Free vs Cheap photographer

[Claire]

Hi,
I've been considering putting up a flyer on a notice board where I live. I'd like to expand my portfolio and last summer I saw a guy who put up a "Free photographer" flyer. I emailed him to hear if he had any responses and he said he ended up photographing children, animals and some weddings. He only charged the costs of having the pics developed/printed and cost of a CD.

I'm considering doing the same thing, but should I charge the way he did or should I also add a smaller fee for myself? In the flyer, should I write "Free" or "Cheap" photographer as the headline? Free always gets people's interest, but so does cheap. At the same time I find "cheap" sounding so...ehm, cheap. :oops:

/Claire

[OceanRider]

I would go free, cheap sounds, well, cheap. If the intention is to get noticed or experience thats whats ur doing right...for get the $$ for now.

[PacAce]

Just make sure people understand what is "free" since obviously you aren't going to give the prints away for free, or are you?

Oh, yes, one other comment. "Free" implies there is no payment involved. "Cheap", however, does imply that there is payment of some sort involved.

[Longwatcher]

Instead of free or cheap, try "Internationally known photographer offering $20/hour photo sessions for a short time to test new equipment and techniques" 8)

You are known on this forum, which is international and $20 per hour shows that you are not free, but are offering a bargain in return for testing out some new stuff.
Sounds much better.

If you feel guilty about "internationally known" as I would, then just drop that part and put "local" in it's place. remember it is costing you some equipment wear to take the pictures.

In the small print list what you are willing to do other then take pictures.

I would personally avoid free, because if it is free there is either a catch or I think they are in need of lots of practice. Like hair and barber schools which offer free haircuts. You get what you pay for. $20/hour at least sounds like you know what you are doing.

Just a thought.

[IndyJeff]

I would go free, cheap sounds, well, cheap. If the intention is to get noticed or experience thats whats ur doing right...for get the $$ for now.

If your intention is to make money eventually, doing it for free now only makes that end goal that much harder. Once you establish yourself as a "bargin prices" photographer it is hard to break away from that tag and get rates that you need to stay in business.

The guy who has put up his flyer may be doing a land office business but, he has cheapened the rates you will want to get later down the road. He has told people with his flyer there is an alternative to paying for photography, find someone who will do it for free.

Instead of flyer announcing free or cheap, maybe use the phrase reasonable photography rates. Still if you charge $6 for an 8x10 now, in a year or two you get a referral from someone who you did a family port for for $6 recommends you. Now your rates are $30 for that 8x10. What are the chances you think you will get this second job when they findout about the price increase? I would say slim to none and slim is leaving town.


The guy who is doing it for free is an idiot, plain and simple and making it harder to earn a living in your area from photography. I am betting that free, or the cost of prints is probably pricing his work a little high for the quality you will be getting. When was the last time you got anything for free that was as good as what you would have gotten if you paid for the same product?

[epeace]

If your intention is to make money eventually, doing it for free now only makes that end goal that much harder. Once you establish yourself as a "bargin prices" photographer it is hard to break away from that tag and get rates that you need to stay in business.

sounds like a valid concern . . so what would you suggest aspiring pro photographers do to build their portfolios and gain experience if they dont already have access to a pro photographer to sidekick to? I personally dont know anyone getting married anytime soon. And the only pro I know already has a lackey.

Ill be shooting four bands in the next week or so for a small record label. And I offered my services for free (plus travel and materials) because I wouldnt otherwise have gotten the gig (they wanted to do it themsevels with a pro-sumer digicam). That and one of the owners is a friend of mine.

To newbs like us it would seem that doing it for free is the only way. At least for the time being until we have a solid enough portfolio that we can start charging what we're worth in the area . . .

[Claire]

"Internationally known"? LOL Ok, I admit this forum is international, there are pics of mine on websites (if the Internet isn't international, then what is?) and that Texas paper did publish some of my stuff, but I'd still feel guilty putting that in an ad! ;)

I also find that "free" implies no expenses period, while "cheap" implies some expenses (e.g. print costs). I also admit I'm not very found of the word "cheap".

