The struggle is real for us
Being a full-time student yet a part-time photographer or ‘videographer’ for events is not easy. You have to balance your academic work and your job all at the same time. You are lucky if you have an event schedule only for the weekends; but sometimes misfortune comes in. There are events that happen on the weekdays as well. That’s when you are torn between choosing between your student life with just limited allowance, or your job that is equivalent to even a weekly allowance.
I know all of this because I am one of those young photographers that experience these kinds of problems. (But for me, I choose my academic life first because I am a student first before a photographer, so...)
But not only on the balancing of time and workloads do we have problems. Those who provide us with side-line jobs - our clients - they add more headaches to what we already have.
Here are some of the unfortunate events that happen between young photographers and videographers, us, and our clients.
1. They give you that confused look.
Looking like you are not capable of covering their event flawlessly because you seem like such a baby face to them - they sometimes give you that smile that obviously says, “Can this girl/boy do it?” Lucky for you if you look so mature that they would guess that you are like, say, 25, when you are actually just 18. But of course, when you tell them your real age, this still happens.
2. They question the price.
You may not be professional yet for you are still in school but you just know that your work is worth ‘this’ price, but they don’t buy any of it. Sometimes they try to get a discount when that is already your standard rate. Well, we’re sorry if we are being too money-faced here but yeah, not really because we know we work hard for this and we deserve something worthy for it.
3. They have low hopes for you.
Because they can only afford you and not the big time photography studios, they have low expectations for you and your work. They don’t really demand for anything - which is sometimes a good thing because you can just do whatever you want to do. But this may be also a misfortune because there are times that they will not fully commit to what you want them to do for the great photo. Which will leave you really frustrated throughout the event.
What misfortune do we have to face, right? But man, when they see your work and when they see how you move in an event coverage, they are surely impressed. Those low hopes will turn into “wow-s,” that regret of giving you your standard rate will turn into “thank you-s” and sometimes even shake hands along with tips, and that confused look will turn into big smiles and wacky faces for the camera.
You may share the same sentiments with me towards these unfortunate events but we also know the relief that we feel after these. So just keep on looking through the lens, improve your skills and talent, and get as many clients as you can. We can balance these workloads in school and job!