STORM TRACK: July 31, 1984 (Volume 7 Issue 5)

Within the last year, I conducted a poll among storm chasers about commercial payments, which had been received for use of their storm slides, film and video tape. The purpose was to write an article which would identify a general price range and, at least, a minimum level of reasonable compensation which can and should be expected. This might help neophytes, and even some of the veterans, in arranging future deals; perhaps help establish a general price support level. As noted in my questionnaire, no names of respondents are used. I hope this will be helpful to you.

It should be noted that most of these pictures were of 'open' plains tornadoes, as opposed to front page city-busters. You can reasonably expect the latter to command a much higher price. If memory serves, the May 6, 1975 Omaha tornado sequence, taken from a local race track, brought $3-4 thousand for a half dozen or more pictures. Of course, such film must be released right away to maximize these prices; getting them to the City Editor a week later will be worth less to him, and you.

One chaser offered this comment on retention of film rights: "I strongly urge people not to ever release all rights to a publication/publisher. They rarely want or need it; it should be on a per-use/one time basis. For television, such as cable, it may be used more often over s longer period. ...A book, of course, is printed once, and nearly all publishers pay on the basis of that printing, according to their budget and projected costs and income."

Another chaser received a few interesting suggestions from a television producer on some submitted tornado footage. Calling the chaser's film "good to very good" he added three specific suggestions; (1) Zoom slowly and steadily when refocusing, avoid fast and abrupt changes; (2) Place the camera on a tripod, especially in strong, gusty inflow winds (that can reach 40-50 MPH); and (3) try to include some action in the footage besides the tornado, e.g. chasers running to get into action, cars fleeing, lightning, etc). If your budget can afford it, 3/4" videotape cameras are preferred -- likewise 16mm movie film.

Some general conclusions from this survey:

(a) While film and video tape seem to bring more per storm on the basis of $/minute, keep in mind that one minute is a very long time on commercial television. The station manager must consider the average viewers interest/attention span, as well as the sponsor's interests. Thus, I suspect that good slide/print pictures still command a higher price per storm, on average. However, this would probably not be true for a newsworthy tornado passing through a town or city, when film/video tape will likely command a much higher premium.

(b) If you have really good-quality duplicate slides/film, send these to the requestor. Some commercial organizations may keep your material for up to a year, while others have lost original slides (both particularly true of foreign based companies). Also, if the original is gone, how do you respond to other inquiries for the same material? (If you retain the right to make subsequent deals with any of your photographs, you can do this)? Anyway, my experience has been that 90% of the time a duplicate slide can be produced that is superior to the original in both contrast and in highlighting cloud details, desirable for commercial printing. Also, you could send several recent exposures of the same slide, just to give the requester a choice for his specific need.

(c) It is always desirable to have a prior, written understanding with a publisher or television/movie producer on use of your photography. Frequently, I have received calls from editors in a great rush to secure pictures. I try to be cooperative and send slides ASAP but follow up with a written agreement for their signature, leaving a space for entry, by them, of a phone-approved payment. The agreement can be written to preclude authorization of their publishing/showing your material until you've received a signed commitment. Your counter-signature and return of a duplicate copy would then let them proceed. The publisher or producer should appreciate a business-like approach and early clarification on this subject. It's just an organized form of "better communication" and most established media companies aren't out to rip you off. Although any agreement you devise can probably be taken apart by any company lawyer, leaving you out in the cold, this isn't likely. These sources are dependent on good material and if they understand that you're a dedicated storm photographic, they're apt to seek out your material again in the future. After taking reasonable precautions, trust the party at the other end of the line. Every business venture entails some risk.

Finally, if any of you have complaints, or commendations, about anyone with whom you've done business, let ST know and it will bepublished. Your fellow storm photographers would like to benefit from your experience. That's what a newsletter is for -- "news".

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