Hiring a Photographer

Job Posting

Post on digital avenues, such as Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn.
Ask community contacts for recommendations of photographers who are trying to build their business, exposure, and/or portfolio.
Consider having a couple photographers on hand. This will free you from being dependent on a single photographer’s schedule.

Candidate Characteristics

You will likely have the best luck with photographers who are early in their career and looking to expand their experience, as these candidates will be more willing to work for trade. Highly experienced photographers often want higher freelance rates and generally don’t want to work for trade.
Considering that your publication will highlight the activities, staples, and lifestyle of the community, there will be a variety of material to shoot. Ideal candidates will have a wide experience or interest in capturing the following kind of imagery:
1. Lifestyle moments at events
2. Formal and candid portraits
3. Food and restaurant photography
4. Entertainment venues and interior spaces
5. Product features
The photographer’s assignments will often involve businesses or community members, so find a photographer who has a flexible schedule to shoot at varied times of the day.
As a publisher, you can determine the kind and quality of aesthetic appeal you want your publication to present. Our magazines are very photo driven, so the imagery speaks volumes for the stories. Keep this in mind as you’re looking through candidates’ past work and the distinguishable characteristics of their style, such as angles and editing.
The photographer will be a representative of your team and have contact with clients and community members. Find candidates who will represent you and the publication well.

Photographer Compensation

Photographer compensation can be done on a freelance payment system or on an ad trade basis.
If you choose to pay your photographer freelance rates, typical magazine rates are as follows:
1. $50-$100 for a headshot or short 2-photos shoot.
2. $100-$150 for other shoots.
3. $250-$400 for styled shoots that involve a 1⁄2 day/full day commitment.
The standard agreement for trade is 3-4 photo assignments per 1⁄2 page ad. Ultimately, it is up to the publisher’s discretion what trade will be offered and agreed upon.
1. When the photographer meets the agreed upon number of assignments for an ad, you will upload a $0 contract.
2. Be sure that you have created a client account for the photographer in ARC.
3. Within the photographer’s client account, you will create a $0 deal to send to the photographer to sign by the agreement deadline so that the ad appears in your ad list for the particular month(s).
4. The photographer will need to provide a print-ready ad or submit a creative request by your first ads deadline and have the ad approved by the final ads deadline.
Another perk to explain to the photographer is that their content will get consistent increased exposure. Each month’s issue that includes the photographer’s imagery becomes a walking portfolio of their work.

New Team Photographers

To officially hire a photography candidate, sign the Freelance Contractor License Agreement.pdf.
Connect your editor with the photographer, as the editor will be scheduling the photoshoots and directing the needs of each photo assignment.
Have the editor add the photographer to ARC to be able to assign articles. Photographers do not receive City Lifestyle email or ARC accounts, but they will receive access to the ARC contributor portal.

Image Legality

Imagery is a central part of our brand and each magazine’s local team must understand that they are ultimately responsible for creating and/or collecting imagery in alignment with the best practices outlined below. Whoever uploads images to ARC assumes legal responsibility that they comply with intellectual property law. Violation of these laws can result in hefty monetary recompensation, so use the steps below to protect yourself and your magazine.

Contributing Photographer vs Staff Photographer

A contributing photographer is someone who does not work for City Lifestyle but who provides images for use for an article. This can occur when a business or individual already has professional images that they would like to use, so their photographer grants permission to use those photos in print. Editors or Publishers must get written permission with a signed photo agreement (link below) from the photographer to use those photos in print regardless if the business or individual says they have permission to use the photos. Access the Photo Release Form for Provided Images.pdf here.
A staff freelance photographer is someone who is paid by City Lifestyle to take photos specifically for the magazine. Their images are owned by City Lifestyle. Anyone who works for City Lifestyle for hire should sign our Freelance photographer agreement that gives ownership of those photos to City Lifestyle.

Stock Photography

In every place where you can upload photos, there is also an orange button labeled “USE STOCK PHOTOS”.
Select that button and follow the link to the stock photo website that is listed in the pop-up.
On the stock photo website, search for the image you want. Copy the image number and paste it into the pop-up in ARC. The image you selected will automatically be downloaded. Please only select stock images that you are quite sure you want to use as there are a limited number of downloads available.

Provided Photography

You may only accept provided imagery if you have written permission from the original photographer. This would occur under three circumstances:
1. The original photographer is contacted and gives their permission to be added to ARC as a photography partner under the EDITORIAL section and the WRITERS & PHOTOGRAPHERS tab. When they are initially given access to ARC, they will be asked to sign an additional agreement that grants your magazine the right to use any photos that they upload to our portal. As such, it is important that they upload their own photos to ARC.
2. The article subject has a release from the original photographer expressly stating that the article subject has all rights to the photos without limitations on distribution. They must provide a copy of this release to you. In addition, the photographer or PR company must sign our provided photo release form.

In the event that there is not a comprehensive release available to a third party, either you or the article subject need to get in contact with the original photographer and have them sign Photo Release Form for Provided Images.pdf that grants us unlimited usage of a select number of images.