GordonH

I witnessed a camerman forgetting his rig once...he had walked the 300yards or so to the aircraft, boarded, and the aircraft had taxied to the end of the runway before he noticed. We were in the hangar and could hear the radio transmissions when the pilot said "we're taxiing back because [jumpers name] has forgotten his rig". Until I saw that I thought it would just not be possible to forget it, but he did, and without a consistent system for doing checks others could do so whenever some unusual circumstances distract them. Whatever policy your governing body or dropzone has, have your OWN system and follow it EVERY time. Blue skies! Gordon Beware of advice from those with more posts than jumps ;-)

They did it!

Daily blog from Kate Cooper: http://jftcdailyblog.blogspot.com/ and a British blog by Paul Rowe: http://www.getjealous.com/getjealous.php?go=britchicksforthecause Sounds like they are very close

If he has his OWN stock library, then let him market your work, you keep the copyright, and split the fees obtained. As someone else said, a historical norm has been 50% of fees to stock libraries (for doing the marketing, negotiation, contract etc) and 50% to photographer. On that basis, you'd probably do the shoot at either your expense or with him just covering the costs. After that it's a win/win situation: Good for him as you've supplied bespoke images for him to host in his library. Good for you as you retain a share of the potential usage fees. Even better, you now have a long term partnership when you can combine your skills (your unique skydiving photography - and it IS unique when you take a moment to step out of our skydiving 'world') and his marketing skills. A note on the fess that the images might generate: for a small editorial magazine 1/4 page non exclusive could be less than $100 single run. However full size, exclusive rights, for commercial advertising could be into £1000's. Gordon Hodgkinson http://www.gordonhodgkinson.com Blue skies! Gordon Beware of advice from those with more posts than jumps ;-)

Try to find out what the shots will be used for. Maybe... 1. Personal collection - then don't expect much more than covering the slot and beer money 2. Stock images shot at the photographers expense and either marketed directly or via a photo library - fairly low pay as he's doing it speculatively. 3. Meeting a specific brief from a client. try to elicit what type of client it is - corporate = charge high Will he be paying for just your skills, or those of the subject jumpers too? If so, bear that in mind and work out what HIS total expense is - that's what you need to think about, not just what you can make. I'd charge per day rather than per jump - it's your time as well as skills he's hiring. So heading to the DZ and being weathered in, still uses your valuable time. Also who will keep copyright? I would never sign over copyright without BIG bucks. Knock up a contract that permits a time limited usage of the images, for a fee, stating specifically what the licenced usage is. If you don't do this you are doing 'work for hire', and if you do, the copyright will transfer to the other guy - and in legal terms it'll be as though he took the shots. http://www.gordonhodgkinson.com (dunno how to make the url sticky??) Blue skies! Gordon Beware of advice from those with more posts than jumps ;-)