The guy who put up the flyers was an amateur photographer who just wanted to find new subjects to shoot and practise his photography. We did email a bit and I saw some of his work. Not too bad actually. Much better stuff that some amateur photographers I've seen that are shooting weddings etc and charging for it.

What do you guys think of the headline being "Amateur photographer"? Otherwise I do like the sound of "local". And I did think later today about maybe charging $16-20/hrs.
At the same time I'm slightly worried about charging too much as I'm still a newbie with photography. People expect much more the higher the price, and call me a coward but I'm worried I may not live up to expectations. :oops: Maybe it's just nerves.

/Claire

[RockOne]

Alternate wording to cheap - value for money, budget, discount etc. Same meaning, but might sound net so....well...cheap :-) !

[Tom W]

If your intention is to make money eventually, doing it for free now only makes that end goal that much harder. Once you establish yourself as a "bargin prices" photographer it is hard to break away from that tag and get rates that you need to stay in business.

Yep - I can relate. Word-of-mouth is a good part of your advertising. Do good work at a reasonable price and you'll get some customers. Do good work for a very low price and you'll get tons of customers. And they'll all want the very low price. And, you'll go hungry.

I learned this the hard way doing electrical work. I'd have gone hungry, except that I kept my day job.

[sparker1]

I wouldn't recommend using the term "amateur", which is the opposite of professional. It may be considered the same as "free". Why not "Reduced rates while building a practice"? Get it now before the price goes to normal.

[Longwatcher]

Claire,
If you don't feel you have enough experience yet,
try www.onemodelplace.com and search for your city and country. People seem to think this is a US only web site for some reason.

I did a quick search and found at least 12 models in the city listed in your profile: Gothenburg, Sweden that have either "time for prints" or "depends on assignment" listed.

You might try one of them first. Maybe one or more of them need to update their portfolio with more recent shots. There may also be some others in reasonably close distance to you. I don't know the geography of Sweden well enough to check for more.

Otherwise try the flyer and just do the best you can, I have seen "professionals" who shoot like they have a P&S (which means they are even worse then I am). If you hang out on this forum you can't be that bad.

[tim]

I'd not advertise as "cheap", cheap is often bad. "Free Photographer" would sound better to me, with a note you're doing it for experience. Also put you that you'd charge for prints, but would give them a free CD, perhaps (they cost next to nothing).

Alternately see if friends want photos done, friends of friends, that sort of thing.

[Vegas Poboy]

Don't ever advertise as Free or Cheap Never, IndyJeff comments is very true. Don't undersell yourself or your knowledge, cost of production & equipment including your time. Offer prints for modeling to build your portfolio & gain a image from your work & by word of mouth. The money will come in time, if your work shows talent. Start with friends & family, co-workers, church etc. Many camera owners get caught up in starting a business & loses out in the long run do to mis-management marketing & pricing. It happens all the time.

[Claire]

"Free Photographer" would sound better to me, with a note you're doing it for experience. Also put you that you'd charge for prints, but would give them a free CD, perhaps (they cost next to nothing).

This is what that guy did last summer. "Free photographer" and with a note saying he wanted the experience and the only charge would be prints and CD.

Thanks for all the help people. I really appreciate it. I'll try to figure out what I want to do. Maybe I should stick to gaining more experience before even considering charging. (eh, was that grammatically corret?)

/Claire

[tim]

I know I wouldn't feel comfortable charging people with my current level of experience, so i'll do a shoot a few friends then maybe do a bit of advertising like this.

[Ogrt48]

Free or "low cost" ^_^ Don't use the word cheap.

[IndyJeff]

Hallelujah Brother Bloodog, Hallelujah.

Nobody can preach that like Bloodog I always say.

I do agree with the conundrum your in when starting out. You can't get jobs without the portfolio and you can't get the portfolio without the job. What's a guy to do huh? Well my sugggestion would be to find a friend, not a relative because this may save a fight later at the funeral home someday, but a friend or a friend of a friend who can't afford a photographer for their wedding photography. Not everyone has a mom & dad who can afford the $25,000 wedding. Somewhere out there is a couple who may be shacking up and decided that it is time to tie the knot but, they are living from pay check to pay check. This will be your target market when your starting out. Do their wedding for your cost if you have to. Make sure they agree that you can use their wedding images for your portfolio and you have accomplished several things.
1. You got your portfolio started to show to potential paying clients.
2. It only cost your time not money out of your pocket.
3. You did something nice for someone who otherwise would have had to do without, you gave back to the community so to speak.



