If you have read my previous blog posts then you know that being a Photographer is tough. There are so many aspects of being a photographer and/or owning your own photography business that make it tough. This blog post is about some of the problems that photographers face, run into, etc. So when you think a photographer has it so easy, think again.
People Will Rip You Off There has always been and still are those people who will steal photographers work, alter it or even leaving it as is and publishing it as their own. This comes with being a photographer because you want to publish your work and have it be seen and that is a risk you are taking. No Fixed Income Most photographers are self employed meaning they are not guaranteed x amount of clients a month. You never know what each month will bring. More clients equals more money. If you are in very high demand and can count on being booked all the time then you’ll probably be fine but most can’t rely solely on their income as a photographer. Another way to be certain you will be safe financially is if you work for a studio and your pay is salary. Competition These days it seems that everyone is a photographer. You are competing with so many photographers. And it’s not only the good photographers, you are competing with bad photographers too. People seem to think if someone will do a photo session for a really cheap price then they are getting a good deal...most of the time you should think again. Bitchy People There are so many people who seem to never be happy with what you give them. They expect you to be a magician and plastic surgeon as a photographer. Clients want you to give them more photos.They want you to lower the price. They want you to wait for payment for longer than you have already extended. Hello?! This is my job. I want my money for the job I’ve done just like you want money for your job. Then you have Bridezillas who are just never happy with anything you do. Time Taken Away From Other Things Yes it’s a job and I knew that time would be taken away from my family and me being able to do other things. I’m not complaining. I’m just telling you the problems with being a photographer so that you remember it’s not always rainbows and unicorns. Editing Isn’t Fun The editing part of being a photographer is the most time consuming task. It’s just not a fun thing to do. It is the same thing over and over. Most of your time is spent at the computer. The time it takes to do a shoot versus the time it takes to edit the photos is a no brainer. I would say the time at the computer editing is doubled if not more when you compare the time it takes to do the actual picture taking. The Cost of Photography Equipment It is true that the camera does not make the picture. But even if you do have a decent priced camera there is still a lot of other equipment to purchase if you want to up your game. There are studio lights, external flashes, etc. Then there are the things that you don’t really think about when thinking of having your own photography business. There is the computer that you will need to edit pictures, the editing program(s), an external hard drive, memory cards, USB drives, etc. You Don’t Make Your Own Hours You do have the choice to decide when you do your photo shoots. But if you stopped editing at 5pm everyday you would never get anything done. There are a lot of times when I’m working on something photography related from 5pm till 11pm. If we want to get the job done we have to work whenever we are give a chance. Social Media Isn’t Always Fun Keeping your social media accounts updated can be a real patience tester. When you have a Facebook Page, Twitter, Instagram, a web site, Pinterest, G+, and a blog(I know I’m forgetting some) accounts for your photography business it can be a daunting task. It can be fun when you get started but after you have been updating these accounts for a few hours it’s not so fun anymore.
If you are a photographer, what problems have you run into? Let me know in the comments!
3 Comments
There's one huge problem I stumbled upon - if your prices match the rest of local photogs, you're too expensive 'like all of them'. If they are lower than those of the other photogs, then they start questioning your skills 'why is she/he so cheap?' Seems like there is no middle ground.
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I find this list to be accurate when you're serving clients who price-match and don't appreciate your craft. Once you raise the bar, raise your prices, and offer something completely different than your competitors, you'll attract clients who LOVE working with you and trust you 100% along the way. As for editing, I use Lightroom & presets to edit my sessions under an hour, making it more lucrative and worth my time. Hope you can find solutions to some of these problems because it can be draining if this is the norm <3
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9/9/2018 04:34:54 am
I am not a photographer but i enjoyed reading your post. It's so practical and connected to real life obstacles.
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