Reply To: Query

[JanJan]

I am in the same boat as you iliketag. I am still learning and I still call myself an aspiring photographer, but judging from the feedback of some experienced photographers, family and friends who have followed my work, as well some people on these forums, I feel that I’m at the point of receiving some compensation for my photography work. I also forgot to mention that I’ve had about 8 years of professional experience with Photoshop, thanks to my full-time job as a web/graphic designer, so there is the retouching aspect.

For the most part, most of my shoots have been trade for print (TFP) shoots with aspiring models or a couple of family and friends willing to model for me. I’ve had some paid work, but that’s mostly with people who I don’t really know. I do have an ad on Craig’s List offering my photography services for a small fee, but it’s mainly to expand my portfolio. It does get tiresome to take pictures of the same circle of people, you know!

I tell people that the reason why my rates are so low is because I am a new photographer that has only been doing this for less than a year. I also let them know that my equipment is limited and that I work best in natural lighting in the early mornings or late afternoons (“golden hours”). If they want a shoot in mid-afternoon when lighting is harsh, I do ask, and even plead, that we find areas with lots of shade. For example, I recently did a shoot for a pageant mom and her daughter and convinced her to push back the shooting time a couple hours because the lighting was harsh.

I’ve been charging a fee mainly to make sure that my time isn’t abused based on previous experiences. My first photo shoot ever was a TFP with a woman who was voted to appear on a calendar (the cover and the month of January) targeted towards the LGBT community. It was for an start-up clothing company targeted towards “tomboys.” (Here’s the chosen picture that was featured on the cover – http://www.photosbyanjanette.com/nik-behind-fence/). She really took advantage of my time. I think I spent about 10 hours of shooting time within a span of 3 non-consecutive days. On top of that, I spent hours retouching photos by slimming her down, tucking in bumps, and removing logos that ended up in the shot. To give any more evidence that she was abusing my time, she wanted to shoot at the gay festival in town and didn’t even offer to pay for admission (which was $10). I had to convince her to pay half of my admission, telling her that my husband took my ATM card and I only had $5. When the calendar was finished, she didn’t even bother to buy me a copy to keep as a portfolio!

In short, it IS okay to tell people no, but like what dont.care said, explain to them why. I’ve been asked to shoot weddings and events like surprise parties or engagement proposals and I’ve turned them ALL down. Living in Las Vegas, I’ve even turned down shooting at small weddings and elopements. (I’ve only recently done a bride and groom shoot, but that was done AFTER the ceremony because many chapels do not allow 3rd party photographers.) I explained to them that I don’t have the proper equipment or knowledge to capture a moment on the fly. Because these types of shoots do not allow any room for error, I know I can’t handle them.