Katja is very intelligent and brings up a very important topic which can be applied to many businesses. If you work for free your clients will only introduce low valued clients to your business, however if you create a portfolio which will show the client that you are a professional. People are more often to pay more for quick convenient fixes, because it brings value in there time. They're many ways to bring value to your customer other than just that one example. It took me two years as an entrepreneur to figure this out and here it is FREE! Thank you Katja! I think you are truly amazing!
Hi, just found your UA-cam channel, it's great. The subject here is a good one. Some photographers do have this, 'I'm just an amateur photographer, I can't charge people money attitude'. If someone studies photography a great deal, knows how to create great samples, they don't want to charge money for them. No different than that 'Ill eat my 'likes breakfast' commercial. At some point, you'll have do the unthinkable and charge money for your work.
Hey Katja! Thanks for the video, it was really helpful! I feel like I'm at a point where I'm ready to start charging comfortably, but I'm having trouble when it comes to finding clients, do you have any ideas on how to find or get jobs as a photographer?
Hey Jerry, thanks for watching and commenting. My advice would be as follows: 1. Define a specific and profitable target group / type of photography business. Aka. Weddings, Corporate, Musicians, Advertising, Fashion, Architecture etc. 2. Create a portfolio pdf specifically tailored to that target group. 3. Send your portfolio out to potential clients / agencies / companies In industries such as Fashion or advertising it’s advisable to start by assisting a well established photographer in that field. As you not only need contacts in those areas but also experience on how to organize a big production set. Hope that helps.
@@katjafeldmeier That's helpful, thank you! For the portfolio pdf, how would you get images for a specific group--would you just do TFP or free shoots in the beginning for that group?
@@jerrychen1984 I guess, that depends on the group and also your level of skill. If you like you can send me a dm on instagram and specify and maybe I can give you more specific advice for that.
So what do you suggest for prices, and how much does experience add to these prices? I was trained on film before the digital we know was reality, and I still miss film allot because of the prints that just aren't possible with digital.
I made a video where I share what I'm earning per month, with some breakdowns, so you can see what I'm currently charging: ua-cam.com/video/sUOipXeihXo/v-deo.html But also, I would say, it really depends on several factors: 1. your specific niche/ customer base, 2. your location, 3. your deliverables. A Michelin star restaurant food photographer in L.A. who brings a stylist, a light assistant and a drone to the job will be charging a very different price to a family portrait studio photographer in Warsaw Poland. I would compare prices in your location and your niche by talking to other photographers or researching their services online. Experience per se doesn't matter - more so the quality of the work and the service you provide. Hope that help :)
Cheap or free. Been there, done that. Lesson learned. Never again. Another reason is that if you charge little or work for free, people don’t take you seriously…
Charge when other people ask, but to develop a style you have to make A LOT of pictures, so you always have to find your way to make test shootings. But always under your conditions and that serves a porpuse for you. And also because we love photography, why you wouldn't make something you love in your free time? With that logic then is easy to arrive to the conclusion that is better to ask a friend to make one test shooting instead of accept a cheap job. So sometimes is better make pictures for free than get some money. Life is not black and white.
Yes, I’m not talking about Portfolio shootings here. There is always going to be work we do for ourselves to learn and develop. I’m talking about client work. 😊
The only thing hurting anyone's photography is the iPhone. Ever since camera phones became a thing, real photography as a career has taken a dive to the center of the earth and it's probably never coming back. Do it for fun and don't expect to make any money from it.
Thank you for your thoughts. I have a different perspective. 😊 The demand for photography and images has actually increased. Business need a constant flow of imagery for their websites, social media accounts etc. I don’t see much of those images being made on an iPhone. But even if somebody is able to shoot professionally looking images on the iPhone - why not? It doesn’t matter which tool is used as long as the image is good. A lot of people are making good money with photography today. On my channel I plan to keep exploring how that can be done now and in the future.
interesting, but at 7:19 this point is WRONG!!! you WANT there to be competition, it makes sure the price for things doesn't get ridiculous!, and over everyone's budget, THAT will hurt the industry, when it is so expensive, no one can afford it!!! (like the property market today, in 2023, the interest is so high nobody can afford to buy a house).
Can you think of any more reasons? Please share them in the comments!
Getting “paid in exposure” wont pay those bills! This is a great and informative video Katja, thank you!
