Tuesday, February 20, 2024

BEYOND THE STOCK PHOTO: Tracking Down and Getting Permission for a Photo of a Rare Animal

By Abi Cushman

My book, WOMBATS ARE PRETTY WEIRD: A  [Not So] Serious Guide, is a funny, illustrated guide to the wonderfully weird marsupial known as the wombat. But although most of the book is illustrated, I wanted to show photos of actual wombats in the back matter so kids could see the real thing.

“No problem!” I thought confidently. I’d worked as a web designer for over fifteen years, so I was used to searching for images in the public domain or purchasing stock photos for use on my websites.

I just needed one photo of each of the three wombat species. Easy peasy, right?

Stock Photo Websites

Right off the bat, I found many fantastic stock photos of the bare-nosed wombat and the southern hairy-nosed wombat on iStockPhoto.com. And they were affordable as well.

 

Bare-nosed wombat                               Southern hairy-nosed wombat

Then I did a search for photos of the northern hairy-nosed wombat, and this is where it got tricky. Northern hairy-nosed wombats are critically endangered with only 300 alive today. This species of wombat does not do well in captivity, so there are no northern hairy-nosed wombats at any zoos. They only live in two protected areas in Queensland, Australia. Only government officials and a handful of volunteers are allowed into those areas.

Here is a video of the elusive northern hairy-nosed wombat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CszzMHDlZkU&t=37s


Northern hairy-nosed wombats look similar to southern hairy-nosed wombats, but there are slight differences, such as the shape and breadth of their snouts, their coloring, their size, and the length of their ears. After studying lots of images and videos of both hairy-nosed species, I started becoming adept at picking out the differences. So when I searched iStockPhoto for northern hairy-nosed wombats, I could see the results actually showed southern hairy-nosed wombats.

My next step was to try more expensive stock photo sites like Getty Images or Alamy. And lo and behold, success! Sort of. Both of these sites did have photos of the northern hairy-nosed wombat, but two of the images showed the wombat in a cage, and there was no way to crop it creatively so you couldn’t see the metal bars around it. Out of context, these images really didn’t fit in with the photos I had of the other wombat species, which showed them in a more natural setting, definitely not caged.

There was one photo where the wombat was not in a cage, but the image was kind of dark. I decided to save it as a last resort and keep searching for a better photo.

Public Domain Photos

My next step was to look for images in the public domain. Sometimes photos that government officials take are released into the public domain.

I looked on the northern hairy-nosed wombat page on Wikipedia, which often displays public domain images, and I found this:

By Eva Hejda http://fotos.naturspot.de/, CC BY-SA 2.0 de, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=262609

That looked like a southern hairy-nosed wombat to me, despite it being labeled otherwise. And there was no further information, like where the photo was taken, so I did not want to use it.

Next, I looked at the Queensland Government’s website, and to my delight, they had lots of very adorable photos of northern hairy-nosed wombats.Yay! Now to get permission!

I used their contact form and attempted to select the correct department. I mentioned that I’d written a book about wombats being published by HarperCollins (yes, I name dropped) and asked if I could use one photo for the back matter of the book. And then I sat back and waited for their response.

And waited. And waited.

After a few weeks of waiting, I decided to try a different tack.

Contact Photographers

I emailed a few photographers of northern hairy-nosed wombat images that I found on Google image search. In my emails, I name dropped my publisher again, and mentioned I’d be willing to pay them a fee for use of one of their photos.

And then I waited. And waited.

Get on the Phone

Well, I got tired of waiting, so I decided to call the Queensland Government. After being passed from department to department, and becoming increasingly aware of my American accent as I repeated my query each time to a new person, I was told that someone would get in touch with me via email.

And then, I got an email! But it wasn’t from the Queensland Government, it was from one of the photographers I had emailed, and he was willing to work with me! He had been a volunteer at Epping Forest National Park and had captured many beautiful photos of northern hairy-nosed wombats. After negotiating a fee, I was able to choose one from his collection. Success!

