11/18/2025
My primary business is aerial photography, but I do work closely with my wife, who runs an established photography business. Lately, I’ve noticed a big increase in new “photographers” offering extremely cheap or even free sessions to gain experience (I understand everyone deserves the chance to grow and learn, but that's why you use friends and family or even shadow someone). It’s becoming hard to ignore, and I feel it’s worth saying something to those looking for a photographer.
Not everyone who owns a camera is a photographer and with the recent flood of new “photographers” showing up overnight, it’s more obvious than ever. A $300 kit camera from Walmart or Best Buy, a logo, and a page doesn’t make someone a professional.
Before you trust someone with your moments, vet them. Ask about experience. Look at full galleries, not just the handful of lucky shots they cherry-picked for social media. Anyone can get one good picture by accident, but real photographers deliver quality every single time.
That “free session” or “half off for experience” deal may sound tempting, but here’s the blunt truth: you’re gambling with moments you can’t recreate. You only get one chance to capture your family, your kids, your milestones and once the moment is gone, it’s gone. Bad photos last forever… and not in a good way.
Photos are memories. Memories shouldn’t be fuzzy, blurry, crooked, overexposed, or “oops, sorry, my settings were off.” They should be captured cleanly, clearly, and intentionally by someone who knows exactly what they’re doing both behind the camera and in the editing room.
Here’s another blunt truth: it should never take more than a week or two to get your photos back. If someone needs a month, or worse to return your images, that’s a red flag. A real professional knows how to capture the image right the first time, with proper lighting, proper settings, and proper technique. They shouldn’t have to spend hours heavily editing or “fixing” every photo just to make it look decent. Good shooting leads to clean editing, not damage control.
Hiring someone with real experience isn’t just paying for their time, you’re paying for years of learning, mistakes already made, skills mastered, and the confidence that your images will be delivered flawlessly.
Cheap photography is cheap for a reason. Professional photography is an investment for a reason.
If the moment matters, hire like it matters.
To the new photographers out there: shame on you for diving into this industry by undercutting people who have spent a decade or more perfecting their craft. Offering bargain-basement prices while delivering blurry, overedited, mediocre photos isn’t “building a portfolio” it’s disrespecting the real professionals and the clients who trusted you.
If you’re serious about photography, then act like it. Put in the work. Practice on your friends and family until you actually understand your camera and your lighting. Stop charging people for work you haven’t mastered. Or better yet, find a real professional who will let you shadow them and learn what quality actually looks like.
Photography isn’t about owning a camera. It’s about skill, experience, and knowing how to deliver results every single time. If you’re not there yet, that’s fine but don’t pretend you are at the expense of people who’ve earned their place in this industry.
Photography is a fun hobby, but charging people puts you on a professional level. If you’re still turning out hobby quality photos and treating the job like a casual pastime, you shouldn’t be taking people’s money or advertising your services, period.
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