I’m very interested in photography (taking a class right now) and I wish to contact my local primary school and maybe do some event photography for them (they have many events such as ‘Mother’s Afternoon Tea’, ‘Dinner Dance’, their musical production etc.)
I’m inexperienced and I’m also quite young, so to start off should I do the shoots (I mean candids, not promotional type images) for free?
+ I am using my mother’s Nikon D60 with 18-55mm and 55-200mm lens
You should not charge.
I cannot imagine why that would seem appropriate in the first place. If they contacted you and asked you to do this, it would be appropriate…but that’s obviously not the case here. They may not necessarily need nor want photos taken, and beyond that, if they did, they would probably have a staff member or professional photographer do the work. Not a random person taking a photography class.
Basically, you want to ask a school who may have no need for photography if you can take photos of their event. You have instigated the contact, and you are the primary beneficiary here. You should shoot for free.
5 Responses to “Charging for amateur event photography?”
No, do not do them for free unless you really really suck. How much experience you have and what your age is does not matter. if your good with the camera then your good with the camera. if you feel that your photography is good enough to charge for then charge. whether you start out with lower prices at first is your choice but anywhere from $300 to $1000 is expected for a beginner photographer but it depends how long the session is and what you feel the value of your photos is, ect. Good luck!
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yep, i would definately do them for free.
simply b/c no one gets hurt, they cannot get upset b/c they did not pay you,
if you dont nail the pictures, you wont be too hard on yourself b/c you had no "financial obligations" to fullfill.
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I don’t know what the other poster is thinking, but $300-$1000 for a beginning photographer to shoot "afternoon tea" is ridiculous.
I would shoot for free – partly because you’re a beginner, and partly because how much money do you think a primary school has to hire a photographer? Answer: probably zero.
If you shoot for free, everyone wins. You get to practice and potentially build a portfolio, and the school gets cute pictures of their events.
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photographer
Since you are inexperienced you should probably wait and build up your skill before you attempt an event of photo shoot (free or paid) for someone. But if you were to go ahead and do it, then you should do it for free, because you are only doing this to gain experience and practice.
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You should not charge.
I cannot imagine why that would seem appropriate in the first place. If they contacted you and asked you to do this, it would be appropriate…but that’s obviously not the case here. They may not necessarily need nor want photos taken, and beyond that, if they did, they would probably have a staff member or professional photographer do the work. Not a random person taking a photography class.
Basically, you want to ask a school who may have no need for photography if you can take photos of their event. You have instigated the contact, and you are the primary beneficiary here. You should shoot for free.
References :