And then, wouldn’t you know, an official from the Queensland Government got back to me a few days later with an image. They asked that I credit the Queensland Government Department of Environment and Science, as well as the photographer. And guess who the photographer was? Yes, the same one I’d been in contact with.

So did I get double permission to use the photo? Yes. Could I have perhaps not had to pay the photographer a fee if I had been more patient? Yes. But did I mind? No, because I think the photographer deserved to be compensated for his work, and in our correspondence, he shared some great stories about the wombats living at the park.

And as a result of my extra effort in tracking down and getting permission to use the photo, I’m thrilled with the back matter of WOMBATS ARE PRETTY WEIRD. All the photos look great, and I have peace of mind knowing that they accurately depict each species.

 



About the Author: 

Abi Cushman is the author-illustrator of SOAKED!, ANIMALS GO VROOM! and WOMBATS ARE PRETTY WEIRD. Her upcoming books include THE QUIET FOREST, written by Charlotte Offsay, and FLAMINGOS ARE PRETTY FUNKY, the second book in the “[Not So] Serious Guide” series. When she’s not making books, Abi enjoys running, playing tennis, and eating nachos. (Yes, at the same time.) She lives on the Connecticut shoreline with her family.

To learn more about Abi and her books, visit her website at AbiCushman.com. If you like secrets, exclusive sneak peeks, wombats, and special giveaways, subscribe to her newsletter

35 comments:

  1. I'd love to hear if HC required you to select and pay permissions for the photos. I've worked with a multiple trade publishers. Only one required me to do the work. My books through Reycraft (small pub) and Tyndale (large, Christian pub) did it all. Those were animal books. For The Laura Ingalls Wilder Companion with Chicago Review Press, I had to pay (as needed) and get permissions for the photos despite the small advance for the 50K word book.

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    1. Interesting! I did select and pay for all the photos in the backmatter. I definitely wanted to be in charge of selecting which photos went in. But probably I should have asked to be reimbursed. I wonder though if it makes a difference that I was paid as the illustrator already. Therefore, perhaps it is up to me to supply the images whether I drew them or sourced photos. I think the lesson here would be to ask the publisher.

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  2. Thank you so much for this post! Photos for backmatter and how to obtain them properly isn't a subject I've seen touched on before, and I appreciate learning about this through the experience you shared with us. I love reading humorous nonfiction picture books as much as I love writing them; I subscribed to your newsletter and I'm excited to check out your books with my daughter!

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    1. Thanks, Heather! I'm so glad the post was helpful. When I realized getting a photo was going to require more than getting one from a stock photo site, I was a little nervous. But after hearing from a couple author friends that they had to reach out to people to get their backmatter photos, I felt more empowered. So I thought this would be a good topic to write about.

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    2. The manuscript I am currently querying with is about a microscopic organism called a tardigrade. I typed 'tardigrade' into the iStock search bar and got lots of pictures of beetles as a result! LOL! I think I'm going to end up on the same kind of backmatter photo journey as you shared with us, so I really appreciate you sharing all about it!

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    3. Oh yeah, I can believe that! But I think with a little digging and a little emailing, you'll be able to get the photos you need. And it'll be so satisfying and make the book that much better.

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  3. Abi, you would make a great private detective - attentive to detail and persistent!! Congratulations on finally finding the photo to finish your back matter, as well as on your fun and funny book. Thanks for sharing!!

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  4. Robin Brett WechslerFebruary 20, 2024 at 8:47 AM

    Good to know! Thanks for sharing this information, Abi. I love your wombat book!

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  5. Great info! AND, I'm so glad you found photos of all three. They are absolutely adorable!

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  6. What a fantastic post, Abi! I've had my share of photo sourcing challenges too. I love how determined you were to get your back matter accurate. Go wombats!

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    1. Yes, the photo sourcing can be a little stressful depending on your topic. I'm happy to have gotten the photo in the end for this book. But I realize now too that there may be situations where you have to change things up or make a compromise because you can't get permission for the photo.

