Accreditation and Freelance

[Stacey Newman]

I've worked as a professional photographer for about seven years, primarily commercial and stock. Though, with a background as a writer and journalist, my interests have always included photojournalism. I have shot as a freelance photojournalist for just a few years, so my experience is limited. One problem I'm running into is applying for accreditation for events that require letters of assignment. In general I work with a number of agencies/publications that publish or represent my work. So, I don't typically have one "assignment" for events where accreditation is required.

I usually explain this and get accreditation, but sometimes without an assignment from an outlet I'm not granted access. Just wondering what other freelancers do regarding coverage for accredited events.

thank you

[Kenneth Armstrong]

Hello Stacey,

There is a really good thread already on the student board that covers this subject. It's about halfway down the page.

http://npac.ca/forums/index.php?board=22.0

[Stacey Newman]

Thanks Kenneth, appreciated. I've just gone through the thread. I understand the impetus for the thread in the student section, however it doesn't really cover professionals who choose to work freelance at major events. I think there's a middle ground comprised of those of us who work freelance professionally for various reasons (for me it pertains to RF licensing contracts I have with stock agencies). the advice provided in the student thread about building local stories within a portfolio is great advice for students/amateurs. In any case, for the benefit of any other freelancers in similar situations, I usually resolve this issue by speaking to the accreditation reps and explaining my coverage. But as I said in my OP, it doesn't always gain me access anymore...I suspect because 'amateurs' or 'fans' are taking advantage of the accreditation process.

[Kenneth Armstrong]

One of the side benefits of pointing you to that thread is because it is a closed board, only members can see and post there. So the 'amateurs' or 'fans' that you are competing against won't be able to see the advice within and benefit from it.

[Peter McCabe]

Unfortunately Stacey it is not about freelancers abusing, it is more along the lines of too many photographers at a venue crowding out those who have been sent by mainstream and more accredited services, (not implying you are with an UN-accredited service) also there is a newer (actually not that new) attempt to control and monitor, the amount and use of images of events, and when loads of freelancers arrive they loose that control. i have been a freelancer for a while now and if i am not asked to go somewhere i just don't go, i get calls regularly about events in Montreal seeking images if i have of many events, even ones covered extensively by all the news gatherers. exempting news events in the public it is a crap shoot, do the best you can to get credentials but expect a lot of sorry cant give you one, to come your way.
by the way the best example is the Montreal Alouettes, at each game 2 years ago it was common to see at least 2 high school photographers, a few radio station photographers and a few others "just there", along with the 6 dailies , wire services and a couple weekly papers, last year, season 2011 was brutal as they cut back on all of them, including myself shooting for the CFL through CP images,i can only get game passes and no longer a season pass that would make it easier to get onsite for those games i need to be there.  events are getting tougher to get access to as these organizations and PR firms really want to control where the images are going. good luck dont give up and do what you can to get what you need.

[Stacey Newman]

Interesting Peter. Yes, it certainly seems that way. I don't have the benefit of having freelanced in photography twenty years ago for comparison, but even over the last year or two the events that were run directly by organizations are now more often managed by third party promotional firms. I could probably debate both sides of limiting media access with such zeal, but that is a whole other discussion.

Thanks Kenneth also.

[Warren Toda]

I don't have the benefit of having freelanced in photography twenty years ago

There's your problem. You should've started in photography back in the 1960s when everything was easy. 


The problem is that too many freelancers are showing up at events and each one says they're shooting for XYZ Photo Agency. If you were an event organizer, where would you draw the line?

There are over 1,000 stock agencies in the world. Which ones do you let in?

There's no control over stock agencies. In a large city like Toronto, there might be several hundred photographers who submit to the same agency. What if they all show up to the same event?

Events do not care about photographers or photo access. However, most events want publicity and they get this from the news media, not stock agencies.

If you were running an event, who would you accredit: a photographer working for a known media outlet with a guaranteed audience, or, a photographer shooting on spec for a stock agency you've never heard of, and which has no guarantee of anything?

Due to that pesky digital photography thing, everyone has a camera, everyone is a freelance photographer, everyone is shooting for an online agency and everyone wants to get in free. There's just too many photographers covering the same events.

[Moe Doiron]

It's been my experience that the more accreditation required the crappier the photos produced.

[Mark Blinch]

It's been my experience that the more accreditation required the crappier the photos produced.

Bang on!

[John Densky]

It's been my experience that the more accreditation required the crappier the photos produced.

smashing quote!

[Stacey Newman]

I don't have the benefit of having freelanced in photography twenty years ago

There's your problem. You should've started in photography back in the 1960s when everything was easy. 


The problem is that too many freelancers are showing up at events and each one says they're shooting for XYZ Photo Agency. If you were an event organizer, where would you draw the line?

There are over 1,000 stock agencies in the world. Which ones do you let in?

There's no control over stock agencies. In a large city like Toronto, there might be several hundred photographers who submit to the same agency. What if they all show up to the same event?

Events do not care about photographers or photo access. However, most events want publicity and they get this from the news media, not stock agencies.

If you were running an event, who would you accredit: a photographer working for a known media outlet with a guaranteed audience, or, a photographer shooting on spec for a stock agency you've never heard of, and which has no guarantee of anything?

Due to that pesky digital photography thing, everyone has a camera, everyone is a freelance photographer, everyone is shooting for an online agency and everyone wants to get in free. There's just too many photographers covering the same events.

I know this is true, I see it all the time. and it has made it very difficult for those of us who still shoot freelance 'legitimately'. I don't always know which paper or wire I plan on submitting to until after I shoot. I make those decisions based on the content I capture. or sometimes images ends up in a photo essay of my coverage.

