Always credit the photographer by name
When publishing images, always credit the photographer by including their name. This applies regardless of who took the photo, even if they are not a professional photographer. A photographer has the right to be recognised as the creator.
Portrait photo in our studio
As an employee of Umeå University, you can have a professional portrait taken free of charge. To do so, book a time slot on our booking page. (Note that some sections of the booking page are in Swedish only.) We need to know your first and last name, email, telephone number and faculty, department, office or equivalent. Portrait photos are taken on Tuesday afternoons (14:30–16:30) and Wednesday mornings (9:30–11:30).
This package includes one processed photo per person, plus a web-optimised, cropped image for your staff directory page. Advanced image processing and retouching are not included.
Our studio is located in the Social Sciences Building, level 1: SAM.A.161 (S108 A). See map.
Using Inhousebyrån's photographers
You can order studio photos, press photos, event documentation and group photos via Inhousebyrån at the Communications Office.
Inhousebyrån has several photographers on staff who can help you with your particular request. When you choose to hire a photographer from Inhousebyrån, you as a customer always get all rights to the images you order.
To make it easier for you as a client, there are a number of different basic packages to choose from, where certain set conditions apply.
Hiring external photographers
Photography within Umeå Municipality
Umeå University has agreements with five external photographers for photography within Umeå Municipality. If you hire an external photographer for photography within Umeå Municipality, you must use one of the contracted photographers. The agreement applies to photography of still images and shorter moving sequences. The current agreement is in effect until 24 May 2024.
Give the photographer a written assignment with a good description (brief) of what you want them to deliver, when and how. You can hire a photographer on an hourly rate or request a quote for the total cost of an assignment. Keep in mind that the photographer also charges for the time spent processing the images. We do not pay compensation for travel expenses or travel time for work within Umeå Municipality.
Objective conditions for choosing a photographer
As a client, you can choose a photographer in no particular order for all types of assignments according to one or more of the following objective conditions. Think about what criteria you want to use to choose a photographer so you can justify your choice. For example, if you are basing it on professional qualifications or the needs or choices of individual staff members, you need to be able to explain what you are looking for. The list of photographers includes links to their CVs.
- Needs or choices of individual staff members
- Lowest total cost for the client
- Shortest delivery time
- Specific professional qualifications for the assignment
Contracted photographers
Malin Grönborg
Phone: +46 70-678 64 03
Email: info@malingronborg.se
Hourly rate: SEK 1,100
Mikael Lundgren
Phone: +46 70–647 49 58
Email: info@bildinorr.se
Hourly rate: SEK 1,190
Samuel Pettersson
Phone: +46 70-666 03 50
Email: info@samuelpettersson.se
Hourly rate: SEK 1,050
Erik Abel
Phone: +46 70-292 15 18
Email: erik@erikabel.se
Hourly rate: SEK 1,500
Peter Lundström
Phone: +46 70-670 15 22
Email: p.lundstrom@featured.se
Hourly rate: SEK 800
Peter Lundström is based in Skellefteå. Within this agreement, you do not have to pay compensation for his travel expenses and travel time for photography in Umeå Municipality.
Photography outside of Umeå Municipality
The University does not have any contracted photographers outside of Umeå Municipality. If you want to hire a photographer, you therefore need to do this as a direct award of contract procedure and follow the rules for direct award of contract. Keep in mind that you must also reach an agreement on the usage rights you have for the images.
Try to achieve the same usage rights as in the photographer agreement – i.e. no time limit, use in all of the University's communication channels and social media accounts, use as a press image, and storage in the University's image data bank (a prerequisite for web publication).
You can also hire the contracted photographers for photography outside of Umeå Municipality, but then you need to agree with the photographer that the same contractual conditions will apply as for photography in Umeå. Bear in mind that you may be required to pay compensation for travel expenses.
Purchasing images from photo agencies
The University has no agreements with special photo agencies for the purchase of stock and genre images; direct award of contract applies.
Use purchased genre images with caution in contexts where the image has a more prominent and brand-strengthening role, such as in campaigns, in presentation material and in ads. You should also be aware that genre images from photo agencies can be bought by other clients and thus appear in other, perhaps not always desirable, contexts.
If possible, choose images from Scandinavian environments and otherwise follow the guidelines for our visual language if purchasing images from one of the photo agencies the University works with. Avoid stereotypes and overly contrived images. Strive for a documentary feel.
Examples of photo agencies the University usually purchases genre images from:
Be sure to keep documentation in the form of receipts (such as a screen shot) for purchased images. This shows that you have accepted their terms and conditions at the time of purchase. Of these photo agencies, Mostphotos has the best terms of use and prices. We use Adobe Stock mainly for generic video clips.
Purchasing stock images – photos that have already been taken
The photographer agreement only applies to images taken on behalf of Umeå University by one of our contracted photographers. It does not apply to the purchase of stock images. There are no contracted suppliers for stock images. Prices for stock images are usually per image, and the price depends on how extensive you want your rights to use the image to be. See links to price guides in the adjacent blocks.