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  7. Thanks for sharing your journey to track down the correct photo and the sites that you used. Even after the contract is signed the work continues! Great post, Abi. I look forward to reading WOMBATS ARE PRETTY WEIRD.

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  8. Absolutely wonderful story of tenacity - and success! I was having a similar problem with Javalinas - I finally vacationed in AZ and took my own!

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  9. Thanks for sharing your photo adventures. The research that went into your text is equally impressive. WOMBATS ARE PRETTY WEIRD is one of my mentor text / comp titles.

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  10. Great post! (And you know I love your clever book!) Question: is it a one-time cost for the photos? I'm putting together photos for a sub and wondering. Does the publisher pay that cost? Is it more if it will be in a book with big distribution and quantity of copies? (versus on an individual's website). Can I sub with links to the photos and the costs? Were you given a budget? How did you handle that part?

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    1. For most of the photos I purchased, I got royalty-free images from iStockPhoto.com. I think I had a subscription to iStockPhoto at the time, so the photos were maybe $6-$15 each, maybe even less. It was very reasonable. I did check to make sure that the license I had for those would cover the distribution numbers for the book. Specifically the license allows for reproducing the image up to 500,000 times in physical print format. For the fee I paid the photographer, the conditions were that it would only be used in the backmatter of the book.

      I did pay for these images myself, but as Annette mentioned in her comment, for the most part, her publisher paid for the photos in her books. I don't know if my situation was an exception or not. We decided to add the backmatter and photos in during the editing process, so that could have played a role. Maybe the publisher would have paid for them if I'd asked. I didn't bother because I only needed to purchase 3 photos, since the rest of the book is illustrated. So, yes, I think linking to the photos would be good, and just having a discussion about it with your editor up front since you already know you want photos in the book.

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    2. Thanks so much, Abi! I feel more inspired now! Amazing that the cost can be so low! Would you say generally speaking that iStockPhoto has comparable quality selection to the more expensive sites?

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    4. Yes, I think in general, the quality is great. I've used it for years to source photos for my animal facts website, Animal Fact Guide and have been very pleased. But again, it'll depend on your topic whether you can find photos on there. Like if you were trying to find a photo of a specific person for a biography, then it probably wouldn't have any.

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  11. Thank you for writing a book that kids love to read, Abi.

    I appreciate learning how you obtained permission for an accurate photo for WOMBAT'S ARE PRETTY WEIRD.

    Suzy Leopold

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  12. Awesome resources and tips Abi! Thank you:)

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  13. Thanks for sharing this, Abi. I also really loved the further conversations in the comments. Wombats is such a fun book and I loved the photos you chose for the back matter. It's interesting to discover what went into getting them. I am glad the photographer got paid for his work.

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    1. Yes, I'm so glad people have shared their own experiences sourcing photos in the comments. Lots of collective wisdom here! And yeah, as an image creator myself, I definitely support paying people for their work. I was also happy to make that connection with him and chat wombats.

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  14. Finding photos can be hard... and it's really eye-opening to see how many are misidentified. Especially when it comes to arthropods (thinking of the tardigrade-beetle comment by Heather). I'm sure this is how the wrong images end up in some books (a cockroach in a beetle book, a syrphid fly in a book about bees). Thanks for sharing your adventures.

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    1. Yes, lots of misidentification of animals! I can believe it happens all the time with arthropods. I actually saw some published wombat books where they showed a southern hairy-nosed wombat and labeled it as a northern hairy-nosed one. I can understand why because they're misidentified on the stock photo sites. But that's why I wanted to be extra careful. I try to find out more information, like where the photo was taken and who the photographer is. Sometimes the location can rule out a lot of animals.

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  15. Thanks for all the info! Love the book.

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  16. Getting photo permissions--ugh. Glad you were able to work it out! (I try not to have to do this part, but I know nobody cares quite as much about your topic as you do.)

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