[Moe Doiron]

I don't always know which paper or wire I plan on submitting to until after I shoot. I make those decisions based on the content I capture. or sometimes images ends up in a photo essay of my coverage.

Stacey, that right there is your problem. Accreditation is designed to be media specific. You're not actually working for anyone, you're working for yourself. That said if you are selling your images on a regular basis any one of your regular clients should be able to sponsor your accreditation application but you will need to limit the licensing of those images shot on their pass. You are tied to them for that event. You may be able to negotiate first rights, or offer and then be free to resell but that will depend on your relationship with that client.

Hope that help, good luck.

[Stacey Newman]

I don't always know which paper or wire I plan on submitting to until after I shoot. I make those decisions based on the content I capture. or sometimes images ends up in a photo essay of my coverage.

Stacey, that right there is your problem. Accreditation is designed to be media specific. You're not actually working for anyone, you're working for yourself. That said if you are selling your images on a regular basis any one of your regular clients should be able to sponsor your accreditation application but you will need to limit the licensing of those images shot on their pass. You are tied to them for that event. You may be able to negotiate first rights, or offer and then be free to resell but that will depend on your relationship with that client.

Hope that help, good luck.

Thank you Moe. Appreciate the input. I limit the licensing of images to one client regardless, even when the freelance contract permits otherwise. this too comes from working in stock, where my RF stuff is contracted exclusively. I'm not a big player in editorial. I've worked primarily in commercial and stock, and shooting freelance editorial just sort of happened that way for me. in addition to my stock and commercial work, I spend my time and often my own money producing editorial pieces based on my coverage of events. I do this because it is important to me, it's my favourite type of photography and I believe it is my best photography, though I'm rarely as happy as I can be with any of my work. I always think there's room for improvement. I shoot regularly for a number of local publications too, but national papers and wires aren't exactly beating down the door to work with me. I'm an unknown in the big paper realm, so I supply images on a freelance basis and once sold, I archive the photos and any similars. I don't resell them once published. I'm certainly not opposed to working on assignment. I do that with clients too. in any case, you've all been really helpful.

[Warren Toda]

...those of us who still shoot freelance 'legitimately'.

That's another valid issue. There are too many folks who call themselves a "freelance photographer" but they're not really in the business. They do nothing but give real freelancers a bad name. There's no way for an event to distinguish between the true freelancers and those who just want to get in for free and shoot some pretty pictures.

Unfortunately, times have changed. When I was your age, not only did I walk to school in waist-deep snow, but I could get into almost any event just by saying "I'm a freelancer" and showing up with three cameras dangling from my shoulders.

Don't know what to suggest other than:

1) Somehow hook up with a suitable publication. The most receptive publications will be, not by coincidence, the lowest paying.

2) As mentioned in previous posts, stay away from anything that requires accreditation because that means dozens of other photographers are shooting the same thing, which means the resulting pictures are dime-a-dozen. (I go to these events only when I'm on a paid assignment, otherwise I stay far, far away.)

Examples:

• Toronto Fashion week starts in a couple of days and many dozens of photographers will be squished together shooting the same thing over and over again. Some pictures will be quite pretty but they're all relatively meaningless and forgettable.

(Too late now but) Why not start coverage a month(s) ahead of time and follow a local designer(s) preparing for the festival. No accreditation required and no hordes of photographers. Pictures will have news value as an "advancer" before fashion week. Pictures will have value after the event if packaged into a general picture essay.

• Toronto Film Festival - notice that no publication ever bothers to cover local filmmakers, producers or actors. Perhaps there's an opportunity there. No accreditation required. (Keep in mind that film festival accreditation is required only for film festival events. Many events are outside the film festival).

Also, the B-list, C-list and D-list celebrities beg (and bribe) for publicity.  Sure, everyone wants pictures of Brad Pitt and George Clooney, but unless you get a one-on-one with the A-listers, your pictures will be dime-a-dozen meaningless.

At red carpets, notice how many newspaper and wire service photographers stand in public areas. No accreditation required.

• Toronto car show - no publication ever covers Canada's car designers. There are many unique cars being designed and built in Canada.  No accreditation required and you don't have to suffer through the hordes of press on media day at the car show.

• Royal tours - best photo spots are often in the crowd. Royalty always stays away from photographers but will approach well-wishers in the crowd. That's why newspapers often send their photographers to stand in the crowd and let the wire services work "inside the ropes". No accreditation required.

• Don't need accreditation (but you do need access) to photograph researchers, doctors, veterinarians, social workers, dancers, artists,  etc.

• Canada's aerospace industry - there are two(?) groups designing spacecraft to carry tourists into space. No accreditation required.

• Too late now but since the 100th anniversary of Titanic is a few weeks away, did anyone track down and photograph (Canadian) relatives of the survivors? No accreditation required.

• Pictures of Canadian athletes training for the upcoming 2012 Olympics. No accreditation required.

[Stacey Newman]

Warren, you're my hero today. Thank you. I prefer to work human interest subjects anyways. stories that usually require days, if not weeks to research and shoot. I don't do a lot of accredited shooting, though I'm on assignment for fashion week, ironically--squished is an understatement.

I started this topic because it seems that accreditation is being required for stuff they would have begged media to attend a few years ago. it seems sponsors want total control over where images go. that's understandable of course, but it didn't used to be like that. if I responded to press calls I was often thanked profusely for coming. fortunately I have really good relationships with some publicity firms in the area so this isn't an issue often.

in your example, you forgot to add waist deep in snow while trudging uphill in a blizzard with bullets flying at you simultaneously. ;-) your experience and willingness to share it is much appreciated.