But let’s look at this from the other side of the coin. Tens of thousands of people will see your work. And they’ll want to know, who did that cover?!? That’s great work! Now you inundated with jobs and you can set your fees accordingly. I’d rather take a $200 job that will open the doors for more gigs (and more experience) rather than take a ‘holier than thou’ approach to get a few more dollars for my next gig.

I already told him not to send photos for free because my paper does not have a budget to pay anything but they will never even consider it if they get it for free anyway – why would they?
He does not seem to understand and keeps sending photos.

Do I get people who want me to do $200 day assignments, not really, but that may be do to the fact that I always control the conversation. When prospects call me before they start talking about price I tell them I will be writing an estimate and e-mailing a pdf to them; its harder to argue something in writing and plus it looks more professional. The cheap ones never respond back to me, but no problem, I know what I need to make in order to clear a profit and if they insist on not meeting that number, too bad for them.

The difference is, at the $20/hour part time job, you’ll be taking home around 75% of your pay.

After taxes and overhead, you’ll be taking about 33% of your pay from a photo assignment.

So where you’re looking at $15/hour take home at that part time job, if we say your $200 assignment is one day’s worth of work (8 hours), you’re looking at $8.25/hour take home.

Can you live on that? In the market were you can get a $20/hr part time job? This is the “$200 job” that’s being talked about. If you’re able to double up and leverage your opportunities as you say, I don’t think this is directed at you.

I believe the industry is struggling through a paradigm shift right now. The technology available in the marketplace has made it easier for amateur photographers to get “Lucky Shots” more frequently. So there has been a bit of demystification of photography to the general public. “Saying you’re a photographer is like saying you’re on Twitter”, that’s the running joke with my friends. I think that we need to focus on differentiating “professional photographers” from just “photographers”. Professional photographers need to focus on selling the fact that they create great images consistently. The value we bring to the table is our expert knowledge and the reproducible quality in our images from frame to frame. We need to educate our customers on the key differentiators: Our business practices, our insurance, our redundant gear, our knowledge of lighting, our ability to quickly solve technical issues, our experience in direct models, our expertise in composing images, our ability to delegate work efficiently to a team of other creative professionals(Stylists/MUAs/Hair/etc), etc, etc.

We have to show that “Anyone can take a picture, but not everyone can create a image of value”.

As far as the $200 jobs go, I don’t take them; but it still hurts turning down work. I’ve been scraping by month-to-month for the last six months. I probably would have had to bail out months ago, but through a mix of creative and luck I had some media success with my http://www.twelvehoursinacity.com project. That experience gave me the opportunity to supplement my photographic income with some Web Strategy consulting work in the short-term.

I’ve also taken the time to intern(paid) with a commercial photographer in my area. She works regularly on campaigns for national brands and this experience has been tremendously educational for me. It has also given me the confidence to turn down the lower priced jobs after seeing what other work was out there in the marketplace. I encourage all new professionals to seek mentors, I also believe that many of you seasoned veterans should take the opportunity to teach new-comers to the field. The knowledge exchange flows both ways and through discourse we will help our profession grow more viable as we navigate this tumultuous period.

That goes well above $200.

The work isn’t consistent. It’s not like $200 for 5 days/week. It’s maybe, one shoot a week. So you made only $200 per week. Wow that sure doesn’t pay rent or for food.

So yes, we are worth MORE than $200.

But now that I’ve gotten way off base, I do agree. Don’t take the $200 jobs. They’re destroying the business.

I once commissioned a big-whig photographer to get some portraits of a few people our magazine was profiling and what I got was utter garbage. We ended up not running any of the shots. They were so bad that we ran our writer’s photos who happened to snap a few frames – and believe me, our writer is a horrible photographer. The “pro” photos were blown out or underexposed; zero variety; bad lighting; the list goes on. And its not like we didn’t do our homework either – we knew this shooter’s style and trusted his judgement because, well, he said he was a big deal. We ended up paying for the photos anyway, because that’s what you gotta do. So, yes I can sympathize with younger photogs but don’t charge more than you’re worth and/or trick clients into thinking you’re better than you are. If you’re worth $200, charge $200.

http://danheller.blogspot.com/2010/03/understanding-economics-for.html

I found you blog from a photo editor. What a wonderful blog. And kudos to you; obviously you are VERY talented.
And articulate.

I agree with your post above; it is a very pragmatic and logical approach. And in theory, I also agree “continuing to work cheap” can and will hurt your career. But you also, succinctly point out the benefits of accepting assignments on the “cheap” that will further your career.

However, while you represent Rodeo Drive (I live in LA) or at least upscale clients, all, to your compliment, and I’m sure most photographers aspire to reach your level, “Dollar Store” also can make a profit. So does McDonalds. My point on a photo editor is why be concerned? I doubt if you are worried, given your obvious quality, about the competition of low cost new photo school graduates. So I don’t understand others logic of demeaning them for only charging $200.00 either to build a base and/or to survive. I think everyone agrees that once you have excellent references, good work, that your price should go up.

My point, that charging $200.00 for a shoot is “hurting the industry” is hogwash. Your point, that you have to start somewhere, and build from there, and then charge an appropriate fee after establishing your book is right on. And if, like you, one aspires to do quality work, and make a good living, one needs to move on from $200.00 a day.
You obviously add value; that is why you charge more. And that is how it should be.

Again, thank you for referencing your blog; an excellent site.

“What to take and what not to is always a judgment call. The decision will be influenced by what the assignment is, how busy you are and what the rights/fees are. This is always a moving target. But remember this, careers are not made on individual assignments. There is no such thing as a big break. Photographers who do well consistently work hard and have long term relationships with their clients. I’ve never been able to establish a relationship with someone who thought my photography was worth $200 a day.”

-Stephen