Lessons Learned from a Photographer (Part Three)

Hey guys! It seems like the last two segments of my advice series have gone over pretty well with you all. I am glad you are enjoying them! I will admit that I am far from being an expert on photography and entrepreneurship, but I wanted to give you some advice from the perspective of a fellow college student. Navigating life is difficult at this time, so I feel that documenting our thoughts and experiences for each other will allow us to know that we are not in the struggle alone. 

That being said, another fact that I struggled to come to terms with in my photography journey is that it is necessary to be compensated for your time. In fact, this concept still weighs on me now, and I constantly debate myself on whether or not I should charge my clients and if I do, how much is a fair amount?

As someone who was just starting out as a “professional” photographer, I did not feel comfortable taking money from people when I wasn’t even sure my work was good enough to deserve it. My greatest fear was that my clients would be unhappy with the results and be angry that they had to pay for bad work (hence, the imposter syndrome from the previous blog). I was a student, a novice photographer. I felt like I didn’t have enough experience to grant me the right to charge for my work. One of my greatest fears, I think, was that once people saw they had to pay for a photoshoot, they wouldn’t want to work with me anymore. 

Later down the road, this is what I realized—if people are reaching out to you for photos, chances are they have seen your portfolio and have a good idea of what to expect with the results. If they know how much you are charging and are aware of the quality of your work, then you have nothing to be worried about! Your customers sought you out for a reason. 

Besides, you are putting a lot of time and hard work into the photoshoot. Even if you do not charge clients much, it is important that you are compensated for not only taking the photos, but also the editing, storage, sending, etc. You deserve a little something for the hours of hard work you are putting into photoshoots. Even if you are not a photographer but you are pursuing another form of entrepreneurship or artwork, I want you to have more confidence in yourself and know that your talent and time are valuable. 

See you next time, 

Evie