My Worth
As someone relatively new to the photography business, its hard to define my worth to myself and justify it to others. In my eyes, I'm a n00b, so who am I to say my work is justifiably worth the money I say it is? And how do I establish those numbers? What is my time and creativity worth when I still question that myself? What defines me as a photographer? Why me over someone else?
So how do I begin? where is the starting point? At the moment I feel as if i should be giving my time away! Its hard to say to a prospective client I charge this much for the session and any prints will cost this much. I feel I should be paying them to take my work! I am not a salesperson, never have been and never will be, yet here I am in a position where I have to sell myself!
I have the confidence in my abilities, and my skill, when does the confidence in selling my work come in? I just assumed they would come hand in hand yet here I am, the bar seems a long long way away. *sigh*
I think this is something that all people making that transition from part time to full time goes through. In a way I think its a natural mechanism to ensure that photographers understand what they are trying to achieve and the quality they are trying to achieve. Pricing is always a contentious issue at the start but make it logical, make it known and stick by it. Your belief in your skills and self and more importantly your belief that you can deliver something to the client that they will value will in the end dictate how much you charge. The more you do it the more you understand that. Keep going. You have come a long way already.
Velvet light said... June 29, 2009 at 2:42 PM
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