A couple weeks ago the phone rang and I was asked if I’d like to create a photo document for a nationally exposed project. It would require 4 days of my time and they wanted the rights to all images shot. The payment, a link on their website and attribution on images they used in marketing materials.

This week, following nearly a year and a half in business, I received another call asking about my photo services. The proposal in short was to photograph an event for a nationally distributed product. It would require that I drive 3 hours out of town and stay on location for 2 days, the client was unable to pay for any of my travel or lodging expenses. They wanted the rights to all the images shot. Proposed payment: One bottle of tequila.

the bad

This is bad, really bad. Somehow I’ve made it on a list that says “will work for free”. I am not exactly sure what I’ve done to give the impression that I can photograph commercial events for nothing more than the experience. Being on this list is really bad for my business. Not only that but all that self doubt creeps in and I wonder: Is the work produced not be good enough to warrant an exchange in dollars? Or are people just looking to take advantage of my time and services? Neither is a good way to run a successful business.

It certainly doesn’t escape me that over the last year and a half of business I have volunteered or traded my services on a number of occasions for big events in town. Possibly that is where people became confused? Perhaps I didn’t make it clear enough that they were contracted trades that offered me a greater value at the time in advertising and name recognition.

the good

As a business owner it is hard to complain when the phone is ringing. I hope it means that the potential clients are familiar with what I do and they want to bring that same quality and style to their own projects. I’ve certainly marketed myself in Phoenix effectively and I rarely meet anyone anymore that doesn’t know me and my work. The greatest benefit of these recent phone calls is they will cause me to evaluate why I’m on the “will work for free” list. And more importantly they will have me reevaluate why I’m in the photography business at all.

intentions

Of course I entered the business of photography with grand intentions of changing the game, bringing creative value, and reinventing the business model. Unfortunately, the road to hell is paved with good intentions and this is no exception.

I’ve been lead by my intentions and my desire to execute business on my terms, to a place that neither seems viable nor rewarding any longer. I believe that I do have a talent; an eye for photography. I know I can execute a concept or copy a mockup with equal skill. I also know for damn sure that I have the technical skills and equipment to execute advertisement quality work. Advertising photography that I’d much prefer to work on both in the business sense and personally.

Instead I’m in a difficult position of having created a niche brand and effectively exhausted that niche. At the same time I’ve become known as a candid event photographer, which within my current business model does not make sense and is not profitable.

proposal

A mandatory 31 day evaluation of my photography business in August.

• I’m not taking any new client projects for 31 days.
• In those 31 days I will shoot the kind of work I’d prefer to be making.
• The work I produce in 30 of these days will build a commercial advertising portfolio.
• After 30 days I will evaluate my pricing, my brand and my business plan.

When I come out of the evaluation I hope that who I am, and what I do, will make a lot more sense.