To ALL the Under Cutters!!!

Now this is probably not going to make me famous, and definitely not liked; but I will stand for all the Photographers that feel the way I do. My letter to you Under Cutters!!

Dear Under Cutting Photographers

I am a hard working semi-professional photographer striving to achieve a full time Professional status. That means I have to leave my day job and be able to have my photography fully support myself and my family. It has to pay for food, clothes, school fees, rent, cell phone, petrol, car and all the other bills I have.

I don't want to seem spiteful, but just because you bought a camera at Game or Makro or Bid or Buy, doesn't mean you are a photographer. Just because you went on the free camera course that came with the camera, doesn't make you a photographer. It just makes you a person that has a camera. So charging R100 per person, or R200 a shoot, R2000 a wedding; talking people away from us actual photographers; giving your "models / clients" all the photos "untouched" on a disk the next day, is really not cool and is taking food out of our families mouths. You are really not doing any justice to yourself, and especially not the photography industry.

I know photographers, like most other professions may seem very hard to break into, and maybe a camera seems like the easiest thing to work; but we are not all aliens that are going to bite you if you ask a question. I was also a beginner photographer at one time, I also thought I had amazing photographs, but I slowly befriended photographers I admired and learned from them. Some of us actually like helping up and coming photographers.

Here is my advice, find a photographer who's work you admire and ask to join them on shoots, ask questions on how they do things; you will be surprised. Join a camera club and subscribe to photography channels on YouTube and join photography websites. Like every other profession you have to work your way up. Once you have learned all you can, move onto another photographer. For myself I am at the point of chatting to overseas award winning photographers, and still ask lots of questions; and they love sharing and helping, it amazing.

Build a portfolio, build your equipment and find where you can fit into the pricing within the photography industry, you don't need to be the most expensive, and you may be on the lower end of the pricing, but I can guarantee you will value yourself more than R200 and  appreciate the reason to charge appropriately. Bearing in mind every area, region, province; has a different price range. The best way to find out where you fit is to look at all the photographers in your area and place yourself where you feel you fit on that scale. Then get to know these photographers, and most times they will share their average pricing with you (it may take a while). You will find some that just don't want to share anything, I'm sorry, they are out there, just don't give up. Once you have an idea of their prices, work out what your costs are and what type of profit you would like to make (be reasonable).... and now insert yourself into the market. I have been semi professional for almost 7 years now, and am still on the lower end of the market scale, its mainly because I still don't feel I'm worth being higher up the scale, but I am getting there and have short and long term goals laid out.

I hope you find this helpful and take the advice. I know there will always be "Under Cutting ""Photographers""; but hopefully I have encouraged some to excel and take their skills and make them better.