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If you’re a photographer, chances are people have asked you to take photos of them. No, not for the full price of your service, because “you’re too expensive.” Or even better, they want it done “for exposure,” or because you’re friends and “you own that big fancy camera.”
Well, the next time this happens, we have a song for you. It was written and performed by Laura Jane Barnes (Woah Dude) of Simply Crochet, and it’s meant for all artists and creatives selling either their work or their skills.
Would you volunteer 100 plus hours of your photographic services? According to Colorado-based photographer David Hayden, it might be worth considering. You often see photographers in online forums being shot down in flames whenever anyone mentions working for free, for some reason, it’s a topic that never fails to raise hackles. But David told DIYP about how an unpaid photography gig has reaped multiple rewards and turned out far better than he ever imagined.
A photographer who has been a “pro” for going on five years now (part-time, of course, because he has a government job) loudly and rudely called me out for telling a new, non-published photographer to get the gig (unpaid) and knock it out of the park. This sort of gig rarely comes with compensation, and I will explain a bit below.
“… encouraging working for free is like condoning slavery…”
Slavery?
We may argue whether or not we should work for free, or when we should do it. But if a company worth billions wants to hire us, I guess we can expect to be paid. Or not?
The producers of Netflix’s show Love is Blind reached out to photographer Megan Saul to offer her a gig. It would be an opportunity of a lifetime… if only it weren’t paid in exposure instead of real money.
I don’t think I’m a particularly brilliant photographer. Sure, I’ve carved out a little niche here in a small part of the world and my landscape photography is relatively well known amongst the local community, but I’m no big-shot Instagram influencer, I haven’t got a nationally or internationally recognisable name and I sure as shit do not earn a living from photography.
To work for free or to not work for free? For some creatives, this isn’t even a question, but for others, it’s hard to decide, especially if they’re just starting out. As a newbie with no portfolio and with little experience, should you do some free work first? At least for a while? Chase Turnbow believes you should, and he explains his reasoning in his latest video.
I’m sure that many of us have been asked to work for free in all sorts of annoying ways. One cheeky couple recently sent an email to a photographer asking for a coverage of their 10-hour wedding. In return, they offered exposure to the incredible number of 300 guests, 117 of them unmarried. What a tempting offer, right?
We love Tim Wallace. We love him for his stellar, high-end photography (check it out). We also love him for his wit, and for fighting the war-of-value fo the photography industry.
Take this email for example. Tim got an email from a ‘high-end interior designer’ based in California asking, not only for free prints but actually asking for the high-res source files. Tim’s response is nothing but priceless, and should be rewad by all photographers that are promised “exposure for work”.
How many times have you been asked to work for free or “for exposure?” No matter your experience and skill, I bet this has happened more than once. But why are there more and more people who aren’t willing to pay photographers for their work? In this video, Jessica Kobeissi discusses this problem and how we can solve it.
There are some annoying sentences that photographers, filmmakers, and other creatives hear way too often. And among them, there are plenty of excuses people will use to ask them to work for free. In this amusing video, comedian Tanya Hennessy acts them out in a pretty hilarious way. It’s funny enough not to make you blow your top when you hear them for who knows which time in your life.
Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.
Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe
Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.
John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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