12 Excuses to shoot for FREE

KmH · Jul 16, 2010

No holds barred here! If you can't handle blunt - DON'T READ.

12 Excuses for Shooting Photos for Free ? and Why They?re Bogus | Black Star Rising

supraman215 · Jul 16, 2010

What a whiner. This is another one of these people who wants to be able to charge whatever they want and expect people to pay.

"How about helping those who earn a living producing photographs by not undercutting them?"

What? So I should try to beat someone elses price? What if I give the same price but add more value? Maybe we should get rid of Free Market photography and just have set prices that we all adhere to. Based this comment that would be the author's ideal world.

I like my day job in IT, but at night I am passionate about photography. I don’t mind self-funding my work because it gives me more creative freedom.

Guess what, IT guy? When India’s night work takes over your day job, don’t call me crying about it. Also, don’t bother trying to make a living from your “passion,” because you’re already doing all you can to undermine your chances — as well as everyone else’s.

What?

How about, "If I don't charge any money people won't expect anything from me?" When they always will even if you don't charge anything.

Bottom line: If you don't value your time then no one else will either. Put the value on your time and set it at that. If your time shooting is worth $100, and your time editing is worth $200 then charge $300. If it's per photo then charge that. If someone else in your area can do the same quality work for less money than you might lose out on some work. In the same way that you might charge less then someone else and steal work from them.

wesd · Jul 16, 2010

KmH said:
No holds barred here! If you can't handle blunt - DON'T READ.

12 Excuses for Shooting Photos for Free ? and Why They?re Bogus | Black Star Rising

hte only thing I have to say is for the people starting out "to whom his own" if you can do "free" stuff then cool, just have some balls to know when to say I need to get paid for this. Ocational free time is one thing and free materials is anothe thing. Maby a free shoot but charge for prints or full res shots. To the amatures out there do what feels right, but dont give up your day job until you are comfortable with what you can and are doing with your photography.
Wes

Eco · Jul 16, 2010

Excellent blog post!

With that said, I've done my fair share of free gigs to build up my portfolio....

Derrel · Jul 16, 2010

I have my own 12-point list of Acceptable Free Shoot Conditions

1. She is really hot 2. Her sister is really hot 3. Her roommate is really hot
4. Her roommates (plural) are really hot 5. Her mom is really hot 6. Her daughter is really hot 7. Her cousin is really hot 8. Her niece is really hot 9. Her cousin is really hot 10. Her bar-cruisin' gal pal is really hot 11. She looks mighty cute in them jeans 12. She's got a great bikini bod

I hope you understand how important it is to do these free shoots, provided that conditions are 'right'. Ahem....

carvinrocks2 · Jul 16, 2010

Derrel said:
I have my own 12-point list of Acceptable Free Shoot Conditions

1. She is really hot 2. Her sister is really hot 3. Her roommate is really hot
4. Her roommates (plural) are really hot 5. Her mom is really hot 6. Her daughter is really hot 7. Her cousin is really hot 8. Her niece is really hot 9. Her cousin is really hot 10. Her bar-cruisin' gal pal is really hot 11. She looks mighty cute in them jeans 12. She's got a great bikini bod

I hope you understand how important it is to do these free shoots, provided that conditions are 'right'. Ahem....

Ha ha ha ha ha! :lol:

Couldn't agree more!

But I do think that doing a few free gigs when your starting out is the way to go. I hope to do a few free gigs to build up my portfolio without worrying about being sued or having a reputation ruined because I didn't meet expectations.

So a DSLR really has a shutter life? Wow, sort of makes me think twice about buying the used 300D...

cfusionpm · Jul 16, 2010

I like my day job in IT, but at night I am passionate about photography. I dont mind self-funding my work because it gives me more creative freedom.

Guess what, IT guy? When Indias night work takes over your day job, dont call me crying about it. Also, dont bother trying to make a living from your passion, because youre already doing all you can to undermine your chances as well as everyone elses.

While I'm not in IT, I do have a decent day job that I enjoy and I shoot photos as a hobby. Then again, I'm not trying to turn that into a career.

rufus5150 · Jul 16, 2010

I shot a few shoots initially at cost-of-prints only to build portfolio. They were people I already knew, however, and I drew up an NDA to sign about the prices.

Dwig · Jul 17, 2010

Derrel said:
I have my own 12-point list of Acceptable Free Shoot Conditions

1. She is really hot 2. Her sister is really hot 3. Her roommate is really hot
4. Her roommates (plural) are really hot 5. Her mom is really hot 6. Her daughter is really hot 7. Her cousin is really hot 8. Her niece is really hot 9. Her cousin is really hot 10. Her bar-cruisin' gal pal is really hot 11. She looks mighty cute in them jeans 12. She's got a great bikini bod

I hope you understand how important it is to do these free shoots, provided that conditions are 'right'. Ahem....

Excellent list, though the older I get the more #5 moves up the list.

Seriously though, I don't believe a pro-wantabe should ever shoot for free. That doesn't mean that every shoot requires a money transaction. It means that all shoots should have some transferred value.

