's weird and scary.

in that situation, either parents or officials from the organization should talk to Joe, he can legally take the photos and even post them online, he just can't benefit financially from them..

 

[Experiment_626]

Honestly, the only thing that really interests me is taking photos of game action.

A few years ago, when I was married to my previous wife, my then-stepson played football at the elementary level. I took photos of him. It soon transpired that I took photos of individual team members, plus a shot or two of the entire team. In those days, I made my own prints. It was a major hassle. People ordered prints and didn't pay (lesson learned -- when making your own prints, get paid up front!) -- and some ordered prints, paid, and then never picked up their prints!

There are two reasons I don't do anything such as weddings and portraits. One is that I don't feel I have an eye for it. The other is that it is such a huge time eater.

But what we're talking about here is something I've done already -- then with the added pressure of editing a newspaper. I've got a pretty good idea of how much time it takes.

The legal implications of going through the school for this definitely bear close inspection. If I were just shooting for the paper, that wouldn't be an issue. But either way, offering the opportunity for parents, family and friends to buy prints is something those people might well want. But I'll have to make sure it is all done legally and ethically. I wonder if there's a book or web site out there that addresses these issues ...

SSB

 

[photobob]

I am the chief photographer for a small daily newspaper and we don't use stringers to shoot sports, but if we did I don't think we would pay more than $50 max if that.

Football is the only sport where we shoot multiple games on the same day. We have two staff photographers and we both shoot two games on Friday nights, plus we have another guy on staff in a different editorial position that shoots and writes one game and a retired photographer who volunteers to shoot where is granddaughter is in the band. We shoot six games most Friday nights during football season. We cover 12 high schools so we are able to catch most of their home games. It usually works out where half are home and half are away or local teams playing one another. Not sure why I just went in such great depth about this but maybe someone cares!

 

[Experiment_626]

I am the chief photographer for a small daily newspaper and we don't use stringers to shoot sports, but if we did I don't think we would pay more than $50 max if that.

Okay -- that sounds like I wasn't far off the mark in my semi-educated guessing.

Football is the only sport where we shoot multiple games on the same day. We have two staff photographers and we both shoot two games on Friday nights, plus we have another guy on staff in a different editorial position that shoots and writes one game and a retired photographer who volunteers to shoot where is granddaughter is in the band. We shoot six games most Friday nights during football season. We cover 12 high schools so we are able to catch most of their home games. It usually works out where half are home and half are away or local teams playing one another. Not sure why I just went in such great depth about this but maybe someone cares!

Brings back lots of memories!

The way we did it was different, partly because we weren't a daily -- we had three to six pages of sports to fill each week. In addition, a really good photo of a big game -- or a really good photo of any game on a slow news day -- might make the front page. Sometimes on my own, and sometimes with the help of the publisher, I'd choose one or two games I'd shoot each Friday. I'd do two if they were being played close enough to each other to allow me to leave the first game near halftime and go shoot the second half of another game, which is usually what happened. In those days, I shot with a Nikon N6006 and a big bracket-mounted Sunpak flash, shooting Tri-X pushed one stop to 800. On Monday mornings I'd come in, have the film processed and developed in our darkroom (never really learned to do it myself, although I did do a little). Then I'd look at the negatives on a light table with a loupe and choose anywhere from one to four shots from each game to publish in the afternoon edition that day. At times, we had another writer shooting another game or two, depending on who we had on staff at the time. Usually, it was just me.

It was not really possible for me to keep track of the game and shoot at the same time; plus, I was usually not there for an entire game. So we had stringers to write accounts of the games for us. They'd either fax those in or hand-deliver them -- I think we might have paid them about $20 per game for this sort of thing, but since that was the publisher's pre-existing set-up, I don't remember those details all that well. The stringers we employed were not sportswriters or journalists of any sort, but they were fans of their team, so they were enthusiastic and prompt. Some wrote fairly decent stories. Some wrote very rah-rah one-sided accounts of each and every play of the game. It was then my job to take those accounts and re-write them into stories we could publish. Some of the better writers could sometimes turn a good phrase; those writers saw stories in print that incorporated some of what they had written -- as much as I could get. The others were completely re-written, using only the facts from the original to build a story. In all cases, they appeared in the paper under the byline of the stringer. I only got the glory from the photos! But that was okay -- we got letters from readers complimenting the stringers' reports now and then, which I got to read. And honestly, we couldn't have done it without our stringers -- they were essential.

Basketball was different. I would still photograph it with the same set-up as with football, but we didn't use stringers. I would cover the big game or pair of games each night they were played, and I'd get stats at the end from the coaches or statistician. I'd do a more fleshed-out story from the games at which I was actually present, using the stats to fill in the missing pieces. The short accounts we'd run from the rest of the games could be built almost entirely out of reading the stats. Obviously, you could tell who scored what, but you could also tell when a team mounted a rally late in the game or when a player got hot or cold. Once you became familiar with certain teams or players, you could often tell from the stats whether they had a great night or an off game, just because you knew how they usually performed. The biggest problem we had was getting the stats. I designed a form that coaches or statisticians could easily fill out and fax in to us. Some were faithful and sent in every game like clockwork. Some tended to only send in reports when they won, and there were others who practically never sent us anything.

Enough rattling on for now ...

SSB