Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/02/22
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Not long ago I had a discussion with local children's hospital about doing photos for ads. As we worked through things they finally said, we are a hospital and don't really have money for this and it is a good cause. I pointed out the window at a parking lot full of Mercedes and BMWs and asked if I brought in one of my daughters whether the staff would do the service for free. That ended that negotiation. A few years back, when I was Director of Communications at a nationally known cancer research institution and hospital, I hired a very high profile documentary photographer to spend 10 days shooting what ever he wanted to to give us a special publication that would show people what the institution was all about. I stressed to the photographer in question that we were a non-profit, and yadah, yadah, yadah...He gave us a "discount," and only charged $25,000 plus expenses... What he also did, which I think says it all....He had to come back for an extra day to get shots in our clinic, for which he charged us a reduced rate of $1500. While there he met and shot a family that was obviously in dire financial straits - and he sent them a check for his entire fee for the day. And, in my opinion, that was exactly where his charity belonged, rather than in the institution's pocket. And, by the way, the $25,000 really strained my budget, but it was worth every penny...