Oh and Bloo, concerning your pm....lean over here just a little bit closer LOL

[tim]

I like that idea IndyJeff :)

[IndyJeff]

Please don't anyone misinterperate[sic] what I am advocating when I say, and I say it a lot on here, you should be compensated for your work. I fully believe that and I also fully believe that anyone who gives away their work for free, or next to free, on a constant basis is not doing him/herself or the industry any good. There are times however that you can do work for free, or at cost, and it can be a good thing. There is nothing wrong with doing charity work, it's just that every job shouldn't be a charity case. If you are finding that your are doing a lot of charity work then congratulations you have made a name for yourself in the photography business, you are soft touch for freebies.

At some point you have to decide if your going to offer your services to the general public, you have an obligation to charge for that service as anyone else in the industry would. Can you demand and get the highest rates as your competition does locally? That is up to the public. If your good enough, you will get rates equivilant to the best in your area, if not chances are you will be a bottom feeder until you finally get enough bookings that your spending too much time and not making enough to justify the time spent.

Everyone starts out as a bottom feeder, working for what the customer is willing to pay, less than what you would like and maybe even for costs but, your gaining the experience you need to take it to the next level. Eventually you have to move up the ladder, if your work is good enough and you are able to, you will. Some will try and fail, be it quality, service or lack thereof, maybe it will be that you have the personality of a badger backed into a corner and people who hire you for their weddings pass the word on how you told grandma to take a seat because you have enough of the old gal already.

Set yourself goals at the beginning of the year. This year I will shoot 2 weddings for cost and then I will try to do 2 at $500. By the end of the year I want to do 2 weddings for $1000 each. Next year I will do 10 weddings at $1000 each and if I meet that goal I will increase my pricing to $1200 for the rest of the year. Set yourself realistic goals and work to meet those. It will require hard work on finding the leads and developing them into a booking and even more work in pulling it off.

Find your cost of doing business.....how much have you spent on equipment, insurance, accessories etc. How many days will you work, realistically? 4? 10? 40? The more you work the lower your cost of doing business and the higher your profit margin can be. If you have spent $3000 on equipment and work 3 days, your cost of doing business is $1000 a day. You need to book more jobs LOL.

Do some research on pricing in your area. Don't try to command the top rates just begining, the top guy in your area didn't either when he started out. Find a comfortable price range at which you can make money but not give your work away. After all you are doing it to MAKE money, not just spending time doing it for next to nothing. Every job you get means time away from other things you could be doing, spending time with your family,surfing the web auctions for equipment, fishing, cutting the lawn. All of these things has value and to go out and shoot a wedding or something has to have more value than anything else you could be doing, right?

I had a friend in high school and we went to the mall one day, he bought a shirt. Paid about $24 for it and as he was deciding whether or not to actually buy he made a statement..."I had to work about 7.5 hours to afford this shirt." I said "so". He came back and said he was wondering if it was worth almost a full days pay. That made me think and I still do, everytime I buy something I want but don't need, I think about what I had to do to pay for it. You would be surprised at how much I have set back on the shelf in the last 30 years since Leonard made that statement.
Adopt that to your photography business. Are you willing to spend 6-8 hours shooting a wedding, editting, and uploading and spending $75 for prints to give to someone and get paid $200 because you like to do it? If you think about it, your probably not.

Ok, this soap box is up for grabs, to quote George McMichaels in The Real McCoys "I've had my say!"

