Undercharging as a photographer.

Earning as a photographer is becoming ever more difficult, with the market being saturated with new photographers. I am all for people taking photos and being photographers but unfortunately the market has been saturated by the wrong type of photographer. 

As a pro in my trade, I constantly turn down work that doesn't meet my financial requirements. There are two reasons why I do this, the first being is I value my level of experience and the money, time and training I have put into this. The second is because I value the trade it's self and I don't want to undercut other photographers, let me explain this. 

So I get an email, they want me to do a full day's work for say £150. I accept this job and do the work. We've now set a level that I can't change anymore than. £150 is nowhere near my actual day rate, but's not an unreasonable amount of money to say a student. The next time I get offered a job by them, and I mention that my day rate is say £500. They won't accept that and go somewhere else and normally the quality of work will be worse as they are having to find a lower skilled photographer. I'm not saying, I'm the best photographer ever but I know where my skill level is. 

Sadly this is a very happening circle now with clients dropping the value of jobs because they have had years of people charging way less than the rest. if we want our industry to survive we all have to band together and stop this from happening. I ideally think we should all be part of a union especially those who are unsure of what to charge. If a union doesn't work for you, join a Facebook group and ask questions to see what your peers are saying. 

Just a thought on today's blog post. 

Much love, as always

Twist

Be kind.