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Not Accredited in Media – what can I do?
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Hi Lads,
Just wondering what the score is if a newspaper (or other media publication) ignores a request for accreditation.
I photographed an event last year (Gospel Choir Competition in Cork) for a paying client and one of the terms was that I am accredited with pictures used in media publicity. The Examiner published a slot on this year’s upcoming competition today and included one of my pics, approx 3×5 inch in size with the article (not one of my better pics unfortunately, don’t know whether to laugh or cry LOL!!). The promoter requested that I be credited yet the newspaper declined (ignored) to do so. I’m awaiting a response from the arts editor.
And then what if he says ‘oops sorry you’re right, what do you want us to do about it?’ then what could I do about it? Just a bit peeved that I should have got the credit.
I guess it’s no big shakes for now but it could happen again.. and again..
Cheers
I always ask for a credit when supplying photos to newspapers.
Sometimes I get it, sometimes not. There’s not really a lot I can do.
Also, apart from awards etc I don’t think people read credits anyway. I keep copies of the printed page for my portfolio.Occasionally, some places will include an update/addendum along the line of ‘photos in blah blah were by xxxx xxxxx’ if you ask them.
Out of my own personal curiousity can I ask why this is deemed important ie. does it have a purpose from a future business perspective or the like?
Cheers
FrankC wrote:
I always ask for a credit when supplying photos to newspapers.
Sometimes I get it, sometimes not. There’s not really a lot I can do.
Also, apart from awards etc I don’t think people read credits anyway.Hmmm, OK. Thanks. I usually check out the Examiner at work for the pics (and who took em!) :lol:
nfl-fan wrote:
Out of my own personal curiousity can I ask why this is deemed important ie. does it have a purpose from a future business perspective or the like?
Cheers
To quote Frank:
FrankC wrote:I keep copies of the printed page for my portfolio.
That’ll be about it really.
“Here, look, I took this one as well”
“But it doesn’t have your name on it”
“Yeah but I took it”
“But I don’t see your name on it though”
“Yeah but I took it for fupsake like” :mrgreen:Yes but it’s nice to have something to show for it and it’s the only way that others will know its your picture without you having to tell them. Or digging into your archive to prove that you actually did take it.
sure, minnions is what we are against the behemoth of the media machine, tsk
If they go on the “strict letter of the law” as they have laid it down (The Media in general, I mean! ) they should not publish the pic unless the photographer is a press photographer and a paid up member of the NUJI. Only NUJI photographers are entitled to have a photo credit. If your name is credited then the NUJI can cause them bother. Thats the way it used to be a few years back at any rate and I expect its still the same but the rules are ignored at times if it suits them as its not practical for papers to have regional staff photographers at every event.
Sunscreen was Baz Luhrmann’s advice to the World…. My advice to the Photographic World is….FILE INFO / IPTC header AKA A CAPTION.
Everybody likes to be acknowledged for their work and Journalists and Photographers are no exception. However many “Photographers” expect to be credited for their work without letting the Editorial people have the basic information – like a clear caption and surprise … the Photographer’s name!
I am not sure how your picture found it’s way to “De Paper” (Did you submit it yourself / did someone involved with the choir send it / was it a print or e-mailed?), but this is what most publications would require as a Minimum:
A sharp, “clean” image.
A full caption typed into the CAPTION or DESCRIPTION field in FILE INFO in Photoshop or any similar package that supports the IPTC Caption format (You can get FREE downloads of packages like IRFAN VIEW).
It is not necessary to complete ALL the fields in FILE INFO, but the Date the picture was taken, Copyright owner (With contact details!) are a must.
IPTC has a field for the Photographers name, but if you want to have the best chance of being credited include your Byline at the end of the caption also. Editors or Sub Editors will usually just cut and paste a Caption from this field into the publication, so it would involve extra work to remove it!
5Mb – 20Mb (Depending on the likely print size and paper type – Glossy publications need bigger files than Newspapers), saved as .Jpg with Medium compression.If you supply images to customers on a CD or by e-mail you cannot expect to get a credit unless EVERY image is captioned as outlined above- you don’t know where your images will end up. Most PR companies for example do not know how to caption an image and have them binned on arrival at picture desks when they supply the “Suggested Caption” in the body of the e-mail.
Also please don’t confuse FILE NAME with a Caption. When an image is viewed in most applications the file name is cut down to a few words.
A good caption will usually tell the reader: Who, What, Where, When and (where appropriate) How. eg:
Peter Roche, MD of Xperiot micro systesm and Joe Blots, Webmaster of Photography Ireland demonstrate their new caption software at the COMPUX computer fair at the RDS on Tuesday. Picture: Martin O’Callaghan.Ps. Don’t expect a “Correction” or anything of that nature, nobody is obliged to give a Byline. Also in most publications Bylines have nothing to do with being an NUJ member, it is more likely down to the “House style” or the mood of the Sub Editor!
Regards,
Paddy BarkerUseful stuff Paddy and that’s what I learned from numerous emails & phone calls with picture editors last year (I also learned that they don’t speak the same language as the rest of us – trying to get a straight answer out of them isn’t easy!).
This pic was supplied in 3 sizes to the client, who sent one of them on as part of the article by the journalist. I checked the metadata when I got home as that’s exactly what came into my mind and saw that, for the pics I gave him, the metadata was ‘minimized’ – I started using Lightroom at about that time so was learning the ropes (I’m not a PS user) – but the pics I sent to the Examiner the same day (they didn’t make it in) were sized & captioned as explained to me e.g.:
FREE PIC: NO REPRO FEE. 30/06/07 St.Finbarre’s Cathedral, Cork. Choirmaster Jude Bakare leads a jubilant Hosanna House Choir from Cavan, after winning the African Community Gospel Choir Competition. Pic: Stas Bernasinski
If a pic is exported with minimized metadata out of Lightroom, all the IPTC is stripped, except for the Copyright field, which in my case always has my name in it.
The Examiner likes pics at 50% compression, full dimensions for maximum size flexibility, with title and caption much as Paddy explained except that they should also state whether the pic is on spec (i.e. money is expected) or free and at no cost to the newspaper, and the file size should be approx 500kb. This last bit was emphasized a few times.
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