[tim]

I'd like to shoot a wedding one day, preferably as a 2nd photographer to start with, but doing it myself eventually. I make enough money in my day job that I don't need to charge much, and i'd be doing it for myself to learn, not for the customer. I'd not do many of them, unless people thought I was really good, in which case i'd probably do more and move up to market rates. I'd probably use any money I made to buy more toys :)

[Huckaback Photo]

Bloo Dog and Indy Jeff, Brilliant, Just Brilliant.
Your words above should set this young lady up for life, in photography that is.
The words in my mind are "Reallistic Prices" or affordable as mentioned above.

my imput is from a different angle.
Claire I just checked out your site & gallery & notice no wedding shots, re read your post of course it was the guy offering free photos that mentioned the weddings.
so is this the type of photog you want to get into, if not avoid it until you build up both technique & confidence, theres no second chance with a wedding shoot.
next study and check out who is shooting what in your area. could be 20 wedding photogs and only 1 shooting events. etc. forward planning.
find a suitable venue stage a exhibition with some of your work, the word starts to spread, theres a new girl in town,
Produce some hand out prints say 7 x 5 with contact info & small images of your style of work i always think a picture is worth a thousand words.
and yes you need to sell your product to make money or theres no point in starting out in any profession. DO NOT DO THIS WORK FOR FREE.
I shot weddings for 2 1/2 years working for a local studio (long time ago now ) and every one was different. allways medium format i tended to carry two of everything, a lot more weight than my digital set up and some think my 1d 2 is heavy.

Of interest may be the candid approach to weddings seems popular here .
I wish you luck in your future venture.
Martin

[IndyJeff]

Bloo I don't see how this thread has become a railing against the newbie in the business at all. If anything I see it as a wake up call to them so they CAN succeed. You can't succeed if you don't have the revenue to continue next year.

It was a little irritating when I'd speak to a prospective client who'd tell me that "Photographer X charges only this amount. Why can't YOU charge the same?"


When confronted with a question like that I always turn it around. "Well I don't know how he charges so little, I wonder what he skips that I include? {pause}
Honestly, I don't see how I can do it any cheaper. I have set my pricing based upon the product I deliver at a price where I can pay my expenses, afford to pay myself a decent living wage and put money back into the business to pay the overhead. I have priced it to what I feel is a fair price for me and the customer based upon the quality they get in the end product. I can't or should I say won't negotiate my pricing. I have researched, and every year I re-evaluate what I am charging, to see if I will make enough money to support my family, pay my taxes, insurance and be able to buy new equipment as needed and give my customer a fair price. I know my cost of doing business, as for him, well I can't say where he cuts corners. What if one of your guest accidently knocks a $3000 camera over and breaks it? Who is going to pay for that? I have insurance just for that kind of peril."
Get them to thinking about what they will not be getting with him that you will provide them. At that point I would then say if price is all your concerned about then maybe I am not the photographer for you and begin to gather up my portfolio's and prepare to leave. Thank them if you do leave but, chances are they will want to talk more and see more of your work.

I have a buddy who is a painter, a very good painter and when he gives someone a price and they say John So and So said he can do it for $XXX. Jack says well if you want cheap, I ain't your guy but, if you want it done right and done to last, I am your guy. Dude is always busy and charges higher than union wages but, he is good, fast, neat and clean and delivers what he promises.

As for the college professors, I would simply tell people well, I could charge the rates they do if I had taxpayers paying for my equipment, lab facilities and had another fulltime job. I make my living at this and with the money I make I pay taxes, insurance, mortgage and feed my family. This isn't a hobby for a little extra tax free cash on the side with me.

Maybe a little note to the trustee's of that college to let them know that these professors are using college facilities in a for profit business venture might turn an eye or two on these clowns. Maybe offer to teach a class at 25% the salary rate of the professors. See what kind of outrage comes up then.

[Claire]

Claire I just checked out your site & gallery & notice no wedding shots, re read your post of course it was the guy offering free photos that mentioned the weddings.
so is this the type of photog you want to get into, if not avoid it until you build up both technique & confidence, theres no second chance with a wedding shoot.

