Part 1: Photographers and Contracts

Greetings,

This is an opening shot for my real estate and AEC (that’s Architecture, Engineering, Construction) marketing blog, so here is a quick introduction for those of you, who haven’t met me at UPworld events or online.

I’m a public relations, advertising, and architectural photography consultant to the construction, design, and real estate industries. I worked for a boutique ad agency, served for many years as an in-house spokesperson and marketing communications guy for Tishman Realty & Construction, and, since 2003, have run my own firm, Wilk Marketing Communications. I’m an avid UPworld user and the network’s media relations consultant.

I’ll be discussing any and all issues related to marketing, communications, publicity, presentations, and architectural photography. I encourage you to submit your questions and ideas for topics, from developing a web site, designing a logo, producing brochures, and public speaking to developing a marketing plan and staying in touch with clients through direct mail and e-mail campaigns. If you have an idea for a guest contribution, don’t be shy either, although we won’t be able to accept all submissions.

Now, let’s get back to business. Here is a challenge frequently encountered by design, construction, and real estate firms – PHOTOGRAPHING YOUR PROJECTS. Sounds simple – you hire a photographer, he or she visits the project or property, then you get the prints or files, and it’s done, right? Not so fast.

The horror stories range from spending $20,000 on a three-day photo shoot that results in 10 usable images and no publicity usage rights from a prominent, four-letter Northeast photo agency to hiring your colleague’s nephew, who delivers tiny, fuzzy photos, with colors and quality comparable to those you can find in your grandma’s album.

For the last several years, architectural photos have been mostly shot digitally, so I’ll focus on this technology.

Here is a how-to checklist for hiring a photographer.

1. Define what you need your images for – a website, a project sheet or brochure, publicity in the print media, large format advertising, construction progress documentation or all of the above. Tell the photographer. If you’re not sure how you will use the photos, assume you’ll be published and have a shot at a magazine cover, as a file necessary for this application will be sufficient in size and quality for all other uses, except for a large-scale advertising.

2. If a contract with a client requires you to document the project’s construction progress, read an RFP and other documentation carefully, as they frequently require a very particular type of photography. For example, for legal reasons, public entities frequently ask for black and white photos shot on film and not digitally. There are numerous agencies and individual photographers throughout the U.S. that specialize in black and white and/or color construction progress photos. If you don’t know any, just ask your construction buddies for a recommendation or search the Internet. An experienced construction photo vendor will take care of repeating shots from the same angle, gaining access to buildings nearby for bird’s eye views, and then labeling the prints properly.

3. If you need high quality, artistic architectural photography, hiring a photographer gets a bit more complicated. Architectural, especially interior photography is technically challenging and you should always go with a pro with a good portfolio and high-end equipment. Again, ask for recommendations, review local architectural publications for photo credits, or search UPworld.com or the Internet. You may also reach out to professionals like myself, who organize and art-direct architectural photo shoots and offer very good pricing due to long-term relationships with top photographers.

4. Once you’ve identified one or more potential photographers, it’s time to negotiate two items: the cost and the usage rights you will receive. The price will be either a lump sum or a sum of the following items: a photographer’s fee, an assistant’s fee (more often than not an assistant will be needed to speed things up), travel expenses, and out of pocket expenses (lunch, flowers, props.) The pricing in the U.S. varies widely depending on the photographer’s prominence, location, and the duration of a photo shoot (i.e. half day vs. full day). In the New York City area, the cost of a half-day shoot should be in the $1,250 to 3,000 range; full day: $1,750 to 5,000 and more.

If you’re bringing in other parties to share the cost of the shoot, i.e. owners or builders, be aware that many photographers will charge a little extra fee for each additional entity to receive images and usage rights, so this needs to be discussed in advance. The extra cost is usually below $1,000 for each additional party, generally in the $350 – 1,000 range. For example, if the original quote for your shoot is $2,000 and then you bring in another party, your photographer may charge an additional fee of $750. The total cost will go up to $2,750; however, since you are splitting the cost, you end up paying only $1,375 and just saved yourself $625.

5. Usage rights: I strongly believe limiting photography usage rights to commissioning clients borders on unethical, perhaps with the exception of the advertising use. However, be prepared to hear that the fee you just negotiated permits usage only for a certain period of time or only for certain applications, i.e. brochures, web posting, and client presentations, but not media publication or advertising, which would require additional fees. Some agencies also decline to provide high-resolution files, so that you have no choice but to hire them and only them to produce prints. At which point, if they don’t budge, you should say goodbye and move on to the next candidate. At a minimum, you should receive color-corrected, high-res files and the following usage rights, in perpetuity: all internal company uses, client presentations, brochures, print and on-line media and publications, and on-line posting.

6. Let the photographer know that upon completion of the shoot you expect to receive the following: large TIF files (40+Mb), medium TIFs and JPGs (300dpi, 4”x6”/6Mb), and small JPGs at 150 or 100dpi for on-line and computer monitor viewing. (I’ll discuss the issue of file size and types in more detail in the next posting.) Also, let the photographer know that you expect to receive photos that will be color-corrected, with proper brightness, and other basic corrections, within the original cost.

Ask the photographer in advance to provide a so-called contact sheet, following the shoot. It used to be printed from negatives placed directly on the photo paper (hence the name). It allowed for a quick review of all photos from a shoot. These days, all photo processing programs can easily create a file that includes both small images and file names, so that you can review all available photos without opening each file. It saves a lot of time.

7. I strongly believe sharing photos and files with other parties that did not pay the photographer is highly unethical. Frequently, it’s also unlawful. Don’t do that. The photographer will usually sell the files for a reasonable fee, so tell your client or vendor to contact the photographer directly. Also, don’t forget to provide the photo credit when you send the photos to the media, as you are likely required to do so by the photography contract.

My next post will discuss issues of a digital file resolution and format, logistics of organizing and managing photo shoots, site preparation, and staging.

Good luck,

Peter Wilk

Wilk Marketing Communications

www.upworld.com/peterwilk

A photo of the Alliance Francaise Village cultural center in Miami, FL, art-directed by Peter Wilk, was recently featured on the cover of Structural Engineer magazine. Photo © Wilk Marketing Communications; courtesy of Mc Gowan Builders, Inc.