Balance?

[Helicity]

I am having trouble with everyone wanting everything for free. My friends and their family ask me to take portraits of them and thats fine. I get paid unless I take some during a kids play date without them asking. Ill edit and email them later.

Others that I don't know really well or complete strangers have been even worse. If we just met new people and I get asked for a card a few times when they call in a few weeks they assume that by saying hi and chatting with them for a few minutes that I offered to do the photos for free.

I am a amateur but that doesn't mean I should shell out gas money and print costs just to give you free photos. But should I be doing it for free just to get a portfolio?

I want to do photography and make money at it. I know I have to start somewhere but if I do everything for free how do you ever break into makign money.

I guess the problem is my husband and his family (I live on a farm with them all) He says "your time isn't free if you take hours away from your family and send gas money and have to pay a babysitter while you go out then charge for it. You can't do it for free. His family thinks "well it's not like you have anything better to do so do it for free and do that for a few years till you get good"

Now i'm confused to what I am even posting about

[prince]

Trade for Pics or doing for free for portfolio building is fine if you don't have a strong portfolio or if you are building a client base.. For potential clients it's like giving a test sample..

I am going to work with my dog's trainer and offer her clients one free 4x6 of their pet's graduation day photos. If they want extra copies they will pay. I did a barter with the trainer to train my dog and I would do the website for her and take free photos for her pet graduation. I get to spread the word among 3-4 people and their network, while she is offering a good service to her clients since not a lot of dog trainers do that. I might strike a deal with her next time to make this valuable to both of us and she knows that.

I am on your husband's side. He is right (I know you won't tell him that :P j/k). You can tell his family that you are spending time developing your skills taking photos around the farm & more importantly your kids and learning new post processing techniques.

Don't sweat too much on this People always look for free and cheap, but quality comes at a price.

[thaoimage]

I have the same problem. I've been assigned to take photos of an entire flag football team and each invidual player (30 players total)... and they want it for free. Well i told them if I have to take time away to shoot a team photo, shoot them in action and in studio, then I think they should at the very least, pay me for my time... well, they said "No" so I told them to go find another photographer who is willing to do it for free... or have someone go take some crappy pictures of them.

[lynweber]

I agree there is a balance. I am a backup for another photographer I do that for free because it is the kind of work i want to do. With that said if someone books me because they seen my work that I did with her I charge them. Might not be much but you have to or else everyone will want it for free.

[prince]

Originally Posted by thaoimage

I have the same problem. I've been assigned to take photos of an entire flag football team and each invidual player (30 players total)... and they want it for free. Well i told them if I have to take time away to shoot a team photo, shoot them in action and in studio, then I think they should at the very least, pay me for my time... well, they said "No" so I told them to go find another photographer who is willing to do it for free... or have someone go take some crappy pictures of them.

Were they aliens? That's insane. Man, am glad you refused.

Originally Posted by lynweber

Might not be much but you have to or else everyone will want it for free.

By doing this you are making them value you and your work. +1 for that.

[thaoimage]

Originally Posted by prince

Were they aliens? That's insane. Man, am glad you refused.



By doing this you are making them value you and your work. +1 for that.

I had to... even though they were relatives, it's going to take a awesome amount of time to process those photos for them... to make them look nice... and they should know better than to ask me to do it for free...

[prince]

Aha!! Only relatives and friends can dare to ask that. I don't mind doing small assignments for and hour or so but yours was a huge one.. oh well.. they'll learn.

[candleman]

time is money... i agree with your husband.

start charging. you wil have more time with your kids and more money in your pocket.
win-win

[wsu_danielle]

When I first started I did a session for free and then started charging very small amounts (like $20-40). I was giving my "clients" a LOT because I was building my portfolio and also working on my craft.

Now I have increased my prices but not by too much because (a) I am still honing my craft and (b) I have friendly competition from others I know and am close to. They charge more but are much more experienced. I am okay with having a lower price point as it is helping me to get small jobs here and there.

As for family, that's tough. I was asked to do my father's cousin's wedding later this month. I referred him to my site and told him my prices (extremely reasonable) upfront. No one should expect you to do anything for free. Get a website, get a Facebook page (free!) going, and put your rates on there. If people ask about you taking photos, refer them to your page so they can see your rates!

I am going to a wedding next week as a second shooter and assistant to one of my friends. I'm happy to do it for free because I haven't done a wedding officially before (always been either a guest that gets good shots or a second shooter) and because I'm going to get great experience & shots for my portfolio. Worth it!

Great thread. Looking forward to see what others post.