Moonlighting

If you are a photographer or photojournalist, you have been asked to do photography “on the side.” You may have been asked to do weddings, family portraits, sports photos, feature photography or art, but as a professional there are a few guidelines to adhere to.

1) Check with your management to see if there are restrictions on “moonlighting.” If there are none specifically written, establish a simple agreement by discussing your intentions with the higher powers, assure them the outside project will not interfere with your duties and explain the limit of what you intend to do. Follow the conversation with an email to have it on record.

2)  Limit discussing your outside projects around the office. When at work, your focus should be on your duties and you should assure your there is nothing interfering with your priorities.

3) Avoid doing too many free projects on the side. Personally, anything for family is on me. For non-profits you want to limit yourself or you will find yourself being taken advantage of, which is an addictive state to get into. Read a fine piece on this by world photographer Crystal Randazzo here.

As a newspaper reporter I often covered events sponsored by civic organizations or non-profits for publication in my paper, such as the American Cancer Society Relay for Life, the city’s annual Spring Fest or Concert in the Park.  When asked, I gave a couple of photos to the organizations for their wall, website or newsletter. My belief is I use their event for the profit of my newspaper, so I reciprocate by sharing a couple of photos. If you do this, send photos in an email so you have a record of it and include a request the photos not be shared with another publication.

Another subject in photojournalism is the ownership and use of photos published or not published. Are they the property of the photographer or the publication? Can a photographer sell photos from an auto accident covered for a publication to the attorney of a crash victim? You will not find this in your AP Stylebook and the rules vary from company to company. I will share my experiences with this in a future post. In the meantime, share with us what you do about shooting outside jobs.

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