News and editorial images from my archive, all available to license.
The short answer
A single editorial image starts around $300. A single commercial image starts around $700. That is the floor. From there the price moves based on how you use it.
I license direct, so you skip the agency markup. My rates run about 20 percent below what Getty and the big stock houses charge for the same kind of image.
Here is what actually moves the number.
Editorial or commercial: the biggest lever
The first thing I need to know is what the image is for.
Editorial use means news, education, documentary. A story about wildfires. A textbook. A museum panel. That is the lower tier, and it starts around $300 for one image.
Commercial use means marketing, advertising, promotion. Anything selling a product, a service, or a brand. That starts around $700 for one image, and it climbs from there.
Same photo. Different price. You are paying for the use, not the file.
Placement, reach, and duration
Once we know editorial or commercial, three things scale the price up.
- Placement (where it runs): web is the base, print costs more, broadcast and advertising placements cost the most.
- Reach (how many people see it): local is the base, national costs more, worldwide costs the most.
- Duration (how long you hold the license): one year is the base, three years costs more, perpetuity (forever) costs the most.
Stack those together and you get your number. A small local web use for one year sits near the floor. A national print campaign running three years sits well above it.
Exclusivity
Want to be the only one using the image? That roughly doubles the price.
Exclusivity means I pull it off the market for everyone else for the term you buy. That has real value if the image is tied to your brand or your campaign, and you pay for that value.
Most people do not need it. If you are running a news story or an internal deck, a standard non-exclusive license does the job and costs less.
A quick example
Say a regional magazine wants one of my wildfire frames for a print feature. Editorial use, print, national reach, one year. You start at the $300 editorial floor and step up a bit for the print run and the national reach. You are still in the low hundreds, not the thousands.
Now flip it. A company wants that same frame for a national ad campaign, print and web, running three years, and they want it exclusive. Commercial use, multiple placements, national reach, three years, plus exclusivity. That one climbs into four figures, and the exclusivity roughly doubles wherever the base lands.
Same photographer, same file. The whole gap between those two numbers is use.
What you actually get
You get a written license that spells out how you can use the image: the placement, the reach, the term, and whether it is exclusive. Nothing hidden, nothing vague. If your use changes later, you extend or upgrade the license instead of starting over. You are never guessing about what you are allowed to do.
A note on news photos and outtakes
A lot of my news work runs through the wire, meaning AFP and Getty. When you see one of my wildfire frames in the New York Times or moving on the wire, the agency holds the rights to that exact published frame. You license that one through them.
Here is what most people miss. I keep my outtakes. On any assignment I shoot far more than the one or two frames that get published, and a lot of those extra frames are just as strong.
So if you want a comparable image from the same assignment, the same fire, the same event, the same subject, I can license that to you directly. You get the shot you need, you deal with one person, and you usually pay less than you would going through an agency.
What it costs for your specific use
Every use is a little different, so I built a tool that does the math for you. You pick the use type, the placement, the reach, and the duration, and it gives you a real number on the spot. No back and forth, no waiting on a quote by email.
Get your number now: use the instant quote calculator on my License an Image page.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to license a news photo?
A single editorial image starts around $300 and a single commercial image starts around $700. The final price depends on the use type, where it runs, how far it reaches, how long you hold the license, and whether you want exclusivity.
What is the difference between an editorial and a commercial license?
Editorial covers news, education, and documentary use and starts around $300 for one image. Commercial covers marketing, advertising, and promotion and starts around $700. It is the same photo at a different price, set by how you use it.
Does exclusivity cost extra?
Yes. Exclusivity roughly doubles the price because the image gets pulled off the market for everyone else during your license term. Most editorial and internal uses do not need it and cost less without it.
Can I license one of your photos that was published by AFP or Getty?
The exact published frame is held by the wire agency, so you license that one through them. But I keep my outtakes from the same assignment and can license a comparable image directly, often for less than the agency charges.