I've never shot professionally in the true sense of the term. I've never made a significant portion of my income from my photography. I have, though, on quite a number of occasions shot a job for hire or sold art prints. There have been a few occasions where there was no money exchanged.

The only two reasons that I feel a no-money transaction is justified are:

1. The shoot or album is a gift to a friend or relative. I shot a small beach wedding a few years back as a gift for a young lady that I worked with. It was my wedding present to the couple who really couldn't afford to hire a photographer.

2. Barter exchange where the photographer gets as much value as the "client". A common situation is where the model works "free" in exchange for pictures for their portfolio or other use and the photographer gains experience and perhaps images for their portfolio.

usayit · Jul 17, 2010

I've never met a pro who blamed the amateur for their business problems.....

Morpheuss · Jul 17, 2010

I am so amused by number 7 on the list about the IT guy. because I am an IT guy and I feel pretty secure about having a job someplace especially because I hear so many complains about the people on the other end of the phone when they call tech support... they would just rather take it to geek squad and have them fix it. He just sounds angry about his business has gone down hill a bit so he decided to ***** and complain.

Rekd · Jul 17, 2010

What a whiny little douche. Seriously.

I stopped reading after the first couple of reasons, here's why:

I’m trying to get into concert photography, so when bands have called to ask about pricing, I’ve told them, “It’s on me.”

That's right. Because bands ALWAYS call people that don't. shoot. concerts. Does he think we're stupid? Really?

And his response was just as idiotic:

It’s a great way to break into that market known as “free.” How many times do you think musicians have screwed themselves over and given away the farm to music labels? Too many to count. Don’t make the same mistake.

What's he talking about, shooting photos or doing record labels? Stay on topic, man! If you can't base your convictions around the topic at hand you really need to find another topic.

Seriously, if this guy was worth his salt he wouldn't have to bash on people for controlling his destiny.

And did anyone catch this tidbit from a previous article from this flip-flopping crybaby?

3. Disrespecting other photographers. Treat others with respect and due consideration. This means, when you’re at a news event, don’t be the ass who goes in with a 14mm lens while everyone else is respecting their colleagues and staying back where a 35mm lens works so everyone can get the shot. Using the 14mm means you just may get a monopod across your skull; I’ve seen it happen.

From a guy that gets paid to both write AND do photography, all I can say about this guy is "whaaaa". :mrgreen:

c.cloudwalker · Jul 17, 2010

usayit said:
I've never met a pro who blamed the amateur for their business problems.....

:thumbup:

This article (rant) sounds like an insecure photographer who hasn't got his act together.

I've done free shoots myself and who cares? Not me because even though no money changed hands there was value in the shoots. I learned something.

The problem is not one of doing free shoots but, rather, one of how to go about it. For example, I will not shoot for free anything that will make someone else money, period. When I wanted to get into band studio work, I did a few free shoots of promo images. First, it is not the kind of photos most band would want to sell to their fans. And second, to make sure they didn't, my contract spelled out that the photos were to be used only for promotion and any other use(s) would have to be re-negotiated.

So, yes, go ahead and shoot free for experience, portfolio, etc. But do it intelligently.

usayit · Jul 18, 2010

Morpheuss said:
I am so amused by number 7 on the list about the IT guy. because I am an IT guy and I feel pretty secure about having a job someplace especially because I hear so many complains about the people on the other end of the phone when they call tech support... they would just rather take it to geek squad and have them fix it. He just sounds angry about his business has gone down hill a bit so he decided to ***** and complain.

I worked, IT, DR, and Software development.. Don't be so quick to judge as the situations heavily depend on where you live and what you do within that type of market. Software development has taken such a big hit in the NE that it has become almost non-existent. IT too has been outsourced heavily. Don't be so quick to judge on salary either... the way things are here in the US, the technology worker is at a great disadvantage. Even if we all worked for free, the cost of health care alone would still make it cheaper to send the jobs over seas. The same is true for manufacturing people (I feel really sorry for them). Since capitalist competition works completely different in other countries (subsidies, lower worker rights, etc) there's no way for our manufacturing center compete on fair ground. Again, they could pretty much work for free and it still would be cheaper to ship over seas.

Then add on top the increasing cost of living, flat salaries (for those that are lucky to have one), falling strength of dollar, it I would be hard pressed to say "It must be ok because I'm not feeling the effects".

Even at my current employment, I'd say 80% of my group are H1 visa workers. Workers that had job opportunities to improve and hone their skills while the rest of the US citizens worked whatever jobs they needed to survive. In my case, a speciality that a lot of people don't like.. so less competition. Its depressing but that's the state of what we have to deal with as we as a country focus on the wrong things.

I've been through a 2 year unemployment stretch which started with the loss of my "Dream" job in Unix Kernel Development in 2001. I have just now recovered financially even thought job satisfaction is no where close. As such, I am pretty critical of those that pass judgement on those who also have gone through hard times.

As relating this back to the topic here, Again.. I've never heard of a professional complaining about amateurs hurting their business. The same goes for IT and technology. I don't feel threatened because the kid next door can build his own computer. The professional landscaper should be threatened because I help my retired neighbors with their lawn work once in a while.. etc.. Its pathetic to do so.