Stop the Madness

Please. Just. Stop.

This is for all my fellow photographers out there, and especially to those who are struggling to make a living off their super ninja photographic skills.

I was sent an inquiry for a quote by what is undoubtedly one of the largest commercial real estate developers/brokers in the country. This company does big deals. Double and maybe even triple digit million dollar deals. They needed a few large industrial properties photographed, about an hour’s travel time away (from me)… 20 final, fully edited, hi-res print ready photos, including travel time and fuel. For a budget of…. wait for it… $150 to $185 DOLLARS. YES. LESS THAN $200 DOLLARS.

Say whaaaaaat?!

Why am I even bothering to waste my precious time to write about this? Because this guy tells me “well, I talked to someone else up there”… meaning there is a another so-called photographer considering being low-balled by this gigantic publicly traded corporation who does multi-million dollar national (and probably even global) real estate transactions.

Dear fellow photographers: if you would stoop low enough to accept an assignment for this “budget” – I don’t care how desperate you are, you may as well do it for free and then throw out your gear and strip yourself of being even remotely called a photographer. If you take a job like this you are a disgrace to the rest of us trying to make a living off of or supplement our current careers with photography jobs. So please, have some cohones and stop this madness by NOT accepting a low-ball paying job like this. You are only hurting yourself and your own career, and the rest of us, in the long run.

What an insult to anyone they approached for a quote. This company should be ashamed of themselves. I let them know that too.