I Love Shooting Pictures, NOT Shooting Myself in the Foot

I was approached yesterday via Flickr mail by a very large publishing company that has offices all over the world. They are a credible publishing company and I am honored that they find my photo worthy of publication in a book. The book they wish to use my photo in is to be released on August 30, 2011 and is already on Amazon.com for pre-order.

Sounds good Right! You’re thinking I should jump at the opportunity. Why would I not?

Because I love shooting pictures NOT shooting myself in the foot. I have an investment in my equipment and time. Just because it is something I’m going to do anyway, doesn’t mean I have to give it away. It has value. I’m proud of my work and I feel if it is good enough for them to want to use, it certainly is deserving of compensation. We as amateur photographers are destroying our chances of rising to the next level by allowing our emotions to take control. Do I want to be published? You Bet I Do! But if I give my work away what message does this send to people. It tells them that I don’t believe my work is worthy. It tells them that I am a good source for them to take advantage of to make a larger profit.

The digital age has made photography a highly competitive field and many can not succeed because anyone with a digital camera can snap a decent picture, post it on Flickr and potentially get published. We get so excited that someone wants our shot we give it away. By doing this we will always remain amateurs and we make it very difficult for anyone to make a living at photography. I’ve seen many amateurs photos that are consistently excellent. But, by giving their work away, wanting to get their name out there, they are shooting themselves in the foot. We are condemning ourselves to permanent amateur status while professionals struggle because they will not and can not give their work away. A professional knows they are deserving of compensation and demand it. As amateurs I feel we are deserving of the same consideration and respect for our work. Just because it isn’t my sole means of earning a living doesn’t mean it is worthless. As photographers, amateur and professional alike we owe it to the photo industry and to ourselves to demand that respect. If we all begin to require reasonable compensation (this being the industry standard) eventually the free shots available would be the bad ones and the publishers would start to pay.

I submit to all my photography friends that we re-train the publishers and stop giving our pictures away for the thrill of publication. If it’s good enough for publication, it is good enough for compensation. If we all do this everyone will benefit, amateur and professional alike.

As for the outcome of my photo. I contacted a professional for advise about pricing. I sent my price to the publisher and have not heard back from them. I don’t expect to, they simply got back on flickr and searched for another photo that they could get for free, and that’s okay. I feel good about my decision.