OK – I’m on the soapbox, again, watch out!
I briefly mentioned (see THIS article) that I would be addressing this issue in the future. The future has arrived.
You are either in business or you are not. You should charge full price or you should pay to shoot.
Do not, I repeat DO NOT charge money to practice on people. They are either MODELS (in which case YOU should be paying THEM) or they are CLIENTS (in which THEY are paying YOU).
Do not have PORTFOLIO BUILDING PRICES. This is offering to charge less because you are learning. That’s like saying “I kind of suck, so I won’t charge you full price.”
Would you go to a dental student for a root canal because he charges less because he hasn’t yet finished his course of study and passed his DDS exam? This is a hypothetical question – it you even THOUGHT this was a good idea, go sit in the corner.
Sometimes you CAN get reduced rate work done for a lower price. BUT… this only occurs in situations where a professional is present. For example, there’s a cosmetology school in my town where you can get a haircut done at a reduced rate by a student, BUT, there is an instructor hovering over the process. The student is performing the work under strict supervision and guidance. If they make a wrong move, the instructor is there to prevent you from having to walk around with a hat for the next few months until your hair grows back out.
Do not say “I will shoot your wedding for free to get experience.” GAH! Do not risk a woman’s most special wedding day! Professionals like me often get phone calls from crying brides who have received their files from their “photographer friend,” only to discover that the photos are horrid and they would like to hire me to fix them. Poor ladies, I feel sorry for them, but I won’t help them. I’ve seen a lot of this kind of work and it’s not fixable. If the basic lighting, posing and exposure is not done well, there is no chance in heck that I can fix it.
Yes, I know. You are frustrated. How do you get experience?
- Follow the advice I gave you in the article about the 5 models (see link above).
- Find some classes where live model shooting is part of the class.
- Contact some professional photographers and ask if they have a mentoring program (with the following guidelines):
- Contact a photographer at least an hour away from you. Do NOT ask a local photographer to train you. You would be asking for them to train their own competition. Not cool. If you are serious about this, traveling an hour is a small price to pay.
- Ask what the fee would be for mentoring. Do not assume that mentoring is free. Photographers will block a period of time out to work with you that normally they would have reserved for paying clients. They will be losing money to teach you, so you should expect to compensate them for their time.
- Do not call it “interning” and expect it for free. If you are not a true photography student at an educational institution that has an interning program or requirement, don’t try to gussy up the fact you are expecting free training by calling it an internship.
- Contact some photographers to see if they hire assistants or second shooters, especially for weddings. I have hired someone just to lug around equipment and hand me cameras & lenses when I’m working quickly. This gives the assistant a good view of how a wedding day goes and the kinds of things they may be expected to do. I also have a second shooter who lugs equipment (because he’s a big strong dude) and he sets up in church balconies to photograph the ceremony from an entirely different vantage point than me. He also assists me with lighting equipment during the formals and with off-camera lighting setups during receptions. He worked his first few weddings for free (just lugging equipment) until I knew we worked well together and that he had basic camera skills and was responsive to taking direction.
It CAN be done. It’s going to take some persistence on your part. You may have to contact 10 different photographers before you find someone willing to help you further your skills. Maybe it will take 20. Don’t give up! If you are serious – you will keep working at this until you have achieved success.