I made the photo above because I believed in the Land Trust for Tennessee's efforts to buy Fiery Gizzard
People ask me for picutres for free almost every day. I suspect it is like that for most photographers. There are tons of reasons to give your pictures away. Maybe you like the person asking, maybe you like their project and want to be included. I've donated my photographs and services to causes that I believe in. Hell, I have even given the New York Times pictures for nothing (here). As a photographer you have to bear in mind that free is not a business model, it is not sustainable so choose who you donate images to wisely.
If you are asking a photographer for images for free here are a couple of tips to help them say yes.
1 Clearly define what it is you want. Which picture? Where and when will it be published? Is it for a book? Who is the publisher, how many copies and in what languages will it be printed? What size will the image be used? Will you be printing in grey scale or color? Projects that are clearly delineated are easy to say yes to. Projects that are amorphous where the use isn't clear are easy to say no to.
2 Don't ask for more than you need. I recently turned down a request from the National Academy of Sciences because they wanted rights for themselves and their potential future assignees. Sorry, that is too vague and sounds too much like a rights grab. If they had just been asking for the image to appear in an anthology I probably would have said yes.
3 Understand that the photographer might not be able to give you an image even if they want to. My photos are represented by an agent who has exclusive rights to license the pictures. Getting them to issue a license for free is really difficult and often not possible.
4 BRIEFLY explain why this will be good for the photographer. Use a little salesmanship. Is it for a web site? What sort of traffic does it generate? Things like that... Remember you are asking for something valuable, put some effort into asking.
5 If you work for a media company and are asking for a handout try somewhere else. I get weekly calls from publishing companies that "don't have a budget" for content. Really, don't have a budget for content? You are basing a multi-million dollar business on publishing something that you don't have a budget for? Try Flickr...
6 Licensing is shockingly affordable. It might be simpler and will be much faster to go ahead and pay for the use you have in mind. Check here.
7 Every professional photographer I know has had to cut staff to stay in business. We are all busy trying to keep the wheels on our businesses. Free requests tend to go to the bottom of the pile. Be patient and understand that the answer is often no.
Stephen Alvarez
Paris
) you can shoot hand held almost anywhere. As much as I love my 
camera they just cannot compete with a big sensor when the sun goes down. 