If you purchase stock images, it is important that you and the photographer agree in writing how the image may be used. This applies even if you are allowed to use the image for free and even if the photo was taken by a colleague, student, etc. rather than a professional photographer. Preferably use the image copyright transfer agreement template, which is available in Swedish and English (see the links in the block on this page). This ensures that we get the same rights of use as in the standard photographer agreement.
If you are unable to use the agreement template for some reason, for example because the photographer does not accept the terms and conditions or the price is too high, it is still important to clearly define how the image may be used. Defining these in an email that you print out and retain for your records is sufficient. Describe in which channels and for how long the image may be used, whether it may be used as a press image, and whether it may be added to our media bank.
Here is an example of how usage rights can be formulated so that it is in line with our photographer agreement:
I, (name of photographer), hereby authorise Umeå University to use my image(s) (description of image(s) concerned, preferably with file name specified), free of charge, in all of its channels and in social media, unlimited in time, as a downloadable press image, and to store it in its image data bank.
If you add stock images to the image data bank, it is important that you indicate whether the conditions differ from those in the photographer agreement in the "Notering nyttjanderätt" [Note regarding usage rights] field.
When people send their own images
There may be times when you ask a person to provide an image, such as a portrait image for an interview. A colleague, a researcher, a student, or another non-professional photographer may have taken the picture you want to use. There are some things you should inform on before you ask someone to send you an image:
- Ask for the highest resolution of the image possible. If the image is to be used on the web in body text or as a link item, it needs to be at least 1280 pixels along the long side. Top images need to be even larger.
- Who is the photographer? We need to know who took the image in order to use it and give credit to the photographer by including their name.
- The photographer also needs to give their consent for Umeå University to use the image. This also applies to amateur photographers, not just professional photographers. A photographer always has rights as the creator. One possibility is to have the photographer sign an image copyright transfer agreement. Templates for this can be found in the block on this page.
Free images from the web
Creative Commons is a simple licence for images that are free for everyone to use under very simple conditions. In most cases, the creator only wants an acknowledgement. There are four different terms under CC, which together form six different licences when combined with each other. Read more about Creative Commons licences.
Sites where free images are available include:
Ask the person sending the image to avoid selfies taken with a mobile phone. It is also good if the person in a portrait image looks as natural as possible and does not "pose" excessively.
If it is a portrait image, ask them to choose a calm background.
If a person sends a picture taken by a professional photographer, Umeå University may not be able to use it. It depends on what agreement was in place when the photo was taken. Most photographers do not allow the image to be made available to third parties. It is therefore important to find out what applies. Sometimes you may have to pay to use the image as a stock image.
Usage rights for images
When you use a contracted photographer, the usage rights specified in the photographer agreement apply automatically. The same usage rights apply when you use Inhousebyrån's photographers. This means free usage rights with no time limit in all of the University's channels and social media accounts, as well as the right to use the images as press images and in communication activities in collaboration with Umeå Municipality. However, you do not have the right to transfer the images to third parties in other contexts. When publishing images, credit the photographer by including their name.
In other cases, you must reach an agreement with the photographer on what usage rights apply. Aim for the usage rights to be as generous as possible without time limit.
Keep the following in mind when using a photographer
- If you use a contracted external photographer, objective criteria must be used when selecting which one. See "Contracted photographers" for more information, which photographers are available to choose from and their hourly rates.
- If necessary, request a quote if it is a larger assignment.
- Book the photographer and give them a written brief describing the assignment to avoid any misunderstandings and to enable reconciliation against the invoice.
- Give the photographer a clear image brief; see the checklist below.
- If you are authorised to do so, add the images to the image data bank. Images can also be uploaded to the image data bank via Episerver by web editors.
- Check that the invoice is in accordance with the assignment in terms of scope and hourly rate
Image brief – checklist
Think about what you want from the photo shoot. Formulate it in a written brief, i.e. a description of the assignment, to achieve a better delivery, avoid misunderstandings and enable reconciliation against the invoice (where applicable).
What will be photographed?
Brief description of the assignment. What will be photographed? How many people? Also state whether you are contracting via the photography agreement, framework agreement FS 2.1.2-460-19.
Number of images
How many images do you want delivered in the final delivery? This may affect the price.
Timing
When and where will the photo shoot take place? How long should the photographer be on site if they are shooting an event?
Utilisation
How will the images be used? In print, web, social media or perhaps in several different contexts?
Target group
Who is the content aimed at? Prospective students, other researchers, journalists, the public or others?
Format
Do you want images in portrait or landscape format, or a mixture of the two? Should it be possible to crop the images? If so, how? Keep in mind that web images lose some height when cropped to 16:9 format.
Tonality
What kind of motif, feeling and appeal do you want in the images?
Image palette
What "image palette" do you want? Portrait images, the person in an environment, or interaction with others? Detail images? The entire image palette?
Contact with the person(s) to be photographed
Should the photographer be the one to contact the person(s) to be photographed to arrange a time? Or will you be doing that?
Consent of the subject(s)
Do you need consent or a participation agreement from the person(s) pictured. If so, who will handle that – you or the photographer?
Selection
How will images be selected? Usually the photographer sends you a contact sheet of some kind, from which you make a selection according to the number of images you agreed on.
Delivery
How should the images be delivered, and when?