[Marc Langille]

A good problem that is...

My "one night" at the artists networking event has paid some dividends. Here's the details:

Arrived at the venue, and started hunting for a spot - nothing, nada, 2 or 3 others were in the same predicament. The downstairs area only had stone walls, and no hooks/nails were allowed from the floor joists.

There was a great spot with outlets in the floor and a street lamp right beside it. The people who were there indicated that it was a reserved spot. I contacted the organizer and asked her if it would be OK to consider setting up there (I bought 3 inexpensive easels and spares were available to display my work)...

Her reply: "actually that's the spot I wanted for you, no one else is allowed to use it." Wow.. OK, game time and game on...

Throughout the night, there was quite a bit of traffic and more than a few business cards disappeared. Several people indicated they would contact me for print orders later one too. I had lots of positive feedback and it's encouraging. Most people didn't know I existed (no surprise), and my works seemed a fresh approach from their perspective.

Highlights of the exhibit: I've been approached by someone who works for the city. She's responsible for downtown development and she is not only interested in a photo, but also contracting me to photograph the downtown area in Fort Smith. I believe it is to do some street photography scenes of the Fort Smith nightlife - not certain. I have her business card.

There's also another person (interior designer) who was very interested in getting in touch with me after the show. It's to discuss working with her about providing images for her clients, which includes businesses such as large corporations, foreign banks, etc. She was quite persistent in making sure I remembered her name, since she had no business cards with her.

That's all good if they follow up with their offers/interest, but it poses a new problem: pricing!!!!

I don't price anything but print enlargements of my photos, for several reasons. The easy answer for the Fort Smith rep. was: "it depends on the assignment". I did tell her that I would charge a set rate or an hourly rate, depending on the type of work

I also indicated I would request being paid, plus credit for the images. If they are used commercially, then I would request more (royalties or a set higher fee).

I've used this site as a reference in the past:
Photography Business: Photography Pricing


I think I've covered the bases, but thought I'd check in with anyone else familiar with this sort of thing - looking for comments, etc. Did I do the right thing?

Cheers,
Marc

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Last edited by Marc Langille; 04-01-2007 at 02:17 PM.

[Scott Rylance]

Well done Marc and good for you.
Sounds like you've done and said all the right things. I really hope it works out for you. Congrats.
Cheers.