Should a photographer work for free?
This is one of the biggest and most difficult questions to answer for many photographers and there are folks on both sides of the fence, but Ted over at the Art of Photography makes some excellent arguments as to why you shouldn’t do it.
In his latest podcast, he says that if a high profile client asks you to work for free, then they probably don’t care about the project. Beyond that, you’re going to need to be the one doing all (or most) of the promotion of the work after you’ve completed it. To that end, if you’re just starting out then you’re not in the position to be able to promote the work much due to most likely having a small following.
Sure, many pros have worked for free at one point or another; but almost everyone said that you shouldn’t do so after becoming very experienced.
Ted’s take and his insight is incredible; and in the video after the jump.
