Photography Rant

For the freelance photographer, life can be quite difficult in the money making aspect. The sheer number of “photographers” trying to start up their own business is part of the reason it’s so hard for us to make money.  Now, I admit that I didn’t come out of my mother’s womb with a camera and a lifelong dream to become a photographer, but I have always had an interest in it among many other things. Since I have decided that college is not for me, that limits the type of jobs I can have. Although almost impossible, I am trying my best to stay away from jobs with too much stress.  Not having  a college degree causes me to only have access to mediocre jobs at minimum wage.  Since it is so incredible hard to get up and running as a freelance photographer, I must stick with a mediocre job for now. Don’t get me wrong- I love my job at the pizza place, it’s just not what I want to do for the rest of my life.

It seems like everyday another “photographer” is popping up and if you did a search of photographers in this area- there are hundreds. Everybody wants to be a photographer and it seems that everyone, their mother, and their grandmother are now claiming to be photographers.  Spoiled teenagers get their parents to buy them a fancy camera and what do you know, now they are a photographer! People with an iPhone take a picture at an odd angle and next thing you know they start a Facebook fan page claiming to be a photographer. People with any type of camera decide to take a picture of a piece of wood they found in a dumpster and now they are a photographer too- of course after heavy photo-shopping.

Another thing that really peeves me is prices people are asking for their “photography”. Now starting out it truly is hard to charge much more than $100 an hour for a session  simply because people haven’t heard of you and probably don’t trust to spend much money on someone who only has a portfolio of their animals and self-portraits. You have to start somewhere though and eventually raise your prices to make it actually worth it. However I see way to many people offering “free” services. In a world where everybody already claims to be a photographer, nothing causes us to loose more money than free photographers.  There are plenty of ways new photographers can get portfolio pictures without doing free services. Practice on family members, animals and even yourself.  Bring your camera everywhere and practice, practice, practice.

I am obviously not yet making a living off of photography and still have a lot  to learn but it really does hurt every one's paychecks when free services are offered.  Doing a session involves much work such as driving which cost money, the hours spent photographing, and the hours spent getting the pictures ready and then the cost of putting them on a disc  and shipping or delivering them to the client.  There is the cost of the equipment we use, getting new equipment,  things breaking and so on.  So really, offering a free photo-shoot doesn’t help you or other photographers. Some people won’t even consider you if you are offering something for free or way too cheap because they feel like if the photographer is cheap the pictures will be as well. You get what you pay for can be very true in the photography world. Other people don’t know shit about what a good photograph is and therefor will go for anything free and the more photographers offer free sessions the less people are going to want to pay for them.

We do live in a world where not everyone is blessed with money so at times it is extremely hard to want to pay someone for  photography especially when you “know someone” who will do it for free. Just like everything else in this world- it cost money. How often do you go to the dentist and ask if they can clean your teeth for free? What happens if you don’t make a payment on your new car? How about if you just walk out and not pay for a meal at a restaurant? If someone is a photographer and great at what they do, they should be paid for it like everyone else. Don’t expect free services because we are trying to pay bills and earn a living too. Think about where you work. Would you ever go into work if your boss said that you wouldn’t be paid for it? I don’t think so! That being said, I wish luck to all real “photographers” that are just starting out and hope that their business soars! 

Another thing- if you are afraid to charge someone for your photography services then that is a good sign you aren't ready to be a free-lance photographer. That is not saying that you aren't good at photography just that you aren't ready for it. Practice enough until you can look at the pictures you are taking and feel confident that people will love them. I practice on my animals, myself, family and recently I'll go out with other photographs and we will practice on each other. 

*Photographs of me where taken by my good friend,  Jessica Whitley