Martin,
The only time I´ve mentioned weddings in this thread was that the guy with the flyers did some. Trust me, after reading BlooDog´s and many other people´s "DON´T DO WEDDINGS!" posts, I´m not exactly aiming for that. Talk about scare away tactics. hehe Seriously though, I understand fully how stressful a wedding can be and it´s a HUGE responsibility. I´m NOT aiming to get into wedding photography as such. If for some strange reason someone asked me to photograph a wedding, I´d think long and hard about it. Depending on the situation I might do it on the condition the couple knew EXACTLY what they got themselves into. And I´d recommend them to have a pro do the official shooting while I could to the candids. I'd honestly feel more relaxed shooting a wedding in Sweden as I know I won´t get sued and people don´t expect the same things as in the US.

What I am after is mainly expanding my portfolio and to gaining more experience in general. I´d like to do more portrait work. I was considering putting up a flyer like th guy did, but can´t decide how to formulate it. That´s my biggest problem.

[KennyG]

Thanks for all the help people. I really appreciate it. I'll try to figure out what I want to do. Maybe I should stick to gaining more experience before even considering charging. (eh, was that grammatically corret?)

/Claire

How do you rate your own work Claire? If you think it is OK then you really should expect to charge something for it, even if it is a nominal fee. Start off with the right attitude.

Bloo Dog used the perfect word "affordable". That is how you should offer your services and then you can set your price individually based on what each client can afford to pay. You tell each one that it is a very special price for them only and that way, in the future, you will not have the low price tag hanging around your neck.

At what point do you gain confidence to think you are good enough to charge for your work? In my view, as soon as someone is prepared to use your talent, no matter at what level, you must charge for it. Would you go and work in an office or factory for free until the boss said you were up to standard, of course you wouldn't. It is simply a matter of confidence in yourself and that only you can master.

[tim]

If you hang a sign up that says "Free Photographer" it's going to get a lot more attention than something "Reasonably priced photographer who will do you a good deal".

[epeace]

following this thread i agree with what the pros are saying about selling yourself short . . you cant start out that way because it will be a whore trying to get out of it . . .

at the same time, i am in the same position of needing to build my portfolio to gain credibility . .

what i have pretty much decided to make my approach is this. . .

i will charge a fair amount for my services . . . unless i think it would be a too-good-to-pass-up opportunity for my portfolio . . then i will do whatever it takes to get the gig . . even if it means doing it for free . .

i feel this will be good for me in the long run as it will force me to strengthen my pitch considerably until my portfolio carries more of the sales weight . . .

[Claire]

Kenny, I rate my work ok for a beginner. I've seen tons better and much worse. lol

I'd like to charge something above the printing costs. Nothing too much as I'm still quite knew, but at least something I feel. I've thought similar to what Kenny said. Set an app. price range, but depending on the project charge less or more. Also, if it's too good to pass up, not charge at all. (Heck, haven't gotten paid for the newspaper stuff I've had published.)

The problem would be how to write my ad. Sigh, I wish someone here knew Swedish and could help me. LOL There are much nicer words to choose from with English!

[tim]

Need a few GM cars too? No problem.

Welcome to America, the only place they can genetically modify a hunk of steel ;)

[Claire]

You mean Swedish doesn't have marketing buzz words? Wow.
Nothing that sounds good to me in an ad. :p
Cheap = Billig
Affordable = Overkomlig
Free = Gratis

Give America time. We'll ruin your language for you.
Oh my god, but you have! The older generation complains that they don't understand half of the words used in newspapers nowadays. The younger generation understand/speak/write English better than Swedish. lol

Permanent damage has already been made. We have McD's everywhere, 7/11 in far too many corners, a Swedish MTV channel, strange covers of Britney Spear's "Toxic" plays every morning in the radio and everything on TV is basically American TV shows. Hm, not to mention the degradation to Swedish TV culture since all these reality soaps arrived. Not only do they air the American versions, then they make Swedish ones too. Ugh.

I think anyone visiting Sweden will love it. It'll be, like, all excotic, like you know and feel like home at the same time. Did I mention one of the Big Brother girls is posing for Playboy soon? And don't forget Victoria Silverstedt, who used to be Playmate of the Year a few years back. See, we are very influenced by America already! :lol:

[Claire]

P.S Thank heaven we still got Volvo, Saab and "Mama Mia"!