I’m glad it’s helpful 🙏
Katja is very intelligent and brings up a very important topic which can be applied to many businesses. If you work for free your clients will only introduce low valued clients to your business, however if you create a portfolio which will show the client that you are a professional. People are more often to pay more for quick convenient fixes, because it brings value in there time. They're many ways to bring value to your customer other than just that one example. It took me two years as an entrepreneur to figure this out and here it is FREE! Thank you Katja! I think you are truly amazing!
Thank you so much for your kind feedback and for sharing your thoughts!
Hi, just found your UA-cam channel, it's great. The subject here is a good one. Some photographers do have this, 'I'm just an amateur photographer, I can't charge people money attitude'. If someone studies photography a great deal, knows how to create great samples, they don't want to charge money for them. No different than that 'Ill eat my 'likes breakfast' commercial. At some point, you'll have do the unthinkable and charge money for your work.
Hey Katja! Thanks for the video, it was really helpful! I feel like I'm at a point where I'm ready to start charging comfortably, but I'm having trouble when it comes to finding clients, do you have any ideas on how to find or get jobs as a photographer?
Hey Jerry, thanks for watching and commenting.
My advice would be as follows:
1. Define a specific and profitable target group / type of photography business. Aka. Weddings, Corporate, Musicians, Advertising, Fashion, Architecture etc.
2. Create a portfolio pdf specifically tailored to that target group.
3. Send your portfolio out to potential clients / agencies / companies
In industries such as Fashion or advertising it’s advisable to start by assisting a well established photographer in that field. As you not only need contacts in those areas but also experience on how to organize a big production set.
Hope that helps.
@@katjafeldmeier That's helpful, thank you! For the portfolio pdf, how would you get images for a specific group--would you just do TFP or free shoots in the beginning for that group?
@@jerrychen1984 I guess, that depends on the group and also your level of skill. If you like you can send me a dm on instagram and specify and maybe I can give you more specific advice for that.
So what do you suggest for prices, and how much does experience add to these prices? I was trained on film before the digital we know was reality, and I still miss film allot because of the prints that just aren't possible with digital.
I made a video where I share what I'm earning per month, with some breakdowns, so you can see what I'm currently charging: ua-cam.com/video/sUOipXeihXo/v-deo.html
But also, I would say, it really depends on several factors: 1. your specific niche/ customer base, 2. your location, 3. your deliverables.
A Michelin star restaurant food photographer in L.A. who brings a stylist, a light assistant and a drone to the job will be charging a very different price to a family portrait studio photographer in Warsaw Poland.
I would compare prices in your location and your niche by talking to other photographers or researching their services online. Experience per se doesn't matter - more so the quality of the work and the service you provide. Hope that help :)
I have two rules for your commercial photography... Rule #1: Make sure you get the money. Rule #2: Don't forget to get the money.
😂
Cheap or free. Been there, done that. Lesson learned. Never again. Another reason is that if you charge little or work for free, people don’t take you seriously…
So true. It’s a hard but well needed lesson.
Charge when other people ask, but to develop a style you have to make A LOT of pictures, so you always have to find your way to make test shootings. But always under your conditions and that serves a porpuse for you. And also because we love photography, why you wouldn't make something you love in your free time?
With that logic then is easy to arrive to the conclusion that is better to ask a friend to make one test shooting instead of accept a cheap job. So sometimes is better make pictures for free than get some money. Life is not black and white.
Yes, I’m not talking about Portfolio shootings here. There is always going to be work we do for ourselves to learn and develop. I’m talking about client work. 😊
@@katjafeldmeier maybe idea for another video, how to make more portfolio pictures ;)
The only thing hurting anyone's photography is the iPhone. Ever since camera phones became a thing, real photography as a career has taken a dive to the center of the earth and it's probably never coming back. Do it for fun and don't expect to make any money from it.
Thank you for your thoughts. I have a different perspective. 😊
The demand for photography and images has actually increased. Business need a constant flow of imagery for their websites, social media accounts etc. I don’t see much of those images being made on an iPhone. But even if somebody is able to shoot professionally looking images on the iPhone - why not? It doesn’t matter which tool is used as long as the image is good.
A lot of people are making good money with photography today. On my channel I plan to keep exploring how that can be done now and in the future.
interesting, but at 7:19 this point is WRONG!!! you WANT there to be competition, it makes sure the price for things doesn't get ridiculous!, and over everyone's budget, THAT will hurt the industry, when it is so expensive, no one can afford it!!! (like the property market today, in 2023, the interest is so high nobody can afford to buy a house).