[R_Fredrick_Smith]

Well, speaking of the amateur magician first, they would naturally do magic at the drop of a hat, because they are amateurs, not pros. The Pro magician will do magic often for people he meets, but that would be in the form of advertising. If people see great magic in a casual setting, they are very likely to remember that magician and be willing to hire him in the future. I have done casual magic for people at parties that led to TV commercials, shows, ad spots, and a nice revenue stream.

The same thing may be true in photography, but to a much lesser degree. The line has been blurred in photography with the proliferation of digital cameras that allow most anyone to do a credible job of making reasonably good photos (if for no other reason, blind luck, because of the large number of photographs taken, or based on the feedback given by an instant preview of the shot on the LCD).

Those of us who have done professional photography always had hobbyist photographers to deal with but in the past it was rare to find a hobbyist who could really deliver when the chips were down. A hobbyist with a film camera trying to shoot a wedding was almost always a disaster and everyone was more or less aware that that might be the case. Now you can have someone shoot a wedding and shoot a 1000 pictures and they're almost bound to get 20 or 30 good shots which will probably satisfy many people. As far as commercial work, really the non-pro photographer would never have been considered, because no one would have known he was there. Now everyone has a camera, everyone is a photographer and when a company wants commercial photography (such as product shots), there is often someone right in their own organization who step up and say he/she can shoot the shots. And often, they can, as its amazing what you can do with these small light tent kits that every camera store is selling now days.

But I think we need to be realistic on how we approach TFP or TFCD. If I agree to shoot with a model in that mode, then its because I want to work on some interesting projects of my own and find it easier to just deal with it as a trade. Naturally at least half or more of the shots may have nothing to do with what the model wants so we are not really giving them a whole CD of usable images.

I think TFP/CD has little to do with how much we charge for our professional services. When we are shooting TFP/CD we are doing it for our own artistic reasons or to test something or other, etc. If its a professional deal, then we charge whatever is reasonable for our area. But if it is a paying deal, then the model would expect to have us deal only with the type of shots she wants.

As far as what release is given, that is all negotiable. I usually specify that I'll give them a CD of all shots and they will be in 600x400 format (with my copyright overlaid across the image). In other words low resolution. I then usually agree to work up 3 or 4 shots of their choice for their portfolio. I get a full release for the use of the photos. I give the model a release for use of the photos for their portfolio or book use and they have to leave my copyright notice on the image. Again, it all depends on what we agree on.

Often the model will come back and want more images than the 3 or 4 shots. In that case, I would charge for additional work to post process and prepare the images.

Cheers,
rfs