Photographs

Once you have your product in production, I highly suggest getting professional photographs taken. I recently found a local photographer that was willing to do two hours of studio time for a very reasonable price. He has experience doing commercial work. I did find a photographer that has worked with national clients but to be honest, he was much more expensive. For the distribution channel, this is the best result for me. In addition, he was willing to do all the photoshopping and clean up for one of my products. Barter at its best. It gives me a lot of confidence that people are willing to do 1-2 hours of work for what for me is a nominal price. I am picking up the CD and proofs tomorrow.

When you do get photographs done, make sure you are getting full copyrights on the photographs. I have had some want to provide a "license" and maintain the copyright. This is a big mistake and be careful when you look at the contract your are signing. I had one photographer that was out of the running right away as he wanted to license the photo's of my own photographs to me. When I read the contract I was appalled.

Essentially I was accepting a license to use print and digital for "marketing" purposes and was not allowed to transfer the license without written permission from the copyright holder. You don't want to lose control of your product so be very careful and make sure when you get a bid for photo's that you specifically state you will maintain all copyrights on the product.