Is it ok to turn out bad work if its free?

So ive reached a point in my photography career (its a hobby for now, this was a joke) where I want to start doing non-candid shots of people. I dont have all the professional level equipment but am at a point where I feel I need "clients" so that I can see what I can and cant do with my current skill set and equipment. This would allow me to invest money into areas where needed and aviod spending on items I dont need. Anyway, what did everyone here do when they first started? Obviously, not everyone has a 5000 dollar body, L glass, location strobes and power and gorgeous models when theyve been into photography for less than a year. I see lots of people charging for what I consider to be poor photography but Im certainly not comfortable doing that. How did everyone make the jump to charging clients when they knew that what they were doing wasnt worth charging?

This is the major question I see in your post, which isn't the same as the question in your thread title, so I'm not sure which answer you want.

How OTHER people made a choice to charge for poor/inconsistent work? Overconfidence and/or lack of ethics in my OPINION, but you'd have to ask them.

As far as your thread title, I think its OK to offer your services for free for a non-event. I.e. don't offer to do someone's wedding or 50th anniversary party or some other life event if you can't produce the results. I think that is unethical (caveat that if you have friends and family that just want you to take pictures with your better-than-point-n-shoot camera, that's fine). If you want to do some family or kid photos for a coworker or acquaintance and don't know if you can really produce great pictures... that's fine as far as I'm concerned. That's called learning.

Loaded question ... but to answer it in very short, don't go try to charge as a professional if you can't provide a professional product. But in the case that you have the skills, then you need to start somewhere, start with friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, etc. Let it be known you're doing photography on the side or whatever, charge what you feel comfortable with until you start building up your clientele and feel your skills are worth more money. In this field word-of-mouth is way more important than anything else, if you don't do a good job your clients will probably not recommend you to their friends and family so you have to take careful steps.

just don't do what these two gals did...

http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=vIiH9uxdE5M

imahawki wrote in post #11585504
This is the major question I see in your post, which isn't the same as the question in your thread title, so I'm not sure which answer you want.

How OTHER people made a choice to charge for poor/inconsistent work? Overconfidence and/or lack of ethics in my OPINION, but you'd have to ask them.

As far as your thread title, I think its OK to offer your services for free for a non-event. I.e. don't offer to do someone's wedding or 50th anniversary party or some other life event if you can't produce the results. I think that is unethical (caveat that if you have friends and family that just want you to take pictures with your better-than-point-n-shoot camera, that's fine). If you want to do some family or kid photos for a coworker or acquaintance and don't know if you can really produce great pictures... that's fine as far as I'm concerned. That's called learning.

Thanks. I guess I started rambling and got off track from the question. I just see so many people saying never to do free work but if I dont think I should charge, and I shouldnt do free work then Ill never be able to get better from doing bad work.

PWard wrote in post #11585590
just don't do what these two gals did...

http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=vIiH9uxdE5M

thanks for sharing this..... LOVED IT!

You have to make sure you note the context; this topic is "The Business of Photography." Expect responses in this top to be oriented towards photography as a business.

In the context of running my business, the only free work I do is for charities I believe in and business complementary situations (such as a display in a restaurant where my target market dines).

That does not mean I won't sit in the audience and take some pictures at my neice's high school graduation and then hand her some prints. But I'm doing that as a kindly old uncle, not as a professional photographer, and it's strictly a matter of what I want to do and how I want to do it...a gift.

Before I got good enough to turn out minimally professional work on a reliably consistent basis, I just did friends and family--and sometimes impromptu acquaintances--strictly as a hobbyist. I did not introduce myself as a professional nor did I charge anything--not even processing costs. This was 'way back in the 70s, but I sometimes had pretty girls ask me to take their picture just because I was walking around with something that was neither a Polaroid or an Instamatic on my shoulder.

I agree with this but there are a lot of "pros" in the business too. I guess everyone has their opinion on if their work is minimally professional or not. I wouldnt feel comfortable charging for a lot of work I see being charged for. Thanks for the advice.

