Determining the value of your work is one of the most important,and overlooked, aspects of professional photography.

Most photographers live to see their work being used to sell, tell or intrigue — on walls, posters and web sites; in ads, books and magazines. Few of us were attracted to photo-graphy with the thought that it was a way to make money.

It's no surprise, then, that photographers tend to shy away from discussions of compensation for their work. For many, there's the ever-present anxiety that the very destiny of the image...