First Paid Gig.
For those of you that know me and talk to me, you know that I am not a big fan of monetizing my hobbies. A prime example of this is how I don’t like to resell my sneakers for crazy amounts of money, knowing that they sell for on the market. I normally would just resell for retail or come up with a small profit; I’m not trying to price gouge and make it crazy ridiculous to spend money on said item. So, this actually applies also to my photography.
I always have friends asking me how much would I charge to shoot their events or milestones. Normally, I would do it free of charge or for some beer or a meal. Simply because I wanted to hone in on the craft and I wanted to build up a portfolio. I am just already extremely flattered at the fact that they would want ME to shoot their photos. But, when it comes to them insisting on actually paying me, I tend to shy away and decline the job. More so because when it comes to getting paid for it, I get really into my head and nervous that what if I can’t deliver a product that they want and just totally hate everything I shot.
But, I am a little more selective with what types of gigs I will take and get paid for. Event photography is a whole different beast and is not something I consider in my personal wheelhouse. Whereas, if you came to me to shoot some portrait work and I get to come up with creative poses and locations, that type of work I will be more willing to take. I am not hating or knocking on event photographers, I just personally don’t think I’m all that great at it. Portrait work feels like I have more creative control and freedom. But, I am still filled with the doubts and fears that the photoshoot might not be what the client wants at the end. I guess it is something I am going to have to get used to.
All that being said, this past weekend I took on one of my first actual paid gigs. Okay, maybe not first, but I can’t really remember all the other times I might have gotten paid for a shoot. This gig was for one of my good friend’s mom’s 60th birthday. Overall as an experience, it was not bad. It was pretty straight forward because they had a photo backdrop, where I pretty much stayed at majority of the time, and that was about 90% of the actual photos I took. Tried my best to capture candids, but that was a bit of a tricky situation, because it was a dinner party and usually people feel weirded out by having pictures of them eating; which we all know is not the most flattering. I also took photos of each table with all the guests; you know, the typical cliche photo for a dining event. The best part of this gig was it was in collaboration with my girlfriend. She did a couple of flower arrangements while I got to provide the photos. Got me thinking that we could start some sort of business down the line.
I definitely will be taking on more hired paid gigs. I have been constantly thinking about pricing, packaged deals, and all that logistical stuff (the not fun stuff of trying to start a business). But, if you have my personal information, you can always hit me up personally and we can work something out. I just really need to grow the confidence with my work being good enough to sell.
Ending my rant here. I apologize if this wasn’t the most entertaining or insightful post. Here are some of the photos from the event. To maintain the privacy of the client and their guests, I won’t be sharing any photos with any guests as the main subject. Til next time, enjoy.
