Should photographers ever work for free?

What this episode covers

Today we are going to be discussing, as photographers, should we work for free? Maxwell sent an email saying, The forums he is a member of have had a lot of talk about working for free and how this can negatively impact you and your business. The post was directed at new photographers, giving away their services for free just to portfolio build, while making it hard for professional photographers to get work. Is there ever a good time to work for free as a photographer? Should you work for free as a photographer? Absolutely, there is a good time to work for free. We all probably have done it and probably still do it to some extent. There’s nothing wrong with giving your time or photography away for free, provided you get some benefit from it. I know that it sounds selfish, but let’s be honest. Our time is important and should always have a value attached to it. We could be spending time with our families instead. We could also be learning new things, and even making money during the time we give away for free. Which is why If you’re giving your photography away for free, you should definitely be getting something back in return. Before I run through some of the places that we could give our photography away for free and how it will benefit us, let’s start with the perspective of how it can negatively impact you and your business. The consequences of working for free Think of it this way, If you have a lot of photographers charging $5,000 for their services, they offer premium products and excellent service. When you come in to view your photos, they give you food and drinks, basically they pamper you. Your products will arrive in beautiful packaging, it’s a full service that they offer. They also don’t sell anything that’s unframed. If you want to get digital files, it’s at a premium because they’re trying to sell you large wall collections and albums and other products. This is all fine and is a good way to grow your photography business. Now say a lot of newer photographers start giving away their services for free or for little cost. If it’s only a few people, then it’s not a problem. But when the ratio of newer, less business savvy photographers outweighs the amount of professional photographers who provide a premium service, it starts to dilute the value of photography. Therefore, diluting the price and changing people’s perception of the value of needing professional photography. Here you are giving your digital files away or very cheaply, because it’s a side gig or you don’t have the confidence in your photos yet. That’s how I can see it affecting the industry as a whole, if we get a lot more people that come in and saturate the market with cheap photography. Now, if you’re giving your photos away for free because you love photography, that’s one thing. If everyone is doing that, then that’s a problem for the business that sells premium products and a full service. You are potentially training everyone to no value photography. Now, say you’re providing good quality photos that are framed, but for next to nothing and then doing it at a cost. There’s no reason for families to go to the more expensive photographers, is there?