Comments on: Six Things Every Beginning Photographer Should Know

By: Ashley

Ashley — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 03:45:00 +0000

I once read a piece of advice about turning a profit that has stuck with me for months since I read it. When first starting out, as a BEGINNING photographer (since that is the audience that this article is aimed at), try to book shoots for friends or relatives in which you are going to use as practice and to build a portfolio. As an amateur it isn’t expected that your work would be worth as much value as an experienced photographer. Then, as your skills increase as well as the demand for them, start charging. Small amounts at first, so people don’t have to worry about dishing out a ton of money for a relatively new photographer’s work. When the demand is high enough to make you competitive, or even overwhelmed in those requesting your services, bump up your prices again as you have now become worth it to the customers to pay extra for if it means guaranteeing you for a shoot. Keep doing this over and over as you become more established and demanded. Start small, maybe $20 a shoot, then $40, then $60, then $100, then $500 or more to weed out those who are not willing to pay as much for your services and to better meet the needs of those who are. I did not come up with this but I do find that it makes the most sense! As a beginning photographer I can’t imagine charging others for my services when they are not worth much at the moment, but who’s to say that in six months after taking classes and practicing that I won’t be worth more? If I become a skilled photographer then I can charge an appropriate amount at that time, if the demand is high enough to keep customers around after a price increase. Use your skills and prices as a filter. Meet the needs of yourself and your clients.

By: Jim Holmes

Jim Holmes — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:14:00 +0000

Shooting for free establishes your value to your client. You get what you are worth and show you are worth nothing to them.

By: EddieClark2

EddieClark2 — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 13:36:00 +0000

Since there are so many unqualified opinions here, let me qualify my statement with this fact; I am a professional photographer making a living through my photography, and do not have a second job waiting tables or whatever to pay my bills. I also love what I do.
Working for free is a good way to end up not working as a photographer. It says you don’t value your photography (because it’s probably bad), and it undercuts all the real pros who can provide good work all the time (this will maybe be YOU someday). Taking on what should be a paying job for free or cheap is not necessary for becoming a better photographer, and especially not for succeeding- since when did any successful business not charge for their services or product?
Creating a solid portfolio and becoming better at photography requires education (formal and/or informal), honest peer review (NOT Facebook friends and family ‘likes’), and practice practice practice by taking thousands and thousands and thousands of photos. Do join a real professional photography organization or association to learn and support your trade.
Becoming a full-time photographer requires money in the bank (and/or a degree from a very prestigious program/university) to get through the first 6 months to a year with little income because getting your name out there and building a reputation doesn’t happen over night.
And lastly, be nice to others and have fun because if you can’t do that you wont last long.

By: Debra Tidd

Debra Tidd — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 04:18:00 +0000

Do shoot for free! You do not advertise that you are doing work for free. You seek out people directly and make them an offer.
Shooting for free is intended for the group of people that support your
career choice and will advertise the work for you and will purchase the
work you create. You do the shoot for free with permissions to use the
work for promoting your business, offering them a small sample of the
work you create…if they are your support…they will purchase from you
and will tell others! If your work is not good…then they won’t…you
need help with more than marketing.

By: mathildajohnson

mathildajohnson — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 03:36:00 +0000

Why do you have a “coming soon” under your info on the website? How long would it take to write a simple statement? It just looks like you don’t care. “Coming soon” has about as much meaning as the “try again later” error message you see on computers sometimes. Also, the animal photos are terrible. They don’t look “artsy,” they look stupid and they look like they were taken with a cheap point and shoot. Until you fix your website, you really shouldn’t post a link to it here.

By: Aman Agarwal

Aman Agarwal — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 02:55:00 +0000

actually like this :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amanagarwal/

By: Daniel McVey

Daniel McVey — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 01:55:00 +0000

Great Article. Did not know about Google Places. http://www.danielmcvey.com

By: Homer Horowitz

Homer Horowitz — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 17:47:00 +0000

By doing “should be payed” jobs for free you’re only earning yourself and those around you better odds of not making it as a business.

By: JonaGMM

JonaGMM — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 15:51:00 +0000

It is obvious.

And if some clients like or choose those “professionals” over you, who knows what is an aperture, then the fault lies with the clients, not with the photographer, and even less with the people who gives the advice of “having flickr”.

Show them you are best with your images, not with you mouth (or keyboard).

By: Mark Bolton

Mark Bolton — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 15:34:00 +0000

Specialise, dont shoot everything. And dont shoot for free…