A person, not a company, hires you.

One of the most challenging things to understand is who the decision maker who hired you is, who you are working for, and not the company.

If John Smith of a project team hires you to photograph a project and John Smith works for Coke, you need to know that Coke didn’t hire you, but John Smith, who works for Coke, hired you.

I worked for Georgia Tech a few years ago, and the problem of who paid for the photography came to my attention in a very messy situation.

The Research Institute, a separate part of the Georgia Institute for Technology, had asked our department to photograph a project. Since I was the only photographer on staff, they hired me to shoot a research project.

The research was done at the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech. It would be best if you noticed this is a different department. The Research Institute had built an incredible reputation for getting work published in major popular news and science magazines like Popular Mechanics, Business Week, and other publications.

The Research Institute’s writer contacted me, and they paid for the photography.

Unknown to me then, the College of Engineering had contacted my department to help promote the project. When I had been to the researcher and shot the project, the writer in our department went to our files, pulled the images, and sent them out with his story.

This was when we had a very messy situation. The writer who had his department pay for the photography didn’t get to use the photos first, and the other writer not only scooped the story and got a feather in his cap but also used photos that another department had paid to produce.

New Policy

After that fiasco, we put a new policy in place. Whichever department paid or initiated a project could use the photos first, and anyone wanting to use them had to have permission from that department.

Since this was all with tax dollars, it technically belonged to the state and not a department. However, we realized we needed to address this or have another solution. The problem was that if a department was using its budget to create something and another department didn’t spend any money; it would be creating ill will.

My Policy

No matter who requests photos, I always tell them I am more than willing to help and want to help them. However, I told them it was not my call and encouraged them to contact my client. I am more than willing to help once my client has approved the use.

The Politics

The more you know about the company and the organizational structure, the easier it is to handle these requests.

When you know that the client’s boss is making a request, I can handle this much differently when it is just another department.

Handling a request

Take the request: When someone comes up to you while you are working and requests something, I usually hand them a business card and ask them to contact me by email and put their request in writing. I explained that I would love to help them, but I am currently shooting.

Often, the request disappears because they do not follow up with you. This is a great way to handle most photography requests. Usually, someone asks for a favor for free rather than wanting to compensate you for the work.

This will buy you time to respond to them by email properly or by giving them a phone call. I find having time to think through something without having to be actively engaged in listening is the smartest thing you can do for any request. 

Let the client know of the request: Before responding, let your client know of the request. Ask them if they would prefer to handle the request themselves or if they would like you to handle it.

Usage Rights: When creating a contract with the client, you need to address image rights. Are you giving them one-time, exclusive, or unlimited rights, for example? It would be best if you addressed the time limit for these rights. I cannot think of a situation where a client has hired you that you will not need to wait until they use an image before you start selling it on the open market.

Wedding Photography

If the bride’s parents are paying for the photography, this is important regarding their requests. The dynamics change significantly when the bride and groom pay, and then the bride’s mother asks for memorable photos outside your agreement with the bride.

In summary, you need to know that just because a person at a large company hired you to shoot something for them and even if you have given them unlimited usage, this does not mean that if another person from the company asks for the photos, that you give them to that person.

You will gain this client’s trust as long as you honor the client relationship. How you handle the requests from the other people in the company can help them see you as a professional with ethics and solid business practices.