[epeace]

And oh, Americans are the Nation of the Offended. We can export a boatload of righteous indignation for you to try on for size.

now thats pure unadulterated comedy BD . . . god bless america . . cuz noone else sure will . . . LMAO!

and Claire . . . I would like to take this opportunity to personally apologize on behalf of all americans who have an inkling of taste in music for the britney infiltration of your poor unsuspecting country . . . oh and the reality tv thing too . . it would appear that situation was very poorly contained im afraid . . . no one can stop it now . . .

[Claire]

Epeace. Well, I personally kinda like the song "Toxic", but not the strange hybrids of it! As for the reality shows...oh my gosh. There´s hardly anything but that on some channels nowadays! Survivor, Top Model, Bacholor/ette, Club Goa, Nanny emergency, Riket, Big Brother, Fame Factory, Pop Idols, Paradise Hotel etc etc. The music shows can be fun at times, but the others I can´t stand. If I wanted to watch people drink till they puke, flirt, have sex, compete about the girl/guy, backstab each other, date for money etc I would go back to Uni and just video tape it all. That would be far more fun, at least I´d know who the people are to make it more fun. :D

[epeace]

Epeace. Well, I personally kinda like the song "Toxic", but not the strange hybrids of it!ha really? i have to say i havent heard that one yet (downloading it now) but . . . cant say that i am (nor do i know anyone who is) a fan of any of her work . . .

apparently i need to meet more people . . ;)

[snappychic]

Why not try doing some company picnics or senior pictures in the spring.

[Claire]

Snappychick, I'm actually considering putting up a flyer at the local high school about graduation pics. :) That I feel pretty confident about doing. I just need to talk a friend into dressing up in white clothes and wear the graduation hat so I can take pics for the ad. ;)

[Neens_wa]

My .02 here...

Cheap - immediate perception of inferior quality.

Newbies - ahhh you wizened owls are not spooking us newbies. Well, maybe you will cause a newbie lacking in commitment to think twice and turn away, and that's not always a bad thing either. Personally, straight to the point, no gloss works every time. It may not always be what somebody wants to hear, but then again... lick your wounds later, and listen - it always pays off. SO - keep firing the honest, straight shooting commentary/advice please! There are many of us out here who listen attentively.

neens
(who must hurry off in her GM vehicle to pick up a righteously indignant friend, and get over to the local 7-11 to photograph protesting americans at a Survivor try out that's being hosted by Brittany Spears and sponsored by Mc D's)

[Mhabana]

I would go with free and then explain in detail what that entails. In the english dictionary there are few words that captures peoples attention more than the word "Free". For the purposes of a flyer for which the goal is to advertise, I know it would get my attention to read past the first line much more than one that started off saying "Discounted or cheap". Plus, discounted or cheap have sort of a negative connotation to it soim not sure. Freelance? Freedom? Free enterprise? Works better than Cheapskate, cheapshot so on so forth. Just my 2cents.

[Claire]

Oh my, one of my 1st threads! :D
If I remember correctly I ended up with "Photographer for a good price" or similar. Didn't get any calls though. :( Maybe should put up a new flyer this year.

[primoz]

I would just expand this what Jeff said even a bit further. Sorry this "I work for credit" stuff just goes on my nerves.
Does anyone really think, they will get great paid job after he (or she) will get "good" reputation and experiences doing stuff for free? Believe me, you won't get reputation of good photographer but only of cheap photographer.
You will definitely have huge pool of clients, which unfortunately will turn back next second when you will start charging (or charging more). Why? Because you showed them there's chance to get free service. And if you are not in market for free services anymore, someone else will be, so they will go find that someone else. They won't stay with you.
Next thing to consider is this what we (at least I think I can say this for Jeff and me) are thinking now "look and idiot doing stuff for free". Why do you think there won't be another new kid in the game who will also do stuff for free once you decide it's time to start charging? If you think there won't be, then think again. Maybe that guy from last year decided to start charging, and then you showed up. And things go on exactly this way, and result of this is that we have now already... damm low prices for our services.
But on the end it's up to you. If you feel like doing charity work then feel free.

[primoz]

Ehh... I should have take a look about dates a bit and notice this is one year old. Sorry :)

[OdiN1701]

Don't say cheap.

Call yourself affordable ;)

[Claire]

Primoz, yes, a year old, but I'm sure the advice given in the thread is good help for others. :)

OdiN, well, I went with the equivalent of "affordable" kinda. Admittedly didn't post up that many flyers.

[PIXI_666]

I would put "In-expensive Photographer - looking for experience to broaden portfolio" your being honest...and people would be willing to help to save costs for them - just explain what they get and how much it will cost them, and then show some shots to them :)

[Andy_T]

Ehh... I should have take a look about dates a bit and notice this is one year old. Sorry :)

No problem, as Claire stated, it is still valid for her :wink:

And it might also be valid for every other aspiring photographer who reads it.

God, I love this 'similar threads' feature showing you the ancient threads at the bottom of the page :lol:

Claire, did you ever try going the Onemodelplace.com route suggested in the beginning?

I don't do model photography, but I assume that many (female) models might feel more secure and thus be more willing to work with a female photographer than with a male photographer ... giving you an advantage here.

Best regards,
Andy

[Claire]

I didn't try the Onemodel suggestion. In all honesty I never did put too much effort into it all. :o

[Andy_T]

Well, youngster, do so :wink:
May the force be with you.

Best regards,
Andy

[tucked]

...When was the last time you got anything for free that was as good as what you would have gotten if you paid for the same product?

Mozilla Firefox?:)

[NYC2BGI]

Great advice in this thread for all of those who are just starting out

[Steve Parr]

Oh, yes, one other comment. "Free" implies there is no payment involved. "Cheap", however, does imply that there is payment of some sort involved.

"Cheap" also implies that something is of poor quality.

Not the way to go...

[Roach711]

Alternately see if friends want photos done, friends of friends, that sort of thing.

When I was first starting my lawn service I did friends & family lawns to get experience quoting jobs and trying different techniques. They were happy as clams to get the work done free and I got the experience I needed without getting a reputation of being bargain priced (except to the family who will expect you to do the deed for free anyway).

[Tandem]

Here's an idea - stand at the bottom of an off-ramp with a sign that says: Photographer, will work for food.

Bill

[taliara2004]

Me and my husband are a young couple - just starting out. We are currently looking for a photographer for my wedding. Is anyone able to do it free or cheap??;)

Talia

[form]

I'm trying to find photography work locally, doing freelance shoots. With what equipment I have, I've shot lots of close action/sports, some landscapes, several products, a few building exteriors/interiors, a few group photos, and a recent car show.

I have received layman's praise numerous times for the quality of my shots...but praise isn't very salable tender. I did make a very small amount of money during the car show, but it took a full day's work, lots of running around, and plenty of aggressiveness to get it.

It's not that I'm unwilling to do the work...but unfortunately my recent investments in a larger card and a few spare batteries may end up wasted, and I may even end up selling a lens to pay for things higher on the priority list, if I don't get anything new.

BTW I'm in Henderson/Las Vegas, NV.

After looking at the original poster's web gallery, I can see she's way ahead of me as far as skill, knowledge and the "eye" are concerned.

[DocFrankenstein]

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Cheap photographer? LOL

[Claire]

Wow, thread resurrected it seems.

[DocFrankenstein]

Wow, thread resurrected it seems.:lol:
oh man!

[Thornfield]

Personaly I would prefer "Photography student looking for subjects for portfolio work"
If someone said FREE I would say 'what's the catch'
If someone said Cheap I would say " no good" or "doesn't value their own work so why should I"

[stc9357]

If you wanted to charge somebody then I personally would say low-cost photographer becuase you don't get the cons of saying either free or cheap.

[22littlereasons]

Find some cheap webspace, whip a site together, shoot stuff - findng stuff isn't hard really - post your stuff - make some business cards - I actually use 2 x 3 photos - and after a little while word of mouth kicks in. I have a day job, but followed this regiment to develop a reputation. After 2 years, I get around 1-2 unsolicted jobs per month - was asked by a local paper to submit freelance work - and sell 2 - 3 print per month. Bottom line - I'm learning, managed to pay my expenses and the cost of equipment - free hobby to say the least. Have fun!