How much is a photo worth?

Farewell Highbury 0002, originally uploaded by atomicShed.

I got asked by an ad company to allow them to use this photo in some advertising that that they are creating for ‘The Arsenal Opus’
They were asking to use the photo in the advertising of a competition to win a chance to have photography in The Arsenal Opus.

I replied ‘sure’ but I’d like a copy of the book and a donation to be made to the Willow Foundation. At the time I didn’t know the value of the Opus.

The reply was laughable.

Unfortunately we don’t have a budget for this job but I will be able to issue you with a match day programme that your photo will feature in.

Staggered I replied :

I struggle to understand why you don’t have a budget for a competition to aid selling 1500 copies of a £3000 book! (I have just had a look to see how much it costs so I understand you not giving it away)

I supplied industry costs for purchasing a royalty free image of a flag, low res starts at £39, the resolution I would have been supplying would have been worth about £ 299.99 (The image I would have supplied is 3000x2000px 300dpi RGB)

So as a result of your lack of their generosity I declined the use of the photo as offering a £3.50 programme rather than paying a donation to the willow foundation I thought was a bit of an insult. Of note I wouldn’t have even asked how much you were donating.

I have allowed several organisations to use my images for free as they are usually not-for-profit organisations including several blogs and the Gooner fanzine. (if you run a not-for-profit organisation then contact me if you’d like to use any images)