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Another question if I may about contract work... I have been asked to go on a shoot to capture a specific animal in northern canada which I am very familiar with by a national wildlife mag.... they have given me their bid, including all expenses and it is more than reasonalbe but one of the specifications is that they gain control of "all" pics taken during that specific trip and I am not allowed to do anything with them which goes outside personal use including posting them on public boards of any type even though by their own admission they will by no means be using "all" the pics.

I am going to take the contract just cause its gonna be an awesome trip and it gets me back to a place I havent been at in a few years but my question is is this somewhat the norm when going on a contracted assignment such as this or are they pushing it with this restriction?

I guess with them paying for everything including my time I shouldnt question it but that's not how my brain works

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Canon 7D + 50D + EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM + EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Pelican // Black Rapid // Think Tank // Manfrotto // Garmin

Reflections On Canadian Wildlife
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Hi Wolfsong,

Whether reasonable or not, I don't think it's at all unusual to have those restrictions.

In your shoes, I would try to negotiate the right to use some for promotional purposes - even if it's only AFTER they have "aired" in whatever magazines or other media for say..a year after the contract..or something to that effect.

In your shoes I would also make sure - and it may be covered already - that you are credit as the photographer wherever they use them.

Good luck with the assignment!

Cheers

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Nikon stuff and other stuff, but not nearly as much stuff as I really want!

thank you kindly for the advise LahLahSr ... I'm gonna go for the idea of using some down the road after a specific time for sure... getting credit for my shots is always something I insist on and has never been an issue in any way with anyone I have dealt with in the past... mind you I have only had about 50 or so pics published to date so its not like I've dealt with a lot of ppl

thank you again for the advise

the assignment isnt til may so lots of time to plan.. and try and get in touch with some old contacts to find out if I still know as much as I think I know about the animal in that area and its habits when it gives birth...

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Canon 7D + 50D + EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM + EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Pelican // Black Rapid // Think Tank // Manfrotto // Garmin

Reflections On Canadian Wildlife
My Flickr

That is not acceptable practice, but it is becoming more and more common in the industry. This is where being part of a larger organization like the National Union of Journalists in the UK (you'll have to find the equivalent in North America) is very useful. Many of these publications are banking on the fact that many people are keen to get a foot in the doorway and thus wouldn't mind agreeing to unreasonable demands. This is a bad direction for any industry to take.

It's your choice and your time, but I would advise you to try and ask to at least be able to use the photos as part of your portfolio, even if it's at a much reduced resolution and marred with watermarks.

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PhilipGoh.com

thanks for the help guys... talked to them today and we got a bit more in depth... they have agreed to release copyrights for all photos not used after a year back to me... the reason stated why they wanted all copyright besides the money they are paying me is just in case they deside to do a followup article within a year if it is warrented and this way there is no renegotiating which will cost them more in the future...

knowing this I fully understand now and do respect their process.

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Canon 7D + 50D + EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM + EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM + EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Pelican // Black Rapid // Think Tank // Manfrotto // Garmin

Reflections On Canadian Wildlife
My Flickr

Very interesting - assignment that is! I would have a hard time giving up all rights to my photos taken on this assignment. Would depend, for me anyway, the total compensation package.

Good to read you don't loose all rights. I would love to get work like this! I'm jelous!

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Shilo J. Watts
My work
http://www.flickr.com/photos/island_life

restrictions are normal if you're not the one pulling the shots.
I have a friend working as a photographer for a newspaper & his boss told him to shoot only jpg in low quality setting & nothing fancy about the photos either. His "weapon" is a 1D MKIII & 3 L lenses. Althought it's almost stupid to ask for low jpg when memory cards & hard disks are so cheap,you cannot argue about the restrictions. Never. A lot of pros grind their teeth about this issue,there's no "easy ride" for a photographer.

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Gear: Nikon D80, 18-105mm, 35mm F/1.8, 85mm F/1.8, SB-600
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