JakAHearts wrote in post #11586136
I agree with this but there are a lot of "pros" in the business too. I guess everyone has their opinion on if their work is minimally professional or not. I wouldnt feel comfortable charging for a lot of work I see being charged for. Thanks for the advice.

The bottom line IMO is the aspect of "reliability."

It's like buying a ride from here to there. You can go by bus or by taxi or by limosine. Each has pros and cons of convenience, comfort, style, et cetera, and you base what you're willing to pay on the value to you of those different factors. But the one thing you expect for whatever money you pay...is that you actually get to your destination.

You show people your gallery or portfolio--they decide if the artistic and technical quality is satisfactory at the price. But at any price, the reason they're seeking a professional at all is reliability.

Thats a good point. I guess as long as your photos match your portfoilio, youve delivered what you said you would.

JakAHearts wrote in post #11585461
So ive reached a point in my photography career (its a hobby for now, this was a joke) where I want to start doing non-candid shots of people. I dont have all the professional level equipment but am at a point where I feel I need "clients" so that I can see what I can and cant do with my current skill set and equipment. This would allow me to invest money into areas where needed and aviod spending on items I dont need. Anyway, what did everyone here do when they first started? Obviously, not everyone has a 5000 dollar body, L glass, location strobes and power and gorgeous models when theyve been into photography for less than a year. I see lots of people charging for what I consider to be poor photography but Im certainly not comfortable doing that. How did everyone make the jump to charging clients when they knew that what they were doing wasnt worth charging?

I'm not a pro by any stretch but, I have owned a couple professional service businesses using skills I developed from a hobby. The question you posed in the title is entirely different from the one contained in the body of your post.

I've gotten repeated requests over the last couple years to begin selling my services as a photographer but, my sense of ethics will not let me do this specifically because I know that my work is not up to professional standards. I don't think any ethical person would do this. So I honestly think the question in the body of your post is one that should, by its very nature, elicit responses similar to those you've already seen.

If you tell people up front that you are more than willing to bring your better than a point-n-shoot gear to a special event and share your pictures with them while a real professional captures the stuff that matters for them, that's fine. And if family/friends want you to shoot their portraits and you tell them up front what you can and can't do, it shouldn't be a problem if the images aren't comparable to something one might expect from a pro. As long as people are aware of what they will/won't get, you should be fine.

On the other hand, if you know you aren't deliverying quality work but tell people you are, it doesn't matter if it's free or not. This goes back to an issue of ethics. If you know you aren't able to provide a level of quality someone expects or wants, don't tell them you can when you know it's not true. Whether it is free or not is not really relevant. It is simply wrong to oversell yourself.

PWard wrote in post #11585590
just don't do what these two gals did...

http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=vIiH9uxdE5M

I enjoyed that.

Op,

I have one major issue with something you mentioned here:

"How did everyone make the jump to charging clients when they knew that what they were doing wasnt worth charging?"

No one should be charging clients if their work has no value. One should acquire the skills of their profession before they start charging for work in that profession. Once one has had the proper learning, practice and experience, then they should start charging for their work. I did free work for friends and family starting out, I received a ton of experience photographing in all kinds of environments with all kinds of subjects while working for my college newspaper, I spent tons of hours (and still do) reading about photography techniques, and I spent a lot of time behind my camera to acquire the skills a photographer should have. It takes work and time before one should start charging for their work. I didn't take the leap until I was ready to take the leap. It's not worth charging someone for something and having them be disappointed with your work. Hope that helps.

Yea, that wasnt worded well... I feel like my post came across as arrogant and thats certainly not what I had in mind. Thank you everyone for your responses.

Yup, do it for free until you have a great portfolio and a lot of confidence.. then start charging. Nothing wrong with that.

PWard wrote in post #11585590
just don't do what these two gals did...

http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=vIiH9uxdE5M

BWAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAH​AHHAAHAA!

Hehehehehe.

Tee hee.

Heh.

OK, OK, deep breath.

I love the final judgement!

Anyway, to the topic question, IMHO it's never OK to turn out bad work if it's free, regardless of what business you're in.