First Photography Jobs

First Photography Jobs Help

I'm a student photographer who is recently being asked to do photography jobs. I've been taking pictures forever but actually using what I've learned in school for over a year now. I take pictures of my kids and friends/family for practice and fun.

I've recently been asked to do indoor/outdoor portrait shots of kids and family. I've been asked to do action and promo shots of a band in a studio session and also a low key wedding of about 30 people.

My equipment I have is a Nikon D3100, Nikon D7100, 18-55 kit lens, 18-105 kit lens and a 50mm 1.8g lens. I also have a Bower SFD926N Flash. In studio I have a very basic backdrop with a two umbrella light set up in a very small space.

I'm super nervous about these jobs. Does anyone have any advice/tips? Equipment suggestions for each shoot? Toddler/Baby photography tips? Also, should I charge? If so, what should I charge?

Also should I get a 35 mm 1.8g lens? Any suggestions on good wide angle lens?

When I first started I had no idea what to charge and had no experience, so I went with whatever made it worthwhile for me. Started at $100 and went to $300, just kept asking for more after each job. Now I've got my billings from my budget, you need to calculate your overhead, how much you want to make, how many days will you realistically work per month, etc, and come up with your "day rate". When you quote someone for a day of shooting you quote your day rate plus any additional stuff (equipment rental, transport, meals, 2nd photographer, retouching or postprocessing costs, licensing fees, etc).

right now you probably don't have much overhead or anything, but just keep in mind your time is worth something. Always make sure they sign model releases and keep your copyright. Standard operating procedure for me is to have model releases signed where I keep all rights and then assign them an unlimited non-commercial license to use the photos for personal use for stuff like portraits and weddings. For any commercial work where the photos are used in advertising you'll need to work out a licensing agreement with them for how long, where, and how they use the photos and how much they'll pay you.

Postprocessing and retouching can eat up tons of time, especially at first while you're still practicing. I normally charge half my day rate for post days and schedule 1 post day per day of shooting (minimum), usually 2 for weddings (because they expect more photos).

as far as gear. Just make sure you know how to use what you have. You already have 2 bodies, so you're solid in case of an accident or a breakdown on one.

it's a long learning process and it's a lot of trial and error. Just don't be afraid to turn down a job if they won't pay you what you think is fair, a lot of people will want free or dirt cheap photos and don't realize how much work you put in, how much all this gear costs, and that you have bills and need to eat too. You can't be out taking photos every day, so you need to charge more for your time.

good luck! And feel free to email me or something if you have follow up questions.

My first bit of advice is not to shoot the wedding. This is a one time event and the risk of messing up is far greater than the reward of doing a good job.

The 35mm 1.8 would be good for the band, you don't need it for the portrait work.

If you do want tio upgrade lenses, I would look at 3rd party manufacturers, specifically, sigma, Tokina and Tamron and look at the 'pro' level lenses they have. Those lenses will be way cheaper than the high end Nikons and generally a lot better than the low end Nikons, so a good step up without breaking the bank.

Tokinas will be ATX-Pro and Sigmas will have a HSM motor. I forget what marks the higher